Bundled Tasks provide the ability to group multiple individual Request Tasks into a single piece of work. A Bundle Task can both be scheduled and executed as one, saving both time and effort for Dispatchers and Field Technicians, while still respecting the constraints and planning on each individual task.
Let's assume a technician needs to take 120 meter readings in the same small geographic area (e.g. a neighborhood), all in the same timeframe (e.g. a single day, single afternoon, etc). Each of the 120 tasks are only a minute or two in duration, the "travel" between each job is minimal (walking from one property or set of meters to the next). Schedulers want to be able to define and create a single task that consists of the 120 child-tasks that can be scheduled once, with a single duration (2-3 hours in this example) and executed as the assigned technician sees fit (order of job execution does not necessarily matter).
It is possible to connect existing request tasks to a Request Bundle Task. The bundle is created from the Request Tasks overview screens. It is possible to add additional tasks to an existing Bundle as long as the Bundle Task status in below Work Done.
When Request Tasks are bundled, the duration will be calculated automatically based on the duration of each individual task included. Let's assume you include 3 Request Tasks, each with a duration of 15 minutes, the task bundle duration then would be 45 minutes. The calculated duration can be adjusted if required.
A Scheduling dataset will be automatically fetched from the service delivery unit or the service organization if one is available, with priority to the service delivery unit.
As the bundle task becomes the plannable task, each individual task included in a bundle will be excluded from scheduling.
When a Request Bundle Task has been created, it is possible to define resource demands for person, crew or tool. The Resource Demands from the individual tasks are not inherited and will be excluded from demand planning and scheduling. A location for the bundle can be defined as well. It is possible to connect SLA records from included individual tasks on the bundle or to create new, bundle-specific SLA records, used for scheduling constraints. If no SLA has been defined on the bundle before release, the most restrictive SLA from the included tasks will be added as the bundle SLA.
The bundle can be assigned to a resource for execution from the bundle task screen, the Dispatch Console and the Scheduling Workbench. Once assigned, it is possible to transfer the bundle to mobile for execution.
Work Assignments are created for the resources that are allocated to perform the task bundle. These assignments can be executed in IFS Cloud Web or be transferred and executed in the mobile clients.
The Request Bundle Task status drives the status of the included tasks. Work Assignments in the connected work tasks will be cancelled when bundled. More detailed information about this can be found in Status Handling.
Time reporting on a Request Bundle Task will create work task transactions
on the Request Bundle Task, which will be the reference to the work task
transactions created on the connected request tasks. The Request Bundle
Task Transaction will however not have accounting lines and will not be
transferred to finance. Time reporting can be done from IFS Cloud Web or
from the mobile clients.
It is possible to decide how reported time should
be distributed to the connected work tasks. For this three options are available:
The default distribution method is controlled by setting the Object Property BND_TASK_COST_DIST to either EQUAL, MANUAL or PERCENTAGE.
Already planned material requirements and returns on connected request
tasks can be issued or returned on the Request Bundle Task.
Transactions
will be created directly on the connected request tasks, the same as on
an individual Request Task. Issuing of material can be done from IFS Cloud
Web or from the mobile clients.
Expenses and External Cost can be reported on both, the individual tasks and on the bundle task itself.
Once a bundle has been executed it is possible to view a summary of transactions which include:
It is possible to disconnect request tasks from a Request Bundle Task if the Request Bundle Task status is below Work Done and no Time transactions exist. Once disconnected, the disconnected Request Task will be treated as any other individual task.