A Resource Requirement describes what is needed ("2 excavators from June 1 to June 10"). An allocation is the concrete assignment: which specific asset from your inventory will fill that need. You allocate assets one resource requirement at a time, using the Asset Allocations modal.
Opening the Asset Allocations modal
From the schedule detail page (see Building Your Schedule: Activities and Resource Requirements):
Click the Resource Requirement's title in the gantt chart columns section
Or, click the allocation badge (i.e. 3/5) to the right of the gantt bar
What is in the allocation modal
The modal has two side-by-side lists:
Available Assets — assets in your inventory that are eligible for this requirement
Allocated Assets — assets that have already been assigned
Above the lists:
The resource requirement's name and Date Range
A Quantity indicator showing number of already allocated assets
A Filter Assets search box for narrowing the Available list
Allocating and unallocating
Allocate an asset — drag it from Available Assets to Allocated Assets
Unallocate an asset — drag it back to Available Assets or click the X button
How Available Assets are filtered
An asset only appears in Available Assets when all of the following are true:
The asset matches the Asset Class, Asset Category, and Asset Type set on the Resource Definition
The asset matches every rule on the Resource Definition
For help on how to set up Resource Requirement Definitions, see Creating Resource Definitions.
Use the Filter Assets box to search by asset number or identifier inside the Available list.
Conflicts
An allocation conflict means you are trying to allocate an asset that is already allocated to another Resource Requirement whose dates overlap with this one. The same excavator, in other words, is being asked to be in two places at once.
Conflicts are surfaced in several places:
Available Assets — an asset already allocated during this period is flagged with a red exclamation icon and a tooltip: "This asset is already allocated to another resource requirement during this time period." If you try to allocate it anyway, Nektar shows a confirmation dialog: "Allocating it will create a scheduling conflict. Do you want to proceed?" You can confirm with Allocate Anyway or cancel.
Allocated Assets — flagged with the same icon when a conflict is detected.
Resource Requirement bar on the Gantt — shows a red conflict indicator when any of the allocated assets within it have a conflict
Schedule Allocations widget on the asset's summary page — shows the conflict icon next to the offending schedule(s). See Schedule Allocations Widget.
Conflicts are a warning, not a hard block. You can deliberately allocate over a conflict if you know what you are doing (for example, if you expect the previous job to finish early), but you should resolve or acknowledge them before work begins.
Saving
Changes in the modal save as you make them. Close the modal to return to the Gantt — the Resource Requirement bar's count updates to reflect the new allocated quantity (for example, from 2/5 to 3/5).
Next steps
For how to build the Resource Requirements you are allocating to, see Building Your Schedule: Activities and Resource Requirements.
For the reusable templates and rules that drive your Available Assets list, see Creating Resource Definitions.
For the per-asset view of everything an asset is booked for, see Schedule Allocations Widget.