Define what knowledge is needed for a Work Order (WO). Specify how many resources are necessary to satisfy safety, legal, or operational requirements for a WO.
Skill Configuration vs. Skill Division
While they sound similar, they serve two very different logical purposes for the scheduling engine:
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Skill Configuration: Defines the total count of each skill required for the task.
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Example: A "Facility Check" requires 2 Mechanics and 1 Electrician.
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Skill Division: Defines the minimum number of distinct people who must be on-site. It forces the system to recognize that some skills cannot be "bundled" into a single person, even if that person holds multiple certifications.
Examples of skills management
The following skill management 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.
Minimum configuration with no skill division
The minimum configuration is the least amount of resources that have all the required skills, but may have additional skills.
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Example (Meter Reading): If a WO requires "Meter Reading" and "Basic Safety," and a single technician holds both, the system will assign that one person.
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Example (Cut for Non-Payment): If the task requires "Plumbing" and "Locksmith" skills, the system will assign either:
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One person who is both a Plumber and a Locksmith.
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One Plumber and one Locksmith.
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Minimum configuration with skill division
This is used when safety or labor rules dictate that certain roles must be performed by separate individuals.
For example, a configuration requires two Mechanics and one Electrician, with a Skill Division of three.
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Logic: Even if your Mechanics are also certified Electricians, the system won’t allow a 2-person team. The Division of three forces a third distinct resource to be present as the designated Electrician.
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Invalid Setup: If the second resource tries to claim both a Mechanic slot and the Electrician slot to reduce the team size to two, the system will trigger a blocking constraint (in automatic scheduling) or a warning (in manual).
More configurations with skill division
Since resources can own other types of skills, there are more possible configurations. After the skill requirements are fulfilled, a team can also include resources that aren’t required on a WO.
For example, a mechanic, an electrician, a special vehicles driver, and a plumber are on a facility check team. Three of the four resources fulfill the skill configuration, and the fourth one has another skill that is not required (plumber).
Use different configurations for different operation centers
The platform is flexible enough to allow different configurations for the same activity depending on the Operations Center (OC). For example:
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OC North might require two people for an Emergency Inspection due to local safety laws.
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OC South might only require one person for the same activity type.