---
alias: user-guide-manage-material-time-constraints
description: "Manage material time constraints by defining and adjusting limits within the system"
---

# Manage Material Time Constraints

:lock: Material.**ManageTimeConstraints**

## Overview

This operation is used to manage the time constraints for a **Material**.

## Setup

No special setup is required other than to meet the preconditions of the transaction.

## Preconditions

* Material must be Active and TopMost.
* The *From Step* and *To Step* must have the property *Enable Time Constraints* set to true.

## Sequence of Steps

1. Select a **Material** and scroll down to the **Time Constraints** section or click on the **Time Constraints** tab on the right-hand side of the screen.  
2. In case previous **Time Constraints** have already been defined for the **Material**, the system will display all these existing and active **Time Constraints**.

### Step 1: Add Time Constraints

1. To add new **Time Constraints** to the **Material**, press **Add**. Then, enter the following mandatory information:
      * From Step
      * From Operation
      * To Step
      * To Operation
      * Type - minimum or maximum
      * Time Limit Date
2. Optionally, define the following criteria:
      * To Flow
      * Time Limit Rule
      * Warning Date
      * Warning Rule
      * Remove on Pass
      * Description
3. When the operation is completed, the **Time Constraints** menu will display the time constraint that has just been created along with others, if existing. The state of the **Time Constraint** will also be displayed and, by clicking on the arrow, additional **Time Constraint** details will be shown. If you wish to modify any of these details, click **Manage** to perform the desired modifications.

### Step 2: Manage Time Constraints

1. Select **Manage** in order to be able to manage all **Time Constraints** or select a specific **Time Constraint** from the list of previously defined **Time Constraints**, by clicking on it.
2. Once the **Time Constraint** has been selected, it will be possible to edit it by modifying the following fields:
      * Time Limit Date
      * Time Limit Rule
      * Warning Date
      * Warning Rule
      * Remove on Pass
      * Description
3. Apart from editing the **Time Constraint**, it is also possible to delete it by clicking on the delete icon.
4. Click **Update** to finish the operation.

![time_constraints][time_constraints]

The following table contains the possible System State of the Time Constraint:

| Time Constraint System State | Description |
| ---------------------------- | ----------- |
| Clear | Type minimum, the time limit has been reached<br>Type maximum, the time limit has not been reached |
| Exceeded | Type maximum, time limit has passed |
| Passed | Passed (edit using Remove on Pass) |
| Waiting | Type minimum, time limit has not been reached |
| Warning | Time has passed |

Table: System State of the Time Constraint

!!! info
    Material Time Constraint timers error distribution list and retry count can be configured in the following configuration entries `/Cmf/System/Configuration/MaterialTracking/TimeConstraints/Timers/ErrorDistributionList` (defaults to null, which means, take the local support email) and `/Cmf/System/Configuration/MaterialTracking/TimeConstraints/Timers/RetryCount` (defaults to 3)

[time_constraints]: images/time_constraints.png