There are three primary methods that can be used in order to schedule jobs and staff.

Standard SAP Business One Activities

Standard SAP Business One functionality allows users to create Activities detailing tasks, meetings, phone calls or other types of work that need to be carried out, and assign those activities to a user responsible for the work.

These activities will then be displayed on the standard SAP Business One calendar to allow managers to see all activities assigned to users.

In Eralis Job, activities can be linked to:

1. A Master Job
2. A Subjob
3. A Quote line

On the Job menu, My Job Activities provide the ability to see all activities related to
jobs.

For further information on Activities, please refer to standard SAP Business One support information. For specific information on Activities and Eralis Job, please refer to the Eralis Job support documentation.

Eralis Job Scheduling

The Eralis Job Scheduling utility allows you to see a graphical representation of the jobs that are open, along with available resources. You can then drag Resources onto the Job, and schedule time for the work to be carried out.

The Scheduling tool provides visual feedback about the status of the job, which resources—based on skills—are able to work on the Job and the utilization level of the individual resources.

The Eralis Job Scheduling utility is intended for companies that do a number of shorter term jobs and need to quickly identify outstanding Jobs and who is available to work on those jobs.

For companies that carry out longer term larger projects and require a more structured, formal approach to their project management, integration into Microsoft Project is available to provide those tools.

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a commonly used tool which provides strong project management methodologies. The application is used across a wide range of industries and project sizes. Rather than replicate the functionality of Microsoft Project, an integration component has been developed that allows companies to use Microsoft Project to manage their projects, and link to Eralis Job where necessary to manage and control the cost-related information.

Refer to Microsoft Project Integration for details on the setup and configuration of the integration component between Eralis Job and Microsoft Project.

Which Option to Use?

The best option will depend on the company and the nature of the jobs that they perform. As a basic rule, companies that have a high number of shorter jobs, the Eralis Job Scheduling utility would more likely be a better fit. For companies with fewer jobs that last for a longer period, and require more structured project management, the integration with Microsoft Project would provide better functionality.

There are also situations where a combination of both options may be the best solution. Where there are shorter term parts of a larger project, the Eralis Scheduling utility could be used to manage the smaller components, while the overall project is managed with the Microsoft Project integration. For example, if a company has a project to do a implementation of a large amount of equipment, the Microsoft Project integration could be used to manage the overall project, while the Eralis Scheduling utility could be used to manage the service-related jobs to maintain the equipment.