This chapter describes how to efficiently use the order backlog in the VSS
The order backlog in the VSS allows to quickly gain an overview of not yet allocated orders and to allocate these orders easily per drag and drop.
Allocate service item lines to resources
In the VSS, resource allocation is done by moving Service Item Lines from the 'not yet allocated' area to the service schedule - either from the service order backlog on the right to the service schedule or from the lower to the upper Gantt chart. Thus, new resource allocation entries are created.
Collapse/expand
Using the collapse/expand feature in brings might come in very handy in a vast order backlog. You can show parts of your service orders you are currently focused on or hide others you don't want to see at the moment. Click the according items in:
the "Tree & Gantt Chart" view
the "Two Gantt Charts" view
You can also collapse or expand by context menu, this at the same time giving you the opportunity of collapsing all nodes of the same level at once.
Specify the collapsing level
If you usually work with one certain collapsing level, you might as well "instruct" the VSS to always start with the order backlog collapsed to this level. The “Setup” dialog, allows to specify three levels, the meaning of the levels being as follows:
1=Priority
2=Service Order
3=Service Item Line
Hide completely planned orders
By hiding completely planned orders, you can further clear up your order backlog. Usually, if all tasks of an order are planned, the order header still remains in the backlog. In the following screenshot you see that orders SO000019 has no tasks anymore, i.e. it is completely planned
To hide completely planned orders, open the "Setup" dialog and tick the "Hide Completely Planned Orders" checkbox. After having saved your modifications you'll see that these two orders no longer appear in the backlog tree. Of course, they will reappear if you untick the box again.
Filter the order backlog
Make use of the filtering option to see exactly the orders you are currently focussed on. The VSS offers filters especially for the order backlog (to be reached from the "Setup" dialog:
In the "Filter List" dialog you can create new filters or edit existing ones. Let's assume, you currently have to deal with the high priority orders. So, define a filter with the according settings.
Now, the order backlog only shows uncompleted orders:
