Hard and soft deadlines, deviation, and notification

In addition to the scheduling start value and the interval, you can specify the following in task definitions:

• Whether the deadline is a soft or hard deadline.
• How much deviation from a deadline is allowed before a task is considered overdue.
• How long in advance of the deadline should Maintenix provide notification by changing the schedule priority on the task from LOW to HIGH.

The following figure illustrates the concepts involved in scheduling tasks and task deadlines.

A hard deadline is a deadline that cannot be exceeded; if the task is not completed by its hard deadline, Maintenix considers the task as overdue. A soft deadline means that the completion of the task is allowed to exceed its deadline without becoming overdue. All deadlines calculated by Maintenix—based on the scheduling start value, or the previous occurrence of the tasks for recurring tasks, and the interval specified in task definitions—are hard deadlines, unless a deviation is specified in the task definition, or the Soft Deadline option is enabled in the task definition.

By selecting the Soft Deadline option in the task definition, you specify that the deadline is always a soft deadline, meaning that the tasks never become overdue in Maintenix. Use this to represent tasks for which there is no execution interval or frequency mandated by a regulatory body.

The notification interval determines when Maintenix notifies users about the approaching deadline for a task —the deadline as set in the task definition, not the hard deadline at the end of the deviation. At the notification point, the Schedule Priority of a task switches from LOW to HIGH. The notification interval is measured in the same units as the scheduling interval, such as calendar days, hours, cycles or number of landings. There is a notification interval for each deadline specified in the task definitions. Notification is not set for tasks that always have soft deadlines.

Overdue tasks are those whose driving deadline has been exceeded. A task whose deadline is based on a calendar parameter is overdue when the current date is later than the task due date, plus the deadline deviation when one is specified. A task whose deadline is based on a usage parameter is overdue when the inventory's current accrued usage exceeds the usage value at the driving deadline, plus the deadline deviation when one is specified.