Infinite Loading

The Scheduling feature uses an "infinite" loading technique to schedule each work order as if it were the only work order in the shop. The advantage of this method is that it shows the true load based on demand; however, care must be taken not to overload the work centers.

When multiple work orders are scheduled for the same time period, work centers may become overcommitted, with the total number of hours committed exceeding the number of available hours for a day. You can review the total commitments scheduled for each work center using Work Center Capacity Inquiry and/or the Work Center Capacity Report. These options provide either a graphic summary of total capacity commitments for each work center or a detailed "pegging" of individual work order steps that are scheduled for each work center. Individual work orders can be rescheduled or the queue time can be increased to relieve overcommitted work centers.

A work center has a capacity of 8 hours per day, and 2 work orders are to be scheduled. The first work order requires 28 hours of work, and the second requires 18 hours of work. For simplification, assume that each work order has only a single step and that both use the Forward scheduling method. If both work orders are given a start date of 5/11/03, the work center is scheduled as follows.

Date	Work Order 1	Work Order 2	Scheduled Hours
5/11/03	8 hours	8 hours	16 hours
5/12/03	8 hours	8 hours	16 hours
5/13/03	8 hours	2 hours	10 hours
5/14/03	4 hours	_______	4 hours
	28 hours	18 hours	46 hours

Because this work center can handle only 8 hours of work per day, a scheduling conflict exists for three out of the four days. To resolve this conflict, one or both of the work orders should be rescheduled.