A Successor Operation is an Operation in the same Manufacturing Order that requires material from a given Operation — the Predecessor Operation.  This relationship is defined in the Alternate Path for the Manufacturing Order.  A Successor Operation cannot schedule to start until the Predecessor Operation is complete (or partially complete if the Overlap option is used).

How Successor and Predecessor Operations interact with one another is another area that requires some careful consideration. For example, certain manufacturers have the need for certain operations to begin immediately after its predecessor has finished, or to keep the successor operation on the same line or even both.

Successor Processing:

Successor processing can be handled in a number of ways:

MaxDelay: Setting the Max Delay will enforce a specific amount of time that can pass before the Successor Operation must be run. In order for this feature to work, however, all of the following must be true:

• The system option “Enforce Max Delay” must be checked.
• The predecessor and successor operations are limited to a single activity.
• The predecessor operation is limited to a single successor.
• The successor operation is limited to a single predecessor.
• All of the activities scheduled on the resource where the successor operations are scheduled must have a max delay relationship with a predecessor operation.

Operation Successor Processing: The other way is to go into the ‘Advanced’ Tab of the Operation itself and set the Successor Processing to the desired effect.  In order for Successor Processing to work, however, the following must be true:

• Predecessor and Successor Operations are limited to a single activity.
• The Resource that the Predecessor is scheduled to must also be able to perform work for the Successor.

The time limit functions similarly to the Max Delay, and using either one will determine whether or not predecessor and successor relationships must run on the same Resource. If so, then Operation Successor Processing should be used. If not, then Max Delay.