There are several reasons why closing gaps between tasks on the Gantt chart may not work for certain tasks or work orders. Work through the solutions below to identify and resolve the cause.
Solution 1: Missing quantities in labour resource shift patterns
Missing quantities in labour resource shift patterns can prevent gaps from closing. To resolve this, enter the missing quantities:
Select Resources.
Select Default Shift Pattern Assignment.
Select the Quantity Adjustment tab.
Select the relevant resource and shift pattern.
Click Edit.
Enter quantities for the relevant weekdays.
Solution 2: Min Offset values in task dependencies
Min Offset values in task dependencies can prevent tasks from being planned closer together than the offset value allows. To remove the offset:
Right-click the relevant task on the plan.
Select Edit Task Dependencies.
Select the Predecessor tab.
Remove the figure in the Min Offset field.
Go to the Successor tab.
Remove the figure in the Min Offset field.
Click Apply.
Planning with a Min Offset using Secondary Offsets
If you want to keep a Min Offset but still be able to drag tasks closer together or use Close Gaps to remove the offset, the Secondary Offsets feature can be enabled in system settings:
Log in to Orchestrate System Manager.
Select File.
Select System Settings.
Select the Planning tab.
Tick On under Enable Secondary Offset.
Click OK.
đNote: Log out and back in to Orchestrate for the settings to take effect.
Solution 3: Mark the resource as unconstrained
If the above solutions do not resolve the issue, marking the relevant resource as unconstrained is a workaround. Note that the task may close the gap and overload the resource, which indicates there are already sufficient tasks on that area of the resource.
Select the Resources menu.
Select the relevant resource, then click Edit.
Tick Unconstrained.
Click OK.
Solution 4: Check availability options after upgrading from version 7.66 or above
If you have upgraded Orchestrate from version 7.66 or above, enabling the following planning options and then unplanning and re-planning the relevant tasks or works orders may resolve the issue:
Select Tools, then select Options.
Select the Planning tab.
Under the Search For Unpegged Material sub-heading, tick both of the following options:
Check availability of made items when planning.
Check availability of purchased items when planning.
Unplan and re-plan the relevant tasks or works orders.
Solution 5: Task is marked as started
Close Gaps does not affect tasks with a status of 50 (Started) or above. If a task has been marked as In Progress within the data import from the ERP system, it will not respond to Close Gaps.
đNote: To close gaps for these tasks, the started status would need to be removed from the task in the ERP system before re-importing the data.