Break Rule

This field applies to APS.

The field controls how the system can fit this operation into the available time of the required resources, considering the resources are unavailable for certain periods when they go off-shift or are already planned to work on other demands. Options are:

• Job and Shifts: Allow the operation to be planned within a block of time that is interrupted either by off-shift periods or by other demands already planned. For example, this operation needs the required resources on Monday starting at 9:00 a.m. for 6 hours. The resources are only on-shift from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., and are working on another job from 10:00 until 11:00. The system can start the operation at 9:00, stop it at 10:00, and resume it again the next day at 9:00 when the resources are on-shift again. This option results in the most plan saturation, but also causes the most fragmentation of operations for jobs that have later due dates or lower priorities.
• Shifts: This is the default setting. Allow the operation to be planned within a block of time that is interrupted only by off-shift periods. The operation is suspended for each off-shift period and resumed when the resources are back on-shift.
• None: Neither off-shift periods nor other demands may interrupt the operation. There must be a large enough block of uninterrupted time on the associated resources for the operation to be completed (if the system cannot find an unbroken block of time, the job will be blocked). This setting is rarely used.

The setting of this field also affects how the system is able to reallocate resources if an operation is interrupted by a resource going off-shift or working on another demand.

See Handling Resource Reallocation During Interruptions for more information.