Improved timeline for runs, additional ESS KPIs and several other improvements (v0.36.1)

Today, we’re announcing version v0.36.0 of the Timefold Platform and models, including improved timeline and statuses for each model run.

This new version of the Timefold Platform comes with these platform improvements:

New “Incomplete” status and statuses visualization (breaking change)
: We’re introducing a new status “Incomplete”, it will be used when a run ends before the construction heuristics phase of the run finished. Previously these runs were marked as successful, but the output would likely not contain all entities. With this new status users now know this is the case - we recommend setting a longer termination time when this happens. Additionally, we’ve added a timeline view of each of the different stages of a run on the Run Detail page, so it’s clearer how long each stage takes.
Different API calls for deletion and termination of runs (breaking change)
: We have separated the endpoints to delete a model run from the platform, and to terminate a run in progress. Now the deletion of a run from storage is no longer done when terminating a run, but is instead done in a separate endpoint. To delete a run from the storage, the run must be in a terminated state (complete, failed or incomplete). Please refer to the OpenAPI specs of the platform for details.
Improved configuration profiles
: We’ve removed the CPU setting from configuration profiles in favour of threads. We’re also indicating the maximum amount of memory per thread more clearly.
Change to trial process
: We’re making a small change to the trial sign-up process - we now ask for some details about your project before approving a trial.
Documentation
: We’ve added a how-to guide to explain how and why to categorize your model runs using tags.
Several speed improvements and bugfixes
including a fix for timings of start and active dates when a run was restarted.

Next to that, this new version of the Timefold Platform comes with updates to these Timefold Models:

Employee Shift Scheduling (v1 | Stable)

Additional KPI’s
: We have added 4 new KPIs to provide more insights into solutions: how many employees were assigned shifts in the schedule, the number mandatory and optional shifts that were scheduled, and the total travel distance.
Speed improvement for global rules
: We have improved the performance and scalability of global rules. There will be speed improvements for 9 related constraints. This improvement will result in finding solutions quicker, especially for large datasets. See New & Noteworthy for details.
Deprecation of required minimum
: A minimum with a REQUIRED satisfiability is now deprecated because it may be the cause of infeasible solutions when there is a lack of shifts in the input. Use the minimum with a PREFERRED satisfiability instead. This update will result in fewer infeasible solutions when using minimums in the listed constraints. See New & Noteworthy for details.
Documentation
: We’ve split up the Employee contracts feature guide into multiple guides, each explaining a separate area of functionality of the contracts feature: Period rules and Shift rules.
Several smaller improvements and bugfixes
, including a fix for when shifts spanned multiple days. See New & Noteworthy for details.

Field Service Routing (v1 | Stable)

Several bugfixes
including a fix for movable visit assignment (Previously, a movable visit could have blocked the assignment of another visit, resulting in the model not being able to assign all visits. A new custom move reassigns the movable visit, increasing the chance of assigning all visits.), a fix for endless loops in visit group recommendations, and fixes for the visualization of the model.
Documentation
: We’ve added a new guide explaining Resource-limited planning and optional visits.

Please let us know if you have feedback.