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Get and Free Connector

A Get / Free connection is the everyday way to use a resource: the activity seizes the resource when an entity starts, and releases it automatically when the activity finishes. It is the default connection type.

Use it whenever a resource is needed for just one activity, like a clerk who serves a customer and is then free for the next.

Settings

Section titled “Settings”
  • Quantity: how many units to seize (default 1).
  • Priority: the order this activity acquires the resource when there is competition.
  • Setup / Travel Time: time for the resource to reach the entity before work begins (0 is instant). On a resource that moves along paths it reads Setup (see below).

A Get / Free connection

With a resource that moves along paths

Section titled “With a resource that moves along paths”

When the resource has Moves along paths ticked, a Get / Free means the unit works at this step:

  1. The entity reaches the step and takes its capacity, as for any resource, then waits for a unit.
  2. The resource’s Selection rule picks a unit, and the unit drives the shortest route over the paths to the step’s Path node, at its empty speed.
  3. When it arrives, the connection’s Setup is charged: “Charged when the unit arrives, on top of its own pickup time. Travel comes from the paths.”
  4. The activity then runs for exactly its own processing time, and the unit is released when it ends.

The entity’s wait for the unit counts as waiting for the resource. A unit already standing at the step’s node arrives at once. A step that needs two moving units starts when the last of them arrives, and a step that also needs a resource that does not move holds that resource while the unit drives. A GET in action logic for a moving resource travels the same way, without a Setup. The step needs a Path node (see Drawing Paths).

Assignment

Section titled “Assignment”

Below Setup / Travel Time, the General tab has Assignment: Pool (any free unit), Dedicated (same worker every visit) and Assign only (assign a worker now, use them later). A new connection is on Pool. The other two stay gray until the resource’s Caseload is on, as Figure 1 shows. The three choices are described under Assignment in Resource Connectors.

A Get / Free connection selected on the canvas, drawn as a dashed line labeled Get from Activity 1 to Resource 1, with its properties panel scrolled to Assignment: Pool (any free unit) is chosen, and Dedicated (same worker every visit) and Assign only (assign a worker now, use them later) are gray, each with the note Enable Caseload on Resource 1 first.
Figure 1. Assignment on a Get / Free connection: Pool is chosen, and the other two choices are gray until Caseload is on.
LegacyHow this worked in the previous version

The Get and Free resource connection allows you to use the resource for the duration of the activity or move, and once the activity or move is complete, the resource is freed.

**Quantity **The number of units of this resource that are required to work on each entity entering the connected activity. Any expression is valid.

What is a Get and Free Connector?

Priority Enter the priority (0 - 99) for responding to this activity. Higher values have higher priorities. A priority is only necessary if the resource is assigned to multiple tasks that may be competing for the services of the resource.

Respond immediately Check this box if the resource is to interrupt any other activity in order to respond immediately to this activity. This selection is only meaningful if the resource is assigned to multiple tasks. (A resource that is off shift or on break will not respond until back on duty by this request.)

Types of Connectors

Section titled “Types of Connectors”