Global constraints & product constraints

The Constraints editor defines the system equivalent resource quantities and the system equivalent time factors for different types of resources. To open the Constraint Editor window, select Constraints from the Home menu. The Edit Constraints window displays all of the types of resources defined in Visual APS.

To define a new Global Constraint

1. In the Edit Constraints window, select the Add Constraint button
2. Enter a constraint name
3. Enter a description.
4. Select OK.

To define Global Multiplication Factors

1. Highlight the Constraint on the left side of the screen for the factors you want to edit
2. Click on the Edit button alongside the appropriate Constraint Type for the the selected constraint
3. For People, enter Resource Quantity factor, Setup Time Factor, or Run Time Factor as required
4. For Work Units, enter Resource Quantity factor, Setup Time Factor, or Run Time Factor as required
5. Edit the Time constraint Type to enter Wait Time and Processing Time factors
6. Select OK.

Constraints may be utilised for scenarios whereby work units run at different rates than the primary work unit specified in the routing. To accommodate the difference when using alternative work units, use constraints to adjust the operation time.  In this example the alternative work unit runs slower than the specified work unit by a factor of 1.5.  Product specific constraints can be set up within any declared Global constraints.  These code/operation specific time settings replace the values declared in the original routing and are used within APS in conjunction with the Global constraint multiplication factors.

To define a new Product constraint

1. Select the Global constraint that the product constraint is going to be associated with
2. Click the "Product Number - Operation Description" tab
3. Click "Add New"
4. Enter product number (or use the search function next to the text box)
5. Enter the Operation Description if the constraint is to be operation specific  (if left blank, all product number operations completed within the global constraint will adopt the constraints set here)
6. A variety of options are available for constraint settings - Set as required.
7. Click OK
8. To make changes, click on the Edit button alongside the appropriate Constraint Type for the the selected constraint.