PREDICTING RESOURCE USAGE IN A MULTIPLE TASK, MULTIPLE RESOURCE ENVIRONMENT

A method for calculating the use of resources in a multi-task, multi-resource environment, such as a factory that produces more than one product and that has at least one machine that can process more than one product. The resources are grouped into resource groups according to the tasks they process. The method includes solving an iterative algorithm, whose solution is a fractional value representing the effective number of resources per resource group. This value can be used in usage formulas where the number of resources per group is used to determine how tasks should be allocated.