Availability types

A calendar can have multiple availability types. For each availability type, the calendar can have different working times and other details. Availability types can be regarded as different versions of a calendar, with which you can store multiple sets of working times into a single calendar. Therefore, you can categorize the availability of resources according to different activities.

All calendar data, such as working times and efficiency factors, is specified for a combination of calendar code and availability type.

Example

Company calendar

A company has the following standard working times:

  • Production runs from 8.00 to 18.00.
  • Warehouses are open from 8.00 to 16.00.
  • The service department is active from 9.00 to 18.00.

You can model this situation with a single calendar for which you define three availability types: PRD (Production), WHS (Warehouse), and SRV (Service).

Example

Work center calendar

A work center is planned for manufacturing activities and for service maintenance activities.

You can model this situation with a single calendar for which you define two availability types: PRD (Production), and SRV (Service).

You can specify which of the calendars' availability types applies for each package. Some packages use several availability types.

Note

External scheduling packages cannot use multiple availability types. If you integrate with an external scheduling package, you must define a separate calendar for each activity. For more information, refer to Calendar integration with external scheduling packages.

Defining availability types
  • Use the Availability Types (tcccp0101m000) session to define an availability type.

  • To make a new availability type suitable for use outside Calendars and Periods:

    1. Link the availability type to a calendar in the Calendar Recurrences (tcccp0144m000) session.
    2. Define the calendar details for the new availability type. For more information, refer to To define a calendar.
  • To make a particular day unavailable for a specific availability type, clear the Available check box for that availability type on the corresponding day in the Calendar Working Hours (tcccp0120m000) session.
  • To view the calendar codes to which an availability type is linked, start the Calendar Recurrences (tcccp0144m000) session, and sort the records by availability type. To sort the records by availability type, on the View menu, point to Sort by, and then click Availability Type, Calendar Code.
Using availability types

Availability types are used in these LN packages:

  • Service

    You can assign a separate availability type to each service type. Every availability type indicates the employee’s available time for each activity.

  • Enterprise Planning

    You can assign different availability types to scenarios to simulate a reduced or increased production capacity.

    The EP Parameters (cprpd0100m000) session displays the availability types for Routing, Purchase Control, Warehousing, and the value of the Availability Type for Carrying Goods field in the COM Parameters (tccom0000s000) session. For more information, refer to Availability types in Enterprise Planning.

  • Project

    Project uses external scheduling packages for employee planning and equipment planning. However, the external scheduling package retrieves the calendar data from Calendars and Periods in LN.

    In the Default Availability Type for ESP field of the Calendar Parameters (tcccp0100m000) session, enter the default value for the availability type for external scheduling packages.

    To make more availability types available to external scheduling packages, use the Calendar Selection for External Scheduling Packages (tcccp0181m000) session. For more information, refer to Calendar integration with external scheduling packages.

For more information on the use of availability types in other packages, refer to Using calendars.

Related topics