bottlenecks and limited capacity resources. Working with services and composite resources in RMIS What does it mean the resource capacity is not set

The term bottleneck has an equivalent in the Russian industrial terminology bottleneck, which roughly corresponds in meaning to the literal translation from English - the neck of a bottle. Together with this term, the authors use the opposite term nonbottleneck, for which it is difficult to find a simple Russian analogue. Along with these two terms, the authors use the term Capacity-Constrained Resource - CCR, which can most accurately be referred to as a resource of limited capacity. Given the combined use of these three terms and the generality of the subject to which they refer (resource), the terms insufficient resource, excess resource and resource of limited capacity are used here, respectively. However, given the excellent analogy of the bottleneck with the production situations under consideration, the second meaning bottleneck is also used for the term bottleneck in translation. - Approx. ed.
The main building blocks of production
Any production process and flow can be represented in a simplified form in one of four basic configurations, which are shown in Fig. 20.5.
In fig. 20. 5 in line A, the product goes through process X and enters process Y. Line B shows that products are moving from process Y to process X. Line C shows the situation when, as a result of Xu Y processes, subassemblies are created, which are then combined and are sent to meet the needs of the market. In line D, processes X and Y are independent of each other and serve the needs of different markets. The last column of the figure shows the various possible options the sequence of the location of insufficient resources, which can be grouped and denoted with the letter Y to simplify visual perception.
The ease of use of such building blocks lies in the fact that thanks to them, you can greatly simplify the production process for its analysis and management. So, for example, instead of tracking the progress and execution of the schedule at all the individual stages of the production flow through a group of surplus resources, you can focus your attention only on the starting and ending points of such a group.
Resource management techniques
In fig. 20. 6 graphically depicts ways to manage scarce and excess resources.
Resources X and Y are work centers dedicated to the production of different types of products. Each of them is capable of working 200 hours a month. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that we are dealing with only one type of product. Then we'll change the conditions a little and consider four different situations... It takes one hour to produce unit X, and the market demand for this product is 200 units per month. Production time Y is 45 minutes, and the market demand for it is the same - 200 units per month.
In situation A, shown in Fig. 20. 6, the excess resource supplies products to the insufficient resource of the system. The product goes from work center X to center Y. In this case, center X is an insufficient resource, since its capacity is 200 units (200 hours: 1 hour for the release of one unit). Center Y has a capacity of 267 units (200 hours: 45 minutes per unit). Since the center Y is forced to wait for the completion of the operation at the work center X and at the same time has a large capacity, the accumulation of excess production in the system does not occur. All products are sent to the market.

Situation B is the opposite of Situation A, that is, the production goes from the work center Y to the center X. Thus, an insufficient resource supplies work to a surplus resource. Since Y has a capacity of 267 units, and X has only 200, we will only be able to produce 200 units at the Y center (i.e., it will operate at 75% utilization), otherwise a stock of work-in-progress will accumulate in front of the X work center ...
In situation C, the component parts produced at centers X and Y are assembled into finished goods and then released to the market. Since the product manufactured at the X center and the product released at the Y center are integral parts of the finished product, X is a surplus resource, since its capacity is 200 units, and therefore, the Y center should not work with a load higher than 75%. Otherwise, unnecessary
constituent parts of K.
In situation D, the market demand for the products produced by work centers X and Y is the same. In this case, we can call these two types of products "finished goods", since the demand for one does not depend on the demand for the other. In this situation, center Y has access to materials independent of X and, because it has a higher production capacity to meet the needs of the market, it can produce more products than the market can accept. However, under such conditions, stocks of unnecessary finished products.
The four situations described above demonstrate the characteristics of scarce and excess resources and their relationship to production and market demand. They show that the practice of using the level of resource utilization in industry as a criterion of efficiency can lead to an overload of insufficient resources and, as a result, to an increase in excess inventories.
Temporary components
The duration of the production cycle is made up of the following time components. Set-up time is the time that a part spends waiting for the resource to be adjusted for the release of a given part. Processing time - the time during which the part is being processed. Processing timeout - the time during which the part waits for a busy resource to be released. Assembly timeout is the time during which a part waits not for the release of the "resource, but for another part with which it needs to be combined during the assembly process." Downtime - unused time; in other words, cycle time excluding the sum of setup, machining, and machining and assembly waiting times.
For a part going through an insufficient resource, the longest waiting time will be machining. As we will see from further discussion in this chapter, this is because resources of this type are usually backed by the amount of work required to fully load them. When the part passes through the excess resource, the assembly waiting time will be the longest. The part simply remains in place, awaiting the arrival of another component, after which they are assembled.
Specialists involved in compiling production schedules often seek to save setup time. Imagine that the planner increased the lot size accordingly to cut this time in half. In this case, doubling the lot size results in a double increase in all other time components of the production cycle (processing time and waiting time for processing and assembly). The doubling of these periods, caused by the halving of setup times, approximately doubles the amount of work in progress and investment in inventories.
Identifying insufficient resources
There are two known ways to search the system for an insufficient resource (or several). One is to run the resource capacity template; and the second is in using the experience accumulated by the enterprise, observing the system in action and discussing its characteristics with workers and managers of production sites.
A resource cardinality template can be created by observing the load of each resource with products that are scheduled to pass through a given resource. When we run the power pattern, we assume that our data is relatively accurate, although not necessarily flawless. As an example, consider a situation in which products are sent through resources M1-M5. Suppose that initial calculations of the load of each of these resources by a given product yielded the following results:
M / 1 - 130% power load;
M / 2 - 120% power load;
M / 4 - 95% power load;
In doing this initial analysis, we may ignore low utilization resources as they are redundant and should not be a problem. With the above list in hand, you should go directly to the shop and check all five operations. Note that resources M / 1, M / 2 and M / 3 are overloaded. This means that their planned capacity exceeds the real one. In such a situation, we will surely see a large accumulation of inventories in front of the M / 1 resource. Otherwise, it can be assumed that there is an error somewhere in the system, perhaps in a route map or in a list of materials. Imagine now that, as a result of observations and conversations with the shop personnel, it turned out that errors exist in the resources M / 1, M / 2, M / 3 and M / 4. We track these errors, make the necessary fixes, and rerun the power template, which results in the following data:
M / 1 - 110% power load;
M / 2 - 115% capacity utilization;
M / 3 - 105% power load;
M / 4 - 90% power load;
M / 5 - 85% power load.
As we can see, resources M / 1, M / 2 and M / 3 are still loaded in excess of their capacity, but the resource utilization indicator M / 2 is the most problematic. So, if at the moment we are confident in the correctness of the results obtained, this resource can be considered an insufficient resource of our production system.
If the data contains too many errors, it may not be worthwhile to spend time fixing all of these errors in order to analyze it reliably (which can take months). It is likely that in this case it is much more effective to use the VAT classification (we will discuss it in detail in this chapter) and develop an action plan based on it. Determining the type of enterprise (V, A, or T) helps to direct the analyst to the exact place in the system in which, in all likelihood, the scarce resource should be located. To identify it, use the VAT-classification, then go to the shop and observe and listen. Talking to workers and foremen in the shop, you may well hear comments: "We always have to wait for parts from a CNC machine" or "I am being given more parts than I can handle, and I just can't keep up with the process." It is these comments that should form the basis for further activities.
Save time
Recall that an insufficient resource is a resource whose capacity is less than the demand determined by the products it produces. Since we focus on scarce resources as limiting revenue (which is defined as sales), the capacity of such resources will be less. market demand for products. There are a number of ways to save time in a scarce resource (better tooling, more qualified work force, increased batch sizes, reduced set-up times, etc.), but how valuable will this saved time be? Incredibly valuable!
One hour saved from an insufficient resource adds an hour to the entire production system.
What about the time saved in the redundant resource?
One hour saved in surplus resource is nothing more than a mirage. We just
we increase the downtime of this resource by one hour.
Since the redundant resource has more capacity than is needed to meet the current needs in the system, it already contains downtime from the beginning. Measures aimed at saving time on this resource do not lead to an increase in the rate of resource utilization in the system, but only increase the downtime.
The cost of turning a surplus resource into an insufficient one
If unnecessarily large batches are planned to pass through the surplus resource, this can lead to the creation of a new scarce resource, which, of course, should be avoided. Consider the situation depicted in Fig. 20. 7, where Yi, Y2 and Y3 are surplus resources.
Let resource Yi produce parts A, which are then sent to resource Y3, and B, which are sent to resource Y2. The setup time for the release of part A of the resource Y is 200 minutes, and the processing time is 1 minute per one part. Parts A are produced in batches of 500. To release part In resource Y1, a set-up time of 150 minutes and a machining time of 2 minutes are required per part. Part B is produced in batches of 200. In this sequence, resource Y2 uses 70% of the time, and resource Y3 - 80%.
Since the time for adjusting the resource U1 for the release of part A is 200 minutes, the worker and the head of the section mistakenly decided that the volume of production can be increased by reducing the number of adjustments. Let's assume the batch size is increased to 1,500 and see what happens. At first glance, it may seem that we have saved 400 minutes of setup time. (Because instead of three setups taking a total of 600 minutes to produce three batches of 500 units, we only have one set-up for one batch of 1500 units.)
The problem in this case is that saving these 400 minutes does not lead us to achieve the goal, since it interferes with the production of part B, since resource Y1 produces more parts B for resource Y2. In the initial situation, the sequence of the process was as follows: part A (700 min), part B (550 min), part A (700 min), part B (550 min), etc. However, now, after increasing the batch size of part B to 1500 units (1700 min), resources Y2 and Y3 will not be loaded enough and they will have to wait for parts longer than they should (30% downtime for resource Y2 and 20% for resource Y,). The new sequence will be as follows: part A (1700 min), part B (1350 min), etc. Such a prolonged wait for resources Y2 and Y will have very unpleasant consequences. They can temporarily turn into insufficient resources, which can lead to a decrease in revenue.

"Drum", "shock absorber" o "rope"
Each production system needs a specific control point or multiple points to control its production flow. If the system has a limited resource, then it is he who is the best point for such control. This reference point is called the "drum" (Drum), because it is it that "produces the shot" that is used to control the functioning of the rest of the system (or the processing of parts that depend on this scarce resource). Recall that an insufficient resource is a resource that has insufficient capacity to meet the demand for its products. Thus, such a resource is running all the time, and one of the reasons for using it as a checkpoint is that it allows you to make sure that in the course of previous operations there is not an excessive volume of production and excess stocks of unfinished goods are not created with which this is insufficient. resource can't handle.
If there is no insufficient resource in the system, the "drum" must be in the location of the limited capacity resource (CCR). Recall that this is a resource that is operated with a slightly insufficient load, but on average has the necessary production capacity, if its work was not planned incorrectly (for example, if it works with too many adjustments, which leads to a lack of capacity, or produces an unnecessarily large a batch of products, as a result of which the following operations do not receive the necessary load).
If the system lacks both an insufficient resource and a resource of limited capacity, the checkpoint can be placed anywhere in it. The best position in this case will be the point at which the resource output is distributed over the largest number of operations.
Properly managing scarce resources is a very important task, and in our discussion we have repeatedly emphasized that such resources must be constantly provided with work. In fig. 20.8 shows a simple linear flow of movement of a part from resource A to resource C.
Suppose machining center D is an insufficient resource. This means that operations both before and after this resource have more cardinality. If such a sequence is not managed, then most likely a large stock of parts will be collected in front of work center D, and there will not be enough of them in subsequent sections. Stocks of finished goods will be very small, since (based on the definition of scarce resource) all manufactured goods will be sent to the market.
With such a scarce resource, the following can be done. Create a buffer stock in front of it - a "shock absorber" (Buffer), which will ensure its constant workload. Since this resource is insufficient, the output from it determines the rate of resource use in the system. Inform resource A about the number of parts produced by resource D so that A also produces the same amount and no more. This method avoids the accumulation of inventories. This link between resources is called "Rope". It can be purely formal (for example, in the form of a schedule) or informal (in the form of daily discussions, for example).
The safety stock before insufficient, the resource is a time buffer (Time Buffer), since we need to be sure that the work center D will always be loaded with work, and what kind of planned production is produced on it does not matter. We could, for example, create a 96-hour safety stock of production, as in the A through P sequence of operations shown in Fig. 20.9.
Operations from A to half of E are scheduled for 24 hours on the first day; operations from the second half of E to part of operation I are scheduled for the second day (next 24 hours); the second part of operation I to part L is scheduled for the third 24-hour day, and operations from part L to P are scheduled for the last 24 hours. In total, the whole process takes 96 hours. This means that if there is a normal deviation, or if something happens during the previous operation and the output is temporarily delayed, the work center will be able to work for another 96 hours, thereby ensuring the load of consecutive resources in the system. These 96 hours of operation include the time

We can ask the question: what should be the size of the temporary shock absorber? The answer is this: it must be such as to ensure the continuous operation of an insufficient resource. An analysis of the variance of each operation allows you to make the appropriate assumptions. In theory, the size of the temporary shock absorber can be calculated statistically by analyzing past performance, or by simulating a sequence of operations. Accuracy doesn't really matter anyway. You can start by estimating the temporary damper as one quarter of the total process time in the system. For example, suppose the workflow from A to G is 16 days (Figure 20.10). In this case, you can assign that the duration of the temporary shock absorber before the resource D should be 4 days. If this reserve runs out over the next few days or weeks, then it should be increased. This is achieved by providing more materials for the first operation A. On the other hand, if it turns out that the reserve does not become less than three days, we can refuse to allocate additional materials for operation A and reduce the temporary shock absorber until that date. Therefore, it is best to have practical experience in determining the final size of the temporary shock absorber.
If not an insufficient resource is used as a "drum", but a resource of limited capacity (and, therefore, the downtime in it is small), you can decide to create two safety stocks: one in front of this resource, and the other at the end of the process, in the form of a finished products (see fig. 20. 10).
Stocks of finished goods protect the market, and the temporary shock absorber to CCR protects the revenue. In our example, the market cannot accept all of our output, so we need to ensure that there is enough of it at the time the market can buy it.

V this example we need two "ropes": first, a "rope" that connects the stock of finished goods to the "drum", thereby increasing or decreasing the yield; secondly, the "rope" going from the "drum" to the point of "release" of the materials, due to which information about the materials used is transmitted.
In fig. 20. 11 shows the network diagram of a stream with one insufficient resource.
In this case, stocks are created not only before the given insufficient resource, but also after the group of excess resources with which this scarce resource is associated. This structure does not slow down the flow of products after they have passed an insufficient resource, since they do not have to wait for processing.
Quality value
The material requirements planning system allows for a certain percentage of scrap due to the production of a slightly larger batch of products than is actually necessary. Unlike the MRP, the JIT system does not "tolerate" poor quality, as its operation is based on balanced power. A defective part or component can cause the JIT system to malfunction, resulting in lower revenue. In contrast to JIT, synchronous manufacturing is characterized by excess capacity throughout the system, except for insufficient resources. If a defective part is produced before an insufficient resource, only the material spent on it will be irretrievably damaged. The excess capacity in the system still leaves time for another operation to replace the part that has just been rejected. However, there is no such spare time in the insufficient resource, therefore, a quality control point should be placed immediately in front of this resource, so that it will be possible to ensure that only high-quality products fall into the insufficient resource for processing. In addition, it is necessary to ensure that products passing through operations after a shortage of resources are not sent to waste, as this means a loss of potential revenue.

Lot sizes
What is the lot size on the assembly line? Some would say "one piece" because the pieces move along the line one by one; others will say "infinite number" because the line is continuously producing the same product. And both answers will be correct, they just assess the situation from different points of view. The first answer is based on a sequence of machining parts that move along the assembly line one by one. The second answer focuses on the process. From the point of view of the resource, the batch size is an infinite number,
because the process continuously produces the same parts. Thus, on the assembly line, we have a Process Batch of infinite size (that is, all the items produced on the assembly line until it is set up for the next process) and a Transfer Batch of one unit size.
As we recall, in Chapter 15 of this book we discussed in detail commissioning and operating costs. In this context, setup costs are related to the machining batch, and operating costs are related to the transfer batch.
The processing batch can be large or small, but such that it can be processed within a given period of time. As for the resource, in this case we are dealing with two types of time expenditures - setup time and processing time (downtime for Maintenance or equipment repairs are not counted). With a large processing lot size, fewer adjustments are required, which leads to an increase in the proportion of processing time and an increase in the volume of production. For insufficient resources, it is precisely large batch sizes that are desirable. For surplus resources, smaller batch sizes are desirable (because they can better utilize downtime), which leads to a reduction in product inventory during processing.
Transfer lots are associated with partial relocation of treatment lots. Rather than waiting for the complete release of the entire batch, products processed in a specific operation can be passed on to the next workstation so that it can also start working with the same processing batch. The transfer batch size can be the same as the processing batch size, but in no case can it exceed it.
The advantage of using transfer batches, which are smaller than processing batches, is that in this case the total production time is reduced, and therefore the volume of work in progress is reduced. In fig. 20. 12 shows a situation where, as a result of using a transfer batch of 100 units instead of 1000 and reducing the number of transfer batches for the second operation, the total production time was reduced from 2100 to 1300 minutes.
How the treatment and transfer batch sizes are determined
Logic dictates that in order to determine the size of processing and transfer batches, the master plan of production (regardless of how it was developed) should be analyzed and its impact on different work centers should be determined. In the MRP system, this means that in order to determine the specific utilization of each work center, the production master plan must cover both material planning and capacity planning. According to M. L. Strikanth, based on his experience, there are too many errors in production databases to do such a job well. To identify potential scarce resources and resources of limited capacity, he suggests using procedures that first determine the type of production: V, A or T (these are described in detail later in this chapter). There should be few alternative resources, and management personnel should analyze and determine which of them actually run production. These resources will become the "drum".
Instead of adjusting the main production plan to change the degree of resource utilization, it is more expedient and practical to strive to control the flow in each insufficient resource or resource of limited capacity and thereby ensure the "harmony" of their production capacities. Treatment and transfer batch sizes are adjusted based on past performance comparisons while meeting target dates.
Small transfer batch sizes reduce work-in-process inventory and accelerate production flow (resulting in shorter production times), but requires more effort to move materials. Therefore, the transfer lot size is determined based on the optimal balance of lead times, the benefits of reduced inventory, and the cost of moving materials.

When considering the process of managing work flow, you may encounter the following four situations. Insufficient resource (no downtime), in which when changing from one type of product to another, no setup time is required. Insufficient resource, in which, when changing from one type of product to another, setup time is required. A resource of limited capacity (with little downtime), in which no setup time is required when changing from one product to another. A resource of limited capacity, in which, when changing from one product to another, set-up time is required.
In the first case (insufficient resource, in which when changing from one product to another, no setup time is required), operations must be performed in a strictly planned order, which ensures timely deliveries. In the absence of setup times, only the sequence matters. In the second case, when adjustment is necessary, the batch size is increased. But since this is a scarce resource, increasing batch sizes saves set-up time and thus results in higher revenues (the saved set-up time is used for product development). Increasing the size of the processing batch can lead to delays in the execution of operations planned early in the process. Therefore, to reduce production time, it is necessary to use more frequent and smaller transfer batches.
















Situations 3 and 4 describe a resource with limited capacity that requires or does not require setup time. Managing such resources is akin to managing scarce resources, but great care must be taken. Resources with limited capacity tend to have some downtime. In this case, it would be appropriate to reduce the size of some processing batches in order to allow for more frequent product changes. This will result in a shorter production cycle and operations are likely to be completed on time. In the manufacture of products for warehouse storage, reducing the size of the handling lot has a much greater effect than increasing the number of transfer lots. This is because the resulting product mix will be much broader, resulting in a reduction in work-in-progress and overall lead time.

Rice. 20.12. Effect of changing transfer batch sizes on the total production time of a processing batch of 1000 items

Inventory management
From the traditional approach to inventory management, it follows that their only negative impact on the performance of a firm is solely in the associated operating costs. However, it can now be added that this impact is due to the increase in production time and the appearance of problems in the process of introducing technical innovations. With any technical improvement to a product that occurs continuously, it often happens that products already in the production system must also be modified accordingly. Consequently, with a smaller volume of work in progress, the number of technical alterations of products in production is reduced.
R. Fox and E. Goldratt propose to consider stocks as a loan issued to a specific production unit. The cost of such a loan is based solely on the purchased product, which is part of the inventory. As discussed above, stocks in this chapter are considered only in terms of material cost, no value added by production. If you think of inventory as a loan to a production unit, then you need a way to determine how long it is in its possession. We consider the dollar-day to be one of the suitable criteria for this.
Dollar days
A convenient measure of efficiency is the concept of dollar-days, a measure that combines the cost of an inventory and the time that inventory is in a given production unit. When using this criterion, we simply multiply the total value of the inventory by the number of days they have been in the department.
Suppose Division X has an average of $ 40,000 in inventory and on average it stays there for five days. Thus, we multiply the inventory in department X by the number of days and get the inventory volume equal to 200 thousand dollars. From this we cannot determine whether a given level of reserves is high or low, but this criterion clearly shows where exactly they are located. The management staff can then understand what to focus on and determine the acceptable levels. At the same time, you can try to develop methods to reduce the number of dollar-days, while remembering that such a measure should not become a local goal, for example, only to minimize the number of dollar-days, and harm global goals - increasing the return on invested capital, increasing cash flow, and net profit.
The application of the dollar-day criterion is beneficial from many points of view. Consider, for example, the modern practice of using equipment utilization factor as efficiency criteria. To achieve a high utilization factor, the companies create significant reserves, so that all sites operate without downtime. However, a high level of inventory leads to an increase in dollar-days, which in turn is an incentive to abandon large stocks of products in the production process. The dollar-day criterion can be applied in other areas as well. Marketing. Stimulates the refusal to create large stocks of finished products. The main result is an increase in sales of finished products. Purchasing. It stimulates a decrease in the size of purchase orders, which at first glance may seem unprofitable due to the existence of discounts when purchasing large volumes of products. But as a result, this leads to a transition to procurement on the "just in time" system. Production. Provides an incentive not to create large volumes of work in progress and not to release products before the moment when they are needed. This speeds up the movement of materials in the plant. Project management. Allows you to quantify the efficiency of project investments and stimulates the correct allocation of limited resources between
competing projects.

The dynamics of many markets has a seasonal cycle with a peak in demand, which occurs in the period from September to December inclusive, while in other months demand may be three or more times lower. This is due to the peculiarities of building budgetary processes, both at the state level and at the level of large companies.

At the beginning of the year, the demand on the markets is minimal, then, in March and April, there is a slight increase in activity, followed by a summer calm. In September, activity sharply increases, which is associated with the approaching end of the budget planning period - the so-called "drain" of budgets. At this time, everything needed to be done very quickly until the budget closes, and all companies are overworked at the end of the year.

When improving sales processes in manufacturing companies operating in markets with seasonal demand, it is necessary to take into account the fact of seasonality and plan the company's response accordingly. If the demand is uneven, then some of the time production resources will be heavily overloaded, and in other months, on the contrary, they will be idle.

If during a period of increased demand or before it try to buy additional production resources, then during a recession it will be difficult to fully load them, and they will hang as a dead weight on the company's balance sheet. If during the recession the surplus production resource is reduced, then the next peak in demand will lead to overloads and a loss of the company's turnover, because some orders will have to be abandoned.

How to be? At first glance, the obvious solution would be to rent production resources during periods of peak demand, but it is during these periods that resources will be in demand by everyone and their rent will cost a pretty penny.

It is good if the market niche of the company allows during periods of low demand to switch production from custom-made to mass production. Then the company, working at the warehouse, loads free resources, but not everyone has such an opportunity.

Another critical issue for optimizing the sales process and, in particular, for leveling the production load is high-quality forecasting and sales planning. As a rule, in many companies the quality of sales planning is low, which is due to the regular overestimation of future sales volumes and non-fulfillment of them in fact. Overly optimistic planning leads to the fact that according to the generated sales plans, the production is about to be loaded by one hundred percent or more, however, upon the onset of the next planning period, the load is insufficient, and all planned sales are smoothly shifted to the next months. It is only possible to bring order to the planning of sales and production by introducing clear and rigid rules in the sales processes if there is real information about sales. And without this, it is pointless to make any decisions on leveling the load of resources.

If sales planning provides acceptable accuracy, then you can use the following method: equalize demand during periods of recession through special price conditions. During periods of decline, the price is lower, during periods of increased demand, it is obviously higher. Such information should be available to the client with appropriate comments, which will help balance demand, and hence the production load.

The second way of leveling is the start of production even before the conclusion of the contract under the guarantee of the client. But in many cases this approach has high risks due to uncontrolled tender procedures. You may simply not be paid for a completed order.

The third way of leveling is the internal change in the capacity of resources within the framework of the annual cycle. The methods are simple: the introduction of second shifts and additional pay at peak times, while during recession times, equipment is put on scheduled repairs, and employees go on vacation.

For international company it is possible to equalize demand by using a resource located in different countries, for which it is necessary to apply joint planning in different regions. This method is specific and not always easy to implement.

Alignment of the load of production resources production and sales departments should be carried out jointly, one by one this task cannot be solved. The sales force must understand the current state of the resource load and plan sales according to production capabilities. At the same time, first of all, it is necessary to resolve the constant conflict between sales and production, which requires intervention general director... In addition to organizational issues, it is necessary to automate end-to-end planning from sales to production and procurement so that the coordination of plans is done automatically. If it is possible to build such a system, then the task of load balancing is much easier to solve.

The leveling task is very important: only those companies that are able to ensure a uniform utilization of their production resources will be able to maintain cost leadership, which is especially important during a period of stagnation and recession in markets. If during periods of market growth, managers were less concerned about load leveling, now the situation has changed and the problem has become critical for many companies.

One of the most important aspects The project manager's job is to track the assignments of all resources to effectively balance their workloads. Some resources may be overloaded, while others may be underutilized. By viewing workloads and availability in Microsoft Project, you can assess how efficiently your resources are on the project and whether adjustments are needed.

In the tab Task or Resource View select item Resource usage.

Many resource views, including Resource Usage, display overaged resources in red. Out of availability means that the maximum number of resource units has been exceeded in a given period of time. On resource sheets, the resource load balancing indicator also appears in the indicator field for over-availability resources. Look at the indicator and task assignments to assess if overexposure is acceptable.

Note: The Resource Usage view displays resource assignments not only for tasks in the current project, but also summary ones. The total resource assignments show the total amount of work assigned to the resource across all projects. To display summary resource assignments, you must connect to Microsoft Project Server and open an Enterprise Project. If you do not want the summary assignment lines to be included in the totals shown in the Resource Usage view, select those lines and press DELETE.

In the tab Task or Resource in the group dropdown menu View select item Resource usage.

In the tab Format press the button Add details.

In the list Available fields choose Loading percentage and press the button Show.

.

Advice: You can zoom in on the period shown on the timeline (for example, you can change the view from days to hours) by clicking increase (+) in the lower right corner of the window. Alternatively, you can zoom in over a period of time (for example, you can change the view from days to weeks) by clicking decrease (-).

V project center Resources.

Resources in a group Transition select item Load scheduling.

In the tab Availability in a group Representation

• Labor costs by resource.

  Time left.

  Resource usage.

In the table Details

Advice: Availability select item Set date range and then in the margins of the window Defining the date range select new dates.

In the tab Resource in a group View select view Resource graph.

In the left window, check the name of the first resource by scrolling left or right.

In a group View select an item from the dropdown list Resource sheet or Resource usage.

In the tab View in a group Data open the dropdown menu Filter and select an item.

To see again full list resources in the dropdown menu Filter select item No filter.

Note: Even without using a filter, you can easily determine which resources are over-accessed, since their names are highlighted in red in any resource view. In addition, in the Resource Sheet and Resource Usage views, the indicator field for such resources is suggested to level the load.

In any task view, such as Gantt Chart or Network Chart, on the Resource in a group Alignment select item Next Overshoot.

In a group View select item Resource sheet or Resource usage.

In the tab View in the dropdown menu Grouping select item To create a group.

In field Field name select option Exceeding availability.

In field Order select option Ascending or Descending.

If you choose the order Ascending

then on and select the value peak.

Provide a name for the group and click Apply.

Exceeded Availability: Yes

To display the resources again in their original order, in the dropdown list Grouping select item [No group].

In a group View select item Resource usage.

In the tab Format in a group Details check the box Time left.

In line Ost. available

In a group View select item Resource graph.

In the tab Format in the dropdown menu Diagram select item Availability by labor intensity.

To move to the next resource with available time, press the PAGE DOWN key or use the scroll bar or arrow keys in the left pane.

These instructions are for Microsoft Project 2007.

In this article

View the workload of a resource in the Resource Usage view

On the menu View select item Resource usage.

In the table portion of the Resource Usage view, review the resource names and their assigned tasks.

In the part of the view that shows the timeline, see how the work is distributed over the selected time period.

Many resource views, including Resource Usage, display overaged resources in red. Out of availability means that the maximum number of resource units has been exceeded in a given period of time. On resource sheets, an icon also appears in the indicator field for over-availability resources to indicate that the load on the resource needs to be leveled. Look at the indicator and task assignments to assess if overexposure is acceptable.

Suppose two tasks with the same duration of four hours start and end at the same time. If you assign both tasks to Gleb, technically he gets an overage, because in a four-hour interval he needs to complete two tasks, that is, Gleb is 200 percent loaded. But if equalization by day is set, Gleb's load does not need to be equalized, since his eight-hour work capacity is not exceeded throughout the day.

Note: The Resource Usage view displays resource assignments not only for tasks in the current project, but also summary ones. The total resource assignments show the total amount of work assigned to the resource across all projects. To display summary resource assignments, you must connect to the Microsoft Office Project Server and open an Enterprise Project. If you do not want the summary assignment lines to be included in the totals shown in the Resource Usage view, select those lines and press DELETE.

You can also modify the Resource Usage view to display all resource assignments and their workload percentages in the timeline. Thus, you will see all assignments by resources, as well as how fully they are used to work on assigned tasks in the selected period of time.

On the menu View select item Resource usage.

On the menu Format select item Detail Styles.

In the list Available fields choose Loading percentage and press the button Show.

View the timeline part of the view. In the "Selected" field . added row, you can view the percentage of the total available work time resource allocated to appointments during the selected time period. In addition, the Timeline view displays both the resource's over-availability work and the allocation percentage in red, so you can pinpoint when the resource is going over-availability.

Advice: You can zoom in to the period shown in the timeline (for example, you can change the view from days to hours) by clicking scale in... Alternatively, you can zoom in over a period of time (for example, you can change the view from days to weeks) by clicking decrease scale.

View enterprise resource availability in Project Online

To find over-utilized or underutilized resources in all or only one project, you need to open Project Online and look at the resource availability chart and table.

V project center Project Online on the left menu, click Resources.

Select the checkboxes next to the resources you want to view the availability information for, and then on the tab Resources in a group Transition select item Load scheduling.

To select adjacent resources in the list, press and hold SHIFT and click the first resource and then the last resource. To select non-contiguous resources, hold down the CTRL key and click each resource one at a time.

In the tab Availability in a group Representation select the resource view.

• Select Labor costs by resource.

  To display assigned work, grouped by projects in which resources are involved, select Resource Usage by Project.

  To display the amount of time resources are still available to run in a specified time period, select Time left.

  To display the amount of work that is assigned to the resource, select Resource usage.

If you selected more than one resource on the previous page, click the legend in the diagram and select the resources you want to see in the diagram.

In the table Details below the chart, a timeline is displayed that shows how much work is assigned to a resource in a specified time period.

Advice: To change the date range on the chart, on the tab Availability select item Set date range and then in the margins of the window Defining the date range select new dates.

View Individual Workloads in a Chart

The Resource Graph view displays a bar graph and the availability of individual resources. This view allows you to quickly determine if a dedicated resource is over-allocated or under-allocated over a period of time. In addition, you can view the percentage of units allocated to assignments, as well as the availability of the maximum number of resource units.

On the menu View select item Resource graph.

Check the name of the first resource in the Resource Graph view.

If the resource name is shown in red, it has exceeded its availability. Resources loaded in accordance with the specified working capacity (completely or not) are shown in black.

Blue bars (default) indicate that the allocated workload is exactly (or is not reaching) the resource's maximum availability and working time during this period. Red bars (by default) indicate that the resource's assigned load during this period exceeds its maximum availability and working hours.

Note the highest utilization rates in the time period shown, that is, the peak units for the resource.

Peak units are indicated at the bottom of the chart.

To view a graph for the next resource, press the PAGE DOWN key or use the scroll bar or arrow keys.

View a List of Out of Availability Resources

You have the option to view a list of only those resources that have exceeded their availability. To do this, select the Resource Sheet or Resource Usage view, and then filter out-of-availability resources.

On the menu View select item Resource sheet or Resource usage.

In the view, click Filter and choose an option Oversized resources.

To see the full list of resources again, click Filter and choose an option All resources.

Note: Even without using a filter, you can easily determine which resources are over-accessed, since their names are highlighted in red in any resource view. In addition, in the Resource Sheet and Resource Usage views, an indicator appears in the Indicator box to indicate that resources are leveling with overexposure.

Oversized is also shown in Task Views, but is not highlighted in red. In the Tasks view, you will have to step through each task that has a resource overage, because this view does not show which resources (and by how much) are overexploited.

Oversized resource grouping

In the Resource Sheet or Resource Usage view, you can group overexploited resources. Resources can also be grouped by peak units, which show the maximum utilization percentage of each resource in the project assignments. When browsing resources by the degree of excess of their availability, you can first of all pay attention to those who have the highest availability.

On the menu View select item Resource sheet or Resource usage.

On the menu Project Grouping and select the item Grouping setting.

In field Field name select option Exceeding availability.

In field Order select option Ascending or Descending.

If you choose the order Ascending, the non-overaged resource group is shown first, followed by the overaged resource group.

To create a nested grouping of peak units, click the box then on and select Peak units.

To save this group, click save... Provide a name for the grouping, and if you want the grouping to appear in the Grouping menu, check the box Show in menu... Click the button OK to close the dialog box " Saving a group ".

View items are grouped according to specified conditions. All resources that have an assignment that exceeds 100 percent of peak units at any stage of the project are combined into a group Exceeded Availability: Yes... If you created a nested group of peak units, you may have an additional group called, and so on.

To display the resources in their original order again, in the box Grouping select item No group.

Find resources with available time

If you have overaged resources, it makes sense to look in your project for resources that have available time to distribute the workload more evenly. This feature is also useful if you have additional unassigned tasks and need to find out who is available for this job.

Resource availability is determined using the following formula:

resource availability = resource capacity - (total resource assignment + calendar exceptions)

The cumulative assignment of a resource is the sum of all the work done by the resource, and calendar exceptions are any exceptions in the resource's main calendar.

To find resources that can spend additional time on a task, modify the Resource Usage view to include information about how long (hours, days, or weeks) the resource is available for additional assignments. You can also use this view to reallocate work between overexploited and underutilized resources.

On the menu View select item Resource usage.

On the menu Format hover over element Details and choose an option Remaining availability.

In line Ost. available(Remaining Availability) Check the amount of work that corresponds to the remaining available time (or part-time) in each period.

In addition, you can display and modify the resource graph view to view an individual resource bar chart to help you find users who can work additional hours on a task. In the Resource Graph view, you can view the details of the allocated resources in one go. You can view the number of available work for a specific period.

On the menu View select item Resource graph.

On the menu Format hover over element Details and choose an option Availability by labor intensity.

Check the amount of work available for the selected resource shown in the diagram. To see the underutilization at different times, scroll the timeline.

Check the amount of time available for the selected resource at the bottom of the chart.

Press the PAGE DOWN key or use the scroll bar or arrow keys to move to the next resource with available time.

12.1. Introduction

The goal of the Capacity Management Process is to provide the necessary processing and storage capacity at the right time and in a cost-effective manner, ensuring the right balance of capacity in the IT organization. Good Capacity Management eliminates panic buying at the last minute or buying the largest "just in case" system. These situations are costly. Many data centers, for example, are constantly running with. underload by 30-40% or more. This is not so bad if you have a small number of servers. But if you have hundreds and thousands of servers, like many enterprise IT organizations, then these percentages mean a huge loss of funds.

Capacity Management is responsible for addressing the following issues:

Is the cost of acquiring data processing capacity justified c. business needs, and is this capacity used in the most efficient way (cost to capacity ratio)?

Does the available capacity adequately correspond to both current and future needs of the customer (supply / demand ratio)?

Are the available capacities operating at maximum efficiency (performance tuning)? When exactly is it necessary to install additional capacities?

The Capacity Management Process requires a close relationship with business processes and IT strategy to accomplish its tasks. Therefore, this process is both reactive (measuring and improving) and proactive (analyzing and predictive).

12.1.1. Basic concepts

Important concepts for Capacity Management include:

Performance Management: Measure, monitor and tune the performance of IT infrastructure components.

Application sizing: Determining the hardware capacity or network bandwidth required to support new or modified applications under the anticipated workload.

Modeling: Using analytical or simulation models to determine the power required for an application and arrive at the best solution. Simulation allows you to analyze different scenarios and ask “what if?” Questions.

Capacity Planning: Developing a Capacity Plan, analyzing the current situation (preferably using scenarios) and predicting the future use of IT infrastructure and resources needed to meet the expected demand for IT services.

12.2 Process objectives

The Capacity Management process aims to continually provide the necessary IT resources that meet the current and future needs of the customer, at the right time (where they are needed) and at an affordable cost.

Therefore, the Capacity Management Process requires an understanding of both the expected development of the customer's business and the projected technical development. The Capacity Management process plays an important role in determining the return on investment and justifying value.

Benefits of using the process "

The benefits of implementing the Capacity Management Process are:

reducing the risks associated with existing services, since effective Resource Management and constant monitoring of equipment performance are carried out;

Reducing the risks associated with new services because the application sizing knows the impact of new applications on existing systems. The same applies to modified services;

cost reduction, since investments take place at appropriate times, not too early and not too late, which means that purchases do not have to be made at the last minute or large capacities are bought for the future, earlier than they are needed;

reducing the threat of disruption of business processes due to close interaction with the Change Management Process in determining the impact of changes on the capacity of IT and telecommunications facilities and preventing emergency changes due to incorrect calculation of the capacity of funds;

Drawing up more accurate forecasts when accumulating information by the Capacity Management Process, which allows you to quickly respond to customer requests;

growth of the rationality of work due to the advance achievement of a balance of supply and demand;

Cost Management or even cost reduction related to the capacity of funds, due to their more rational 11 use.

These benefits translate into improved customer relationships. The Capacity Management process engages with the customer at an early stage and allows for the anticipation of customer requirements. Relationships with suppliers are also improving. Purchase, delivery, installation and maintenance can be planned more efficiently.

12.3. Process

Like many ITIL processes, Capacity Management dates back to the mainframe era. Because of this, unfortunately, some believe that Capacity Management is only necessary in mainframe environments. The underestimation of the process is exacerbated by the significant depreciation of the hardware yen in recent years. As a result, many simply buy overcapacity hardware without performing Capacity Management. The danger lies in the 410 largest source of cost, risk and possible problems in IT, it is not the hardware itself. In other words, unnecessary hardware build-up creates management problems that are more expensive than the hardware itself.

Implementing a Capacity Management Process will help prevent both unnecessary investment and randomized capacity changes, as the latter can have a particularly negative impact on service delivery. Currently, the cost of IT depends not so much on the investment in the capacity of IT assets, but on the management of them. For example, an excessive increase in disk storage capacity affects backups to external tape, as it will take longer to find the archived files on the network. This example illustrates an important aspect of the Capacity Management Process: good Capacity Management is probably the most important factor in changing the perception (and reality) of an IT organization — not as an overhead group, but as a service provider. With good Capacity Management, the IT service provider will see, for example, eighteen strategic IT initiatives targeting this year will require a new backup solution. Understanding this, the Capacity Management Processor can determine the real cost of these initiatives, meaning that the cost of the new backup solution is spread across the eighteen initiatives. This will be a proactive decision. On the other hand, in the absence of Capacity Management, the IT organization will only react after the backup capacity is exhausted. In this case, the customer will perceive IT costs as overhead and the IT organization as “begging for money,” simply because it has not been reactive in setting and managing customer expectations and planning costs ahead of time.

The Capacity Management process aims to prevent unexpected and hasty purchases by making better use of available resources, increasing capacity on time and managing the use of current capacity. This process can also help coordinate the various components of the service to ensure that the investment in the respective components is leveraged.

Today's IT infrastructure is extremely complex. This leads to an increase in the dependencies between the capacities of its components. As a result, it becomes more difficult to provide the customer with a consistent level of service. Therefore, a professional IT organization should use A complex approach to Capacity Management.

The Capacity Management process consists of three sub-processes (or levels) of capacity analysis:

Business Opportunity Management - The objective of this sub-process is to understand the future needs of the users. It can be achieved by obtaining information from the customer, for example from his strategic plans or through trend analysis. This sub-process is n-active. It has a close relationship with the Service Level Management process in defining and negotiating service agreements.

Service Capability Management - The task of this sub-process is to determine and understand the level of use of IT services by customers (products and services provided to customers). Knowing the performance metrics and peak load on your systems is essential in order to conclude a suitable Service Level Agreement and guarantee its implementation.

Resource Capacity Management - The task of this sub-process is to define and understand the use of the IT infrastructure. Examples of resources include network bandwidth, processing power, and disk storage capacity. For effective "Management

■ Resources should identify potential problems in advance. It is also necessary to keep abreast of trends in the development of IT infrastructure. Within this sub-process, active monitoring of development trends is an important activity.

Since the Capacity Management Process and the business needs are linked, Capacity Management is an essential element of the planning process. However, the support it provides for operational processes cannot be underestimated either. The links of this process to other Service Management processes are discussed below.

Relationship with the Incident Management Process

Incident Management informs the Capacity Management process about incidents caused by IT capacity problems. Capacity Management can provide Incident Management with templates (methodologies, steps and actions) "1 to diagnose or resolve these problems.

Relationship with the Problem Management Process

Capacity Management supports the Problem Management Process in both its reactive and proactive activities. The Capacity Management Process toolkit, information accumulated during its operation, knowledge and expertise can be used to support the Problem Management Process at various stages.

Relationship with Change Management Process

Staff members involved in the Capacity Management Process may be part of the Change Advisory Sonnet. Capacity Management can provide information on capacity requirements and the potential impact of changes on service delivery. The change information is the input for the Capacity Planning. During the development of this plan, the Capacity Management Process may submit Requests for Change (RFC) "

Relationship with the Release Management Process

The Capacity Management process supports the scheduling of release distributions by using computer networks to replicate them automatically and manually.

Relationship with the Configuration Management Process

There is a close relationship between the Capacity Database (CDB) and the Configuration Database (CMDB). The information provided by the Configuration Management Process is essential to developing an effective capacity database.

Relationship with Service Level Management Process

The Capacity Management Process provides guidance to the Service Level Management Process regarding the feasibility of the discussed Service Levels (eg, application responsiveness). Capacity Management measures and monitors performance and provides control information to verify the execution of the agreed Service Level, and, if necessary, initiates changes in the Service Level and prepares the necessary reports.

Relationship with IT Finance Management Process

Capacity Management supports investment planning, revenue-cost analysis and investment decisions. In addition, this process provides important billing information for capacity-related services, such as the provision of network resources.

Relationship with IT Service Continuity Management Process

Capacity Management determines the minimum capacity required to continue providing service in the event of unforeseen circumstances. The capacities required for IT Service Continuity Management must be continuously reviewed (reviewed) to ensure that they are consistent with the daily changes in the operating environment.

Relationship with the Availability Management Process

Capacity Management and Availability Management are closely related processes. Performance and capacity issues can disrupt IT services. In fact, the customer may consider poor service performance to be equivalent to unavailability. Effective coordination of these two processes is required due to their close interdependence. They use many of the same tools and techniques, such as Component Failure Impact Analysis (CFIA) and Fault Tree Analysis (FTA).

12.4. Activities

The activities in the Capacity Management Process are described below, with a breakdown for each sub-process.

12.4.1. Business Capacity Management

Business Capacity Management includes the following types of work:

Development of a Capacity Plan "

The Capacity Plan describes the current capacity of the IT infrastructure and the expected changes in the demand for IT services, replacement of obsolete components and technical development plans. The capacity plan also identifies the changes required to deliver services at an agreed SLA level at an affordable cost. That is, the Capacity Plan describes not only the expected changes, but also the associated costs. This plan should be prepared annually and reviewed quarterly to ensure that it is up to date.

In a sense, the Capacity Plan is the most important output of the Capacity Management Process. The output often includes an annual plan aligned with a budget or investment plan, a long-term plan, and quarterly plans detailing planned capacity changes. Together, this is a set of related plans, where the level of detail increases as the planning time approaches.

Modeling

Modeling is a powerful Capacity Management tool used to predict trends in infrastructure.

The Capacity Management Process uses a wide range of tools, from evaluation tools to extensive prototype testing. The former are inexpensive and often used in daily activities. The latter are usually only suitable for. ■ large-scale implementation projects.

Between these two poles, there are a large number of approaches that are more accurate than estimates and cheaper than large experimental prototypes. In order of increasing value, they include:

trend analysis (the cheapest way);

analytical modeling;

simulation modeling ";

testing against some baseline, also called benchmarkingg (gives the most accurate estimate).

Trend analysis can be used to obtain information about load capacity, but not to predict application response times. Analytical and simulation modeling have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, simulation modeling can be used to accurately predict the performance of a central computer, possibly as part of work to determine the required size of the technical platform for the operation of software 1. However, this method is time consuming. Analytical mathematical modeling usually takes less time, but the resulting information is less reliable. Testing against some baseline (benchmarking) means that a real-world environment is created, such as in a vendor's data center. This environment meets performance requirements and is used for what-if or change simulation. For example, such as "what happens if an application component is transferred to a different computer system?" or "what happens if we double the number of transactions?"

Determining the size of the technical platform for software operation

At this stage, the configuration of the technical means necessary for the operation of new or changed applications is determined, for example, those that are under development or that can be purchased at the request of the customer. These calculations provide information about expected performance levels, required hardware, and costs. This procedure is especially relevant in the early stages of software development. Clear information on required hardware and other IT resources, as well as the anticipated early stage costs are of value to management. It also helps in the development of prototypes of new Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Sizing the required technical platform can be challenging in large companies or organizations with complex IT infrastructures. In the first place, within the framework of the Capacity Management Process, there is an agreement with the developers of the Requirements for the Service Level, which must be implemented using the product. When the product reaches the acceptance test stage, it is verified that the required service level has been achieved in terms of central processing unit (CPU) performance, input / output devices (I / O), network, disk and memory usage.

Workload metrics are one of the outputs of the technical platform sizing phase. They can be used to predict the required capacity, for example, what will happen if the number of users increases by 25%. Other indicators of workload are capacity requirements over time (peak loads during the day / week / year and future growth prospects).

12.4.2. Service Capacity Management and Resource Capacity Management

These sub-processes include the same types of activities, but with acceptance for different aspects. Service Capability Management refers to the delivery of IT services, and Resource Capacity Management refers to the technological aspects of their delivery. The activities are shown in fig. 12.2.

Monitoring

Infrastructure components are monitored to ensure that agreed Service Levels are being met. Examples of resources that can be monitored are processor (CPU) usage, disk usage, network usage, number of licenses (i.e., for example, there are only ten free licenses), etc.

Monitoring data needs to be analyzed. Trend analysis can be used to predict future use. The results of the analysis may lead to the initiation of efficiency improvement work or the acquisition of additional IT components. Analysis of activities requires in-depth knowledge of the entire infrastructure and business processes of the company.

Customization

Tuning is done to optimize the systems for the current or expected workload based on the analysis and interpretation of monitoring data.

Implementation

The purpose of implementation is the introduction of a modified or new capacity. If it is about change, then implementation involves the Change Management Process.

Demand Management

Demand Management focuses on IT capacity consumption issues. Demand Management examines the influence of various factors on demand. A simple example: a user runs a poorly written SQL report in the middle of the day, blocking other users from accessing the database and generating exorbitant traffic. The Capacity Management Process Manager suggests running the report job at night so that the user gets the result on his desk in the morning.

Let's make a distinction between Short-term and Long-term Demand Management:

Managing Short-Term Demand - in the event that in the near future there is a threat of a recurring shortage of IT resources and if access to additional capacity is difficult;

Long-Term Demand Management - if the cost of the upgrade cannot be justified, although there may be capacity shortages at certain times (eg, between 10:00 am and 12:00 pm).

Demand Management provides important information to draw up, monitor and possibly adjust both the Capacity Plan and Service Level Agreements. Demand Management can also use differentiated billing (ie, different rates during peak and off-peak times) to influence the customer.

Filling the Capacity Database (COB)

Creating and populating a CDB database means collecting and updating technical, business and any other information related to Capacity Management. It may be unrealistic to store all information but capacities in one physical database. Network and computer systems executives can use their own methods. Often, the IDS database contains links to various sources of information on the capacity of IT systems.

12.5. Process control

The Capacity Management process is most effective when it is closely linked to other planning processes such as Availability Management and application development activities. This relationship encourages a proactive approach to the Capacity Management Process.

Management reports

Management reports provided by the process provide, on the one hand, information about Process Management in terms of the Plan's metrics for capacity, resources used to implement the process, and process improvement activities; on the other hand, reports on deviations on such issues as:

discrepancies between actual and planned capacity utilization;

tendencies in discrepancies;

impact on the Service Levels;

expected increase / decrease in capacity utilization in the short and long term;

threshold values, upon reaching which it will be necessary to acquire additional capacities.

Critical Success Factors and Key Indicators Efficiency (KPI)

Capacity Management depends on the following critical success factors:

accurate assessment of business plans and customer expectations;

understanding IT strategy and planning, and planning accuracy;

assessments of ongoing technical developments in company;

interactions with other processes.

The following parameters can serve as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the Capacity Management Process:

Predictability of customer needs: identification of changes in workload and trends, as well as the accuracy of the Capacity Plan

Technology: Various options for measuring the performance of IT services, the rate at which new technologies are introduced, and the ability to consistently comply with Service Level Agreements (SLAs) even with older technology tools.

Cost: Reduce rush purchases, reduce unnecessary or expensive overcapacity, and plan investment early.

IT Operations ": fewer incidents due to performance problems, the ability to meet customer demand at any time, and the severity of the company's attitude towards the Capacity Management Process.

Functions and roles

The role of the Capacity Management Process Manager is to lead the process and to ensure that the Capacity Plan is developed and maintained, and to ensure that the Capacity Database (CDB) is up to date.

System, network and application managers also play an important role in the Capacity Management Process. They are not only responsible for performance optimization, they are also expected to use their expertise to transform business needs into system load profiles and determine the required IT capacity from them.

12.6. Problems and costs

12.6.1. Problems

Potential problems with the Capacity Management Process include:

Unrealistic expectations - Developers 1, managers, and customers often have unrealistic expectations due to a lack of understanding of the technical capabilities of applications, computer systems, and networks. One of the objectives of the Capacity Management Process is to channel these expectations, for example by educating developers about the impact of nx developments (eg, databases) on IT capacity and performance. The impact of the Capacity Management Process can also be overestimated, especially with regard to system tuning and workload scheduling. If the system requires a lot of customization, then most likely the reason is in the design flaws of the application or database. In general, tuning cannot be used to achieve a higher level of performance than what the system was designed for.

tana originally. Most large IT systems have load scheduling algorithms that are usually more efficient than involving system managers. And of course, there are costs associated with customization: it doesn't make sense for a high-paid engineer to spend weeks achieving a 3% improvement in performance if a $ 100 memory expansion yields a 10% improvement. It will be even more expensive to manage systems that are not “as easy as two and two”. Excessive "jerking" of parameters on various blocks, applications or databases can lead to unintended consequences and increase the delay in all service management processes, as well as maintenance on and on and off.

Lack of relevant information - It is often difficult to get the information you need, for example for a Capacity Plan. It can be difficult to obtain reliable information about the expected workload because the customer's plans are unknown or almost unknown, especially in detail. This also causes difficulties for the customer, since life cycle the product is getting shorter. The only solution is to make the best possible estimates and update them periodically as more information becomes available.

Information from the supplier - in the absence of information about the background of the issue (for example, when a new system is purchased), Capacity Management becomes dependent on the information provided by the suppliers. Vendors usually use 2 test results to provide information about their systems, but because of the large differences in test methods, it is often difficult to match the information and can be misleading about the actual performance of the system.

Deployment in complex IT environments - Deployment in complex distributed environments is challenging as a significant number of technical interfaces will create a large number of performance interdependencies.

Determining the Appropriate Level of Monitoring - Monitoring tools often have many options and can provoke overly detailed research. When purchasing and using these tools, it is necessary to decide in advance at what level of detail the monitoring should be performed.

These issues are relevant to Power Management computer systems, as well as networks, large printer centers, and PBX systems. ”This can be even more challenging if multiple departments are responsible for these areas, which can lead to conflicts of responsibility for Capacity Management.

12.6.2. Expenses

The cost of commissioning Capacity Management should be determined in preparation for the implementation of the process. These costs can be divided into the following groups:

purchase of hardware and software tools such as monitoring tools, capacity database (C-DB), modeling tools for simulation and statistical analysis, and reporting tools;

Project Management costs but process implementation;

personnel, training and support costs;

premises, etc.

After starting the process, there are ongoing staff costs, service contracts, etc. Chapter 13

Most of the articles on chip tuning are written by chip tuning companies. These articles are slowly and surely leading you to the idea that chipping is one big plus.

We will offer you an alternative version of the article, uninterested. Whether you do chip tuning after it or not - it makes no difference to us. So, the frequently asked questions about chip tuning.

Chip tuning is changing the engine management program to improve power, economy, or fix errors. The operation of the engine is controlled by an ECU - an electronic control unit that can be reprogrammed (in analogy with computers, this is a reinstallation of the operating system).

If it is possible to remove a lot of power from the engine by changing only the "firmware", why is it not done right at the factory? Are manufacturers stupider than chip tuners?

No, not more stupid. However, for manufacturers, power density is not the main criterion. Engines rarely boost 100% of their physical capabilities, and the reasons can be very different. Sometimes they choose the power that is beneficial from the point of view of taxes, or they "choke" the engine in order to reduce CO2 emissions - taxes depend on them in Europe.

It happens that the same motor is produced with different degrees of forcing. For example, the Ford 1.6 Duratec Ti-VCT engine can be 105-horsepower or 125-horsepower, although structurally the versions do not differ.

In Russia, due to a gradual increase in the transport tax, the Ssang Yong Actyon can be equipped with a 2-liter diesel engine with a capacity of 175 hp. or its derated to 149 hp. version.

In modern engines, environmental performance is becoming increasingly important. Often times, both power and economy have to be sacrificed to reduce harmful emissions. This allows you to improve the performance of the motor, sacrificing its eco-standard.

Sometimes we are talking about a trivial error in the program or "suffocation" of the engine for the sake of being able to use lower quality gasoline.

Chip tuners look for such loopholes and try to increase power and torque within limits that manufacturers have not used for political or environmental reasons.

Does chip tuning affect the engine's resource?

Chip tuners unanimously assure that it has no effect. At the same time, no company refers to an authoritative resource study before and after chip tuning. This is understandable: research is expensive and would pay off after a thousandth client, so it's easier to say - it doesn't.

If you put two motors "before" and "after" on the stands and force them to thresh at peak power rpm with fully open throttle (the so-called nominal mode), the forced motor will wear out more.

Another question is, how critical is it? First, the engine is rarely used in nominal mode: most of the time we drive at partial loads, and here the difference between "before" and "after" is no longer so noticeable.

Secondly, the resource of modern motors "for iron" (for example, a cylinder-piston group) is hundreds of thousands of kilometers, so the first or second owner usually does not care about a certain drop in the resource.

Finally, the quality of oil and fuel affects the resource to a greater extent than changes in the cartography of the engine.

However, all this is true for competent chip tuning, the authors of which were not greedy. Naturally, an unsuccessful program can affect the resource of the motor or simply disable it.

In addition, chip tuning can overload the gearbox with torque: for example, the six-speed automatic Aisin for Volkswagen cars in the 09G version is designed for a torque of 250 N * m. To such values, some chip tuners propose to boost the 1.4 TSI engine (122 hp), which will make the load on the gearbox as much as possible. At the same time, the Aisin assault rifle has reinforced versions, for example, 09K, capable of withstanding 400-450 N * m, but they differ in a slightly different design (including the number of clutches). In chip tuning, the main thing is a sense of proportion and a thorough knowledge of the capabilities of the motor.

You will not be offered any objective insurance against breakage, so you can only rely on the solidity of the chip maker. Large companies, through which hundreds of cars have passed, try not to risk their reputation and force the car to safe limits or officially warn of the possibility negative consequences... Nevertheless, they can only guarantee you reliable operation in words.

Will I lose my factory warranty if I do chip tuning?

Most likely, yes: an illiterate chip tuning can disable the engine, and the manufacturer is unlikely to want to cover the costs of such repairs.

Chip-tuners mainly insist on the "invisibility" of the procedure: they say, no one will determine. After all, "chip" programs are usually written on the basis of factory programs, so changes can be detected only by setting a goal. If you applied for warranty repair of the suspension, it is unlikely that the dealer will look for the cause of the breakdown in the modified computer program (although this cannot be ruled out).

You will almost certainly lose your powertrain warranty. In case of any problems with the motor, the dealer will most likely determine the modified version of the "firmware", and this is at least a reason for a thorough investigation.

Sometimes dealerships offer their own chip tuning programs, but their prices are usually higher, and very often the factory warranty for the motor still ends.

Some chip tuners promise their own warranty, which mainly covers the tuning devices themselves, for example, power boost modules (tuning boxes).

How much power and torque can be increased due to chip tuning?

For atmospheric engines, the limits are small - usually 3-7%, sometimes up to 10-15%. Usually, when chip tuning naturally aspirated engines, more attention is paid not to maximum power, which is rarely used, but to torque in the middle rev range. This makes the engine more "lively".

Approximate limits of power increase after chip tuning

Supercharged engines, both gasoline and diesels, lend themselves better to chip tuning - here it is possible to squeeze out 25-30%, sometimes up to 50%.

Below are the external speed characteristics of the Volkswagen 1.8 TSI engine before and after chip tuning: as you can see, the power has increased from 155 hp. up to 199 hp, torque - from 253 N * m to 326 N * m, and its peak shifted to low revs.

What parameters are changed during chip tuning?

The calibration coefficients are changing, which are responsible for the dependences of the ignition timing (injection for diesel engines), the excess air ratio, the valve timing (in engines with their automatic control), the operation algorithm of the bypass valve of the pressurization system, as well as a number of other parameters.

What is the point of chip tuning naturally aspirated engines if the increase in power is small?

It is very difficult to squeeze out a lot of power from an atmospheric engine without sacrificing its resource. Therefore, the maximum power after chip tuning usually changes slightly.

The main focus of tuners is on the torque curve, trying to raise it in the midrange, which is most often used during normal driving. Relatively speaking, they pay more attention not to objective dynamics (according to the stopwatch), but to subjective ones. The engine becomes more elastic, sometimes it reacts sharper to gas, and this creates the feeling that the engine has significantly increased in power.

Sometimes there are obvious dips in the torque curve due to environmental concerns or software bugs. Below is the external speed characteristic of the Chevrolet Lacetti 1.4 engine before and after chip tuning. Power is up just 1 hp, torque is up 5%, but the torque curve is more "full", especially in the 4,000 rpm range.

Some chip tuners promise a simultaneous increase in power and improved fuel efficiency. Is this possible in principle?

In principle, it is possible, for example, by reducing the environmental parameters of the engine. Thus, nitrogen oxide emissions depend on the maximum temperature in the cylinder. With a decrease in the ignition timing below the optimal value, the content of nitrogen oxides decreases, but both power and efficiency decrease. By increasing the angle, sometimes it is possible to simultaneously raise both power and economy, but at the cost of the environmental friendliness of the engine. It is clear that most clients do not care about it.

Chip tuners sometimes focus on improving efficiency with constant power, but we did not find reliable experimental data on the effectiveness of these measures.

How much does chip tuning cost?

Depends on the car and service: "garage" specialists offer a chip from 1000 rubles, serious companies that write a program specifically for your car usually ask from 7-12 thousand for a 1.6-liter aspirated engine to 20-30 thousand for a powerful multi-liter engine ... Sometimes chip tuners focus on the relative cheapness of additional "horses": for example, an increase in the power of the Porsche 911 Carrera (997) engine with 325 hp. up to 350 hp allows to bring its dynamics closer to the Carrera S model. The cost of chip tuning is about 26 thousand rubles, the difference in price between the models is about half a million.

In general, for engines that lend themselves well to chipping, the cost of additional horsepower is about 300-1000 rubles.

Why do they do chip tuning?

The lion's share of requests is the desire to improve the dynamics of the car, which is sometimes mixed with the desire to save on transport tax, because it is paid "according to the passport." Economy is the second motive.

Some seek to correct the characteristics of the engine, remove dips and "hangs" of the engine at certain speeds, or increase responsiveness to the gas pedal: however, special devices are better suited for the latter task (see below).

Sometimes chip tuning is needed to correct program errors, which, for example, lead to unstable cold operation or jerky gear changes.

How can you make sure that the chip tuning has worked?

In chip tuning, as in medicine, the placebo effect is strong: even if nothing has changed in the car, the owners feel a crazy increase in power. Simply because they turn the engine more and more often press the gas pedal to the floor.

Therefore, serious chip tuning companies have stands for external speed characteristics. More expensive stands allow you to work with all-wheel drive models, some are equipped with blowing fans so that the engine does not overheat with repeated repetitions. By the way, keep in mind that if there is no fan, repeated measurements at short intervals may lead to overheating of the motor.

For competent chip tuning, the removal of external speed characteristics before and after is mandatory, including for the sake of ensuring the reliability of the "chip" motor.

In addition, sometimes chip tuners check the acceleration dynamics of a car using a measuring kit (for example, RaceLogic) and compare it with the characteristics before chip tuning.

How is chip tuning done in specialized firms?

First, the car undergoes diagnostics to exclude malfunctions that interfere with the chip.

If all is well, the external speed characteristic is taken off. The original ECU program is saved, and usually if the customer is unhappy new program within 1-2 weeks of operation, the chip tuners fill the previous version and return the money. This is one of the signs of the company's seriousness.

Then the data about the car and its program are transferred to specialists who write a new program, relying on previous experience with this model.

After that, the car undergoes bench measurements with a new program, and if any nuances are found, the program is being finalized. Sometimes it takes several "iterations" to get the desired result.

Is it possible to make the gas pedal "sharp" with the help of chip tuning?

Yes, you can. However, if the task is only in this, you can use the corrector of the electronic gas pedal. This is a small electronic unit that connects to the circuit between the accelerator pedal position sensor and the ECU. It modulates the signal from the gas pedal, usually doubling it: if the gas pedal gives a signal of 10%, the corrector increases it to 20% and transmits it to the ECU.

Modern cars often seem more "dumb" compared to cars of similar power produced in the 90s. This is largely due to the accelerator settings for the sake of improving the environmental friendliness of the motor in transient modes. Correctors can partially solve this problem and make the car subjectively faster, sometimes easier to drive. However, correctors usually increase fuel consumption (the driver often drives at full throttle), and for other cars they only create discomfort.

One of the advantages of a proofreader is the ability to remove it, for example, before visiting a dealership. The effectiveness of the corrector depends on the specific car and your preferences: ideally, first it is better to take the corrector for a "test drive" and then give 5-10 thousand rubles.

Some correctors have an off button to make the pedal less “sharp” (for example, when parking).

Are there any chip tuning options that allow you not to interfere with the standard control program?

Yes, for example, with the help of so-called tuning boxes: blocks that modulate the signal from the controller to the actuator, for example, injectors. Most often, boxes are offered for diesel engines, improving their power or efficiency. Nothing changes in the engine itself, and the "box" can always be removed and rearranged, for example, to another car.

According to the manufacturers, efficiency-oriented boxes can reduce fuel consumption by 10-12%, while slightly improving engine performance. "Power" boxes provide an increase in power by 20-30%, and some models allow you to smoothly change the degree of engine boost, choosing between the standard program, economy or power modes.

So, one of the boxes on a Mitsubishi L200 pickup truck showed the following values ​​during bench tests: zero mode - 130 hp; moment 265 N * m, which approximately corresponds to the passport data. The most forced 8th mode - 152 hp. and 306 N * m.

Modern boxes allow you to control modes from your cell phone.