For more than

one person to
be included in
the same
work center,
they should
possess
similar
enough
qualifications
that, should
one of them
be required to
perform a
task, it would
not matter
which one
was
assigned.
Each work
center is
assigned a
cost center.
This is not a
cost center to
which work
order costs
will be
settled.
Rather, this
cost center
will have one
or more
activity types
and activity
rates defined
for it. Usually,
setting up
such cost
centers,
activity types
and activity
rates is
performed by
those
responsible
for managing
the CO
(Controlling)
module.
There may
only be one
activity rate
defined,
which would
represent the
normal labor
rate for that
work center.
If there is
more than
one activity
rate defined,
one rate
might
represent
regular
working
hours, while
another might
represent
overtime
hours, if work
center
overtime
labor is
charged to
the work
order. This
allows for the
planned labor
on the work
order to be at
the regular
rate, for
example,
while the
actual labor
might be
charged at an
overtime rate.
Many other
possibilities
exist by using
different
activity types
and rates,
including
allowances
for different
shifts.
Depending on
the cost
reporting
requirements
of the Plant
Maintenance
department
as well as the
cost reporting
requirements
of
management,
a decision will
likely be
required
whether to
assign
“standard”
rates or
“actual” rates
to activity
types.
Standard
rates are
often used to
charge time
for a work
center on a
work order
regardless of
the type of
work
performed or
whether the
work was
during regular
hours or
overtime.
Actual rates
are usually
more
accurate, but
require more
attention
when defining
and using
those activity
types. In any
case, the
rates
probably
need to be
reviewed on a
yearly basis,
or as often as
may be
appropriate.
One
important
screen/tab
when defining
a work center
is the
“Capacity
Header”
screen/tab,
found on the
“Capacities”
tab by
clicking the
“Capacity”
button near
the bottom of
the screen.
It is on this
screen that
the work
center is
associated
with a factory
calendar.
Presumably,
those people
represented
by the work
center do not
work 365
days per year,
so their work
days are
defined by the
factory
calendar that
is identified
on this
screen. The
factory
calendar that
is used must
accurately
reflect the
actual days
on which
members of
the work
center will
work.
Factory
calendars are
not defined
within Plant
Maintenance
configuration
and
representativ
es for the
Plant
Maintenance
module often
are not
responsible
for the
maintenance
of factory
calendars.
Determine
who is
responsible
for
maintenance
of factory
calendars
before
creating or
attempting to
change a
factory
calendar. For
reference,
maintenance
of factory
calendars is
performed
within the
Implementati
on Guide
under the
menu
path General
Settings  →M
aintain
Calendar.
Also on the
Capacity
Header
screen/tab
for the work
center is the
basic
definition of a
shift for the
work center.
A start time,
an end time,
and a total
number of
hours and
minutes for
breaks can be
specified.
The “Capacity
utilization”
depicts the
percentage of
a work
center’s
remaining
time, after
specified
breaks, that a
work center
could
realistically
be expected
to work.
Allowing time
for travel to
and from a
work site,
additional
unaccounted
breaks, time
to retrieve
tools, and so
on, the actual
capacity
utilization of
a work center
might vary
from work
center to
work center.
The purpose
of reflecting
actual work
time enables
the system to
better
schedule
work, not
overloading a
work center
with work
that the work
center cannot
realistically
be expected
to perform in
a given time.
The “Number
of individual
capacities”
simply
reflects the
number of
people
included in
the work
center. When
creating a
work center,
some of the
more
important
fields are as
follows:
Basic Data
Tab
 The Usage 
must be set
to
maintenanc
e task lists
or (less
recommend
 ed) all task
list types.
 The Standa
rd value
key  should
be set to
“SAP0”
unless there
is a valid
reason for it
to be set to
a different
value. Other
values are
 more often
used for the
Production
Planning
module.
Default
Values Tab
 The Contro
l key  can be
set to
“PM01”
(Plant
maintenanc
e—internal)
presuming it
hasn't’t
been
changed or
superseded
in the
Implementa
tion Guide.
This simply
provides a
default
value for
each work
order
operation to
which this
work center
is assigned.
If the work
center
actually
defines an
external
(contract)
resource, it
would likely
be more
appropriate
 to set this
value to
“PM02.”
Capacities
Tab
 The Capaci
ty
Category  sh
ould be set
to reflect
labor
(usually
002) unless
the capacity
 for an
actual
machine is
being
defined.
 The Other
formula  can
be set to
SAP008
(unless the
formulas
have been
reconfigure
d for the
implemente
d system).
The other
formulas
Setup,
Processing
and Tear
down can
be ignored
for the vast
majority of
Plant
Maintenanc
e purposes.
Capacity
Header
Screen
On the
Capacity
Header sub
screen, found
by clicking
the “Capacity”
button near
the bottom of
the
“Capacities”
tab, the
following
fields should
be entered:
 Factory
calendar ID
—An
appropriate
factory
calendar, a
calendar
that
specifies
working and
non-working
days of the
year, should
have
already
been
defined in
the
Implementa
tion Guide.
The factory
calendar
specified
here
determines
 when the
work center
can and
cannot be
scheduled.
 Base unit
of meads.—
This
specifies
the unit of
measure on
which the
work center
is normally
scheduled—
hours, for
example. In
many SAP
R/3
systems,
the
abbreviation
s H and HR
are both
active and
both
represent
hours. If this
is the case,
determine
which of the
two to use
and try to
always use
that one.
Using both,
if both are
available,
will lead to
confusion
and may
 affect
reporting.
 Start—This
indicates
the “normal”
daily start
time of the
work center.
8 a.m. will
be entered
as 08:00:00,
while 6 p.m.
will be
entered as
 18:00:00, for
example.
 Finish—
This
indicates
the “normal”
daily finish
time of the
work center.
The same
24-hour
clock
standards
apply, as in
 the example
above.
 Length of
breaks—
This field
should
contain the
total
amount of
time
included in
“official”
breaks for
the work
center
during a
normal day.
A one-hour
lunch break
only would
be specified
as 01:00:00,
while a one-
hour lunch
and two 15-
minute
breaks
would be
 specified as
01:30:00.
 Capacity
utilization—
This field
should
contain a
percentage,
which
indicates
how much
of the work
center’s
remaining
time (after
deducting
the “official”
break time)
can
realistically
be used to
schedule
the work
center. For
example, if
the people
included in
a work
center
spend about
10 percent
of the day in
transit to or
from the
actual work,
 a capacity
utilization of
90% might
be realistic.
 No. of in
div. cap.—
This field
should
contain the
number of
people that
the work
center
represents
 (how many
people are
“in” the
work
center).
 Upon
pressing the
“Enter” key,
the system
will
calculate
the resulting
daily
capacity of
the work
center. The
number of
hours
between the
start and
finish times
will be used
as a starting
point. The
length of
breaks will
be
deducted,
the capacity
utilization
will be
factored in,
and the
result will
be
multiplied
by the
number of
capacities
(people, in
most
cases). The
resulting
figure can
be used by
the system
in capacity
checking to
determine
whether
enough
capacity
exists in a
work center
to perform
work as
scheduled.
This
capacity is
also used
as a basis
for capacity
leveling,
 should that
option be
desired.
 Relevant to
finite
scheduling—
Capacity
checking
will only be
enabled if
this
checkbox is
checked.
 Can be
used by
several
operations—
This
checkbox,
when
checked,
permits the
work
center’s
time to be
split
between
work order
operations.
In other
words, a
work center
can be
assigned to
two
operations
at the same
time. One
operation
does not
have to be
completed
prior to the
start of
another
operation,
for example.
 Overload—
This field
allows the
specificatio
n of a
percentage
above a
work
center’s
normal
capacity at
which the
work center
is actually
considered
overloaded,
or the
scheduled
work
exceeds the
work
center’s
capacity. An
overload of
10%
indicates
that the
work center
load must
exceed
110% before
a capacity
overload is
indicated.
The green
arrow
(Back)
button must
be clicked
to return
from the
“Capacity
Header” sub
screen