Audience: Field technicians, administrators, dispatchers
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.
Understand skill configuration versus skill division
Skill configuration and skill division affect the schedule in distinct ways:
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Skill configuration: Defines the total count of each skill required for the task.
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For example, a "Facility check" requires 2 mechanics and 1 electrician.
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Skill division: Defines the minimum number of distinct people who have that skill who must be on-site. Some skills cannot be "bundled" into a single person, even if that person holds multiple certifications.
Examples of skills management
In these examples, the type of activity determines the skill management configuration. Other possible configurations may be based on the operations center or on the number of resources required to execute the activity.
Understand minimum configuration without skill division
The minimum configuration is the least amount of resources that have all the required skills. Here are two examples:
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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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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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Understand minimum configuration with skill division
When safety or labor rules dictate that certain roles must be performed by separate individuals, teams might require more resources. The match between the skills associated with a resource or a team, and those required for the execution of a WO is handled by the system as:
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A warning during manual scheduling.
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A strong/blocking constraint during automatic scheduling.
For example, a configuration may require two mechanics and one electrician, with a skill division of three:
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Even if your mechanics are also certified electricians, the system won’t allow a 2-person team.
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If the second resource tries to claim both the mechanic and electrician slots, there is a blocking constraint (in automatic scheduling) or a warning (in manual scheduling).
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A third distinct resource must be present as the designated electrician.
Understand more configurations with skill division
Since resources can have multiple skills, there are many 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 a plumbing skill that isn’t required.
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.