What is availability in Production Scheduling?

Article code: PSHDF06
Tags: Availability, Terms, Definitions

Answer

In Production Scheduling, availability refers to time during shifts when lines are available for production. Availability can be separated into two categories:

1. Default availability
2. Availability overrides

1. Default Availability

Default availability is your site’s regular availability based on active work days and the lines that usually run in each shift. Default availability should be edited to match what you typically run in a week. Once configured, default availability should rarely change unless long-term changes are made to shifts, lines, or working days. 

Below are some examples of reasons to update default availability that you may experience at your facility:

• A new line is created
• A new shift is created
• One or more shifts are modified 
• When a shift is an overtime shift that does not usually run 
• When a line never runs during a particular shift
• When a line will be out of service for a long period of time (weeks or months)

2. Availability Overrides

Availability overrides are changes that can be made to availability to manage exceptions on specific dates. 

Below are some examples of reasons to apply availability overrides that you may experience at your facility:

• Holidays
• Running an overtime shift on a specific date
• Shutting down lines for a short period of time 

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Related HelpDesk Articles:

• How do I set availability in Production Scheduling?
• What is a shift in Production Scheduling?
• How do I set up a shift in Production Scheduling?
• What is downtime in Production Scheduling?