You may have work or machine centers that are capable of performing the same tasks. With alternate routing sets, you can define these alternative resources. Additionally, you can specify production and setup time coefficients to reflect differences in processing speed between resources—especially useful when certain machines run faster than others.
You can configure alternative routings and substitute work/machine centers on the Alternate Routing Set page. This page is accessible via the VAPS menu or by searching for "Alternate Routing Set" in the search bar.
The Alternate Routing Set setup page appears as follows:
To create a new Alternate Routing Set, click the “+” icon located at the top of the page.
You will then be prompted to assign a unique identifier (number) to the new routing set.
After assigning a unique number to the alternate routing set, you can add all machine and/or work centers that can serve as alternative resources within a single routing.
In addition to specifying the alternative resources, you can also define two types of production coefficients:
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Setup Multiplier – Adjusts the setup time relative to the standard routing.
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Runtime Multiplier – Adjusts the runtime based on the capabilities of the alternative resource.
These multipliers help reflect differences in efficiency between resources and ensure accurate scheduling.
In the example shown, the alternate routing set "SET#1 – CUTTING" defines the following configuration:
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Machine centers 1101, 1102, and 1103 (Cutting #1, Cutting #2, and Cutting #3) are defined as alternative machines.
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Cutting #1 serves as the reference machine, with both the setup time multiplier and runtime multiplier set to 1.00.
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Cutting #2:
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Setup takes 25% longer (setup multiplier = 1.25)
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Runtime is 20% faster (runtime multiplier = 0.80)
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Cutting #3:
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Setup is 20% faster (setup multiplier = 0.80)
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Runtime takes twice as long (runtime multiplier = 2.00)
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Once defined, this alternate routing set can be applied to any routing to enable flexible resource assignment and accurate scheduling based on resource-specific performance.
The example above illustrates routing 1300 for the item "Frame". Operation 10 is, by default, assigned to machine center 1101 (Cutting #1). However, the alternate routing set "SET#1 – CUTTING" is also assigned to this routing.
When a production order is created using this routing and subsequently (re)calculated using the standard Business Central scheduling, the alternate routing set is automatically added to the corresponding production order routing line.
As a result:
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All alternative machine centers defined in the set will be visually highlighted when you drag operation 10 in the planning board.
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If you reassign the operation from Cutting #1 to any of the alternative machine centers, the defined setup time multiplier and runtime multiplier will be automatically applied, ensuring accurate scheduling and capacity planning.
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