Skill configurations tell how many resources with each skill need to be used for a work order (WO). For instance:
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An inspection or facility check might need two mechanics, an electrician, and a driver.
Skill divisions show how separate people with certain skills need to be present. For example:
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If there is a mechanic and an electrician in the skill division, that means there needs to be at least two technicians: one who is a mechanic and one who is an electrician.
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If there are two mechanics and an electrician in the skill division, that means there needs to be at least three technicians: two who are mechanics and one who is an electrician.
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Any additional skills that aren’t in the skill division can be owned by the existing technicians or by another technician.
Visual examples of skills management
Here are some examples of skills management with skill configurations and skill divisions:
These configuration examples are based on the type of activity. Other possible configurations may be based on the operations center or on the number of resources required to execute the activity (cardinality):
Minimum configuration with no skill division
The minimum configuration is the least amount of resources who have all required skills, but may have additional skills.
Here’s an example where a single resource has all the required skills for meter reading:
Here’s an example of a cut for no payment activity that uses only one person will all of the skills or two people with one skill each:
Minimum configuration with skill division
Although the team should be the smallest size possible, there are multiple factors to note:
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The skill configuration can show that multiple people need to have the same skill.
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The skill division shows the minimum size of the team, so less people is not possible.
In the example below:
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In this skill configuration, there need to be 2 mechanics.
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In the skill division, the team needs at least 2 people (one that’s a mechanic and another that's an electrician).
Learn more about skill division
In the facility check example below, it is important to pay attention to skill division:
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In the skill configuration, there has to be two mechanics, an electrician, and and special vehicles driver.
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The skill division requires there to be 3 distinct resources (2 mechanics and 1 electrician).
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The two mechanics need a third person as an electrician, even if the mechanics are electricians as well.
Note: The second resource owns the mechanic and electrician skills in the 4th possibility. Since these skills can't be owned by the same resource, this configuration doesn’t work.
More configurations with skill division
Since resources can own other types of skills, there are more possible configurations. Once the skill requirements are fulfilled, a team can also include resources that aren’t required.
In the example below, a mechanic, electrician, special vehicles driver, and a plumber are on a facility check team. Three of the four resources fulfill the skill configuration, whereas the 4th one has another skill that is not required (plumber).
Use different configurations for different operation centers
There can be different configurations for different operation centers for the same activity (e.g., an emergency inspection). Here are some examples of different configurations for different operation centers.
