---
title: "Important Considerations about Smart Planning"
canonical: "https://help.fieldbuddy.com/space/FBDOCS/6233292830/Important%20Considerations%20about%20Smart%20Planning"
format: markdown
---
## **Understanding Optimisation Behavior**

Smart Planning in FieldBuddy operates by performing an optimisation problem to find the most efficient solution* possible. 

Optimisation problem contains Shifts (resources that are working and days for which plannings has to be adjusted), Work Orders to be planned and already planned appointments.

The most efficient solution means 

- Plan as much work orders / appointments as possibble
- Use as little shifts as possible
- Use as little travel time as possible
- Use as little spare time as possible

In practice, each of those violation above has a penalty, that could be configured in settings per each provider, for example here - [https://upperdeck.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FBDOCS/pages/6056869917](https://upperdeck.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FBDOCS/pages/6056869917).

During optimisation, Smart Planning also applies the the existing constraints — such as **time locks** or **resource locks **— to decide how appointments can be shifted or scheduled. You can choose to ignore these locks selectively when launching a planning job, providing more freedom for the algorithm to optimize effectively. 

However, even with these adjustments, there are scenarios where constraints make it **impossible to fit an appointment** into the optimised solution. It also might occur that some of the locks are not realistic in terms of travel time ( for example, if mechanic starts in Amsterdam at 0800 and has first appointment that is locked in Rotterdam at 0815).

In such cases, the system **marks the appointment as "Failed"**. This doesn't remove it from the planner's view — it remains visible in the Dispatch Panel. But those are not considered by Smart Planning.

This approach ensures transparency and helps the planner understand which tasks need manual attention or rescheduling. Essentially, failed appointments indicate data or constraint issues that require a human touch to resolve.  


Extra addition would be that all of the appointments are considered equal in terms of the penalty for unplanned ones (both planned and unplanned). So in some case Smart Planning might decide that instead of one longer appointment that has less-logical planning, it might place few ones instead to reduce total travel time and finish more work.

## **Best Practice Guidelines**

To get the most out of Smart Planning, certain strategies can help you avoid common pitfalls and maximize the efficiency gains:

### **1. Use Flexible Time Locks**

Rather than applying strict start and end times to appointments, **use time ranges**, such as ±30 minutes. This added flexibility increases the chances that Smart Planning can reposition appointments without conflict. Rigid time locks often lead to optimisation failures, especially when many constraints overlap.

### **2. Ensure Locations Have GPS Coordinates**

Smart Planning depends heavily on **accurate geolocation data** to compute travel times and routes. All locations involved—whether for appointments or resources—must have valid GPS coordinates.