Selecting a Unit

If the location has multiple units, then incoming entities must select which available unit to use. One of the following rules may be selected. These decision rules apply to multi-unit locations only.

First Available Selects the first available unit.

By Turn Rotates the selection among the available units.

Most Available Capacity Selects the unit having the most available capacity. This rule has no effect with single capacity units.

Fewest Entries Selects an available unit with the fewest entries.

Random Selects an available unit randomly.

Longest Empty Selects the unit that has been empty the longest.

When specifying the decision rules for selecting incoming entities at a location, it is important to remember that the routing of an entity is also dependent on the queuing for output decision rules at the previous location. The following example will clarify this principle.