About Cycles

Cycles are time periods of equal length valid over the whole horizon. They enable you to keep batches within time blocks when scheduling process batches and distributing process batches. A cycle is typically used as a means to subdivide a work area: while you might want to devise six-week schedules (work area = 6 weeks), you might want to ensure that batch scheduling is limited to one-week units within that period (cycle repetition period = 1 week). For example, a cycle may limit batch scheduling to a Sunday-Saturday week starting on 3 August 2003 until further notice.