Shift Scheduling

Shift schedules define the start and end times for work shifts, idle times for holidays or weekends, and any other events when jobs should not be running or have special needs. Shift schedules are not required but they do provide the flexibility to control part of the job process. If shift schedules are not created, all jobs run all the time.

Shift schedules are created for a work center. Each work center has multiple schedules -- one for each year desired. Each year schedule may have up to 12 different weekly work schedules. There must, therefore, be at least one work center defined before access to the Shift Schedule window is possible. The Scheduling privilege is also needed in order to access this window.

The Shift Schedule window is used to create, assign, delete and change work center schedules. If no schedules have been defined, the window appears blank. To create a work center schedule, use the New button.

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Selecting a Work Center Schedule

·	Once on the Shift Schedule window, position the cursor on the arrow to the right of the WC field.

·	Choose the new work center by sliding the pointer down the selection list to the appropriate work center and click.

·	Upon selection, a new list of year schedules assigned to the selected work center appears in the Year field.

·	The Calendar and Weekly Schedules list reflect the annual schedule for the visible work center and year.

Every work center schedule has multiple annual schedules. To select a specific year's schedule and its work schedule assignments:

·	Once on the Shift Schedule window, position the cursor on the arrow to the right of the Year field.

·	Choose the new year by sliding the pointer down the selection list to the appropriate line and click.

·	Upon selection, the Calendar and Weekly Schedules List reflects the work schedule assignments for the visible work center and year.

An annual schedule may have up to 12 weekly schedules defined and associated with it. A 'none' weekly schedule always appears at the top of the Weekly Schedules List. It is used for clearing out or 'unassigning' a weekly schedule previously assigned to a yearly schedule.

Creating a Work Center Schedule
A work center schedule is created from the Shift Schedule window. A work center schedule consists of one or more annual schedules and one or more weekly work schedules.

·	Go to the Shift Schedule window.

If there is no work center schedule for the current year, click on the New button to create a current year work center schedule. Each time the New button is selected, it checks to see what is the latest, existing year schedule for the selected work center. The New button increments the year by one each time it is pressed.

·	Move the cursor to the Weekly Schedules List field. If a work center schedule existed for a previous year, the Weekly Schedules list contains the previous year's weekly schedules. Define any new weekly schedules for the new year or change any existing weekly schedules.

·	Assign weekly schedules to all or some of the week blocks on the Calendar.

·	Click on the Save button when all weekly schedules are assigned to the new year schedule.

·	A new work center schedule is created.

Changing a Work Center Schedule
Many different types of changes can be made to a work center schedule from the Shift Schedule window. Possible changes are:

·	Assign a different weekly schedule to a specific week on the Calendar;

·	Change a start, idle, or end idle time in a weekly schedule;

·	Unassign a weekly schedule for a specific week on the Calendar;

·	Change the name of a weekly schedule.

To make a change:

·	Go to the Shift Schedule window.

·	Move the cursor to the WC field. Choose the work center desired.

·	Move the cursor to the Year field. Choose the year schedule desire.

·	The weekly schedules associated with the selected yearly schedule appear in the Weekly Schedules list.

·	Make any necessary changes by referring to the appropriate on-line help section listed below:

A. Assign a different weekly schedule to a specific week Calendar week; Refer to the Assigning Weekly Schedules For A Year help topic.

B. Change a start, idle, or end idle time in a weekly schedule; Refer to the Creating Weekly Schedules help topic.

C. Unassign a work schedule for a specific week block on the Calendar; Refer to the Assigning Weekly Schedules To The Calendar Board help topic.

D. Change the name of a weekly schedule; To change a schedule name, simply type over the existing schedule name in the Weekly Schedules List field.

·	Click on the Save button.

·	The work center schedule is updated.

Creating a Weekly Schedule

·	Go to the Shift Schedule window.

·	Move the cursor to the WC field. Choose the work center desired.

·	Move the cursor to the Year field. Choose the annual schedule desired. Any defined weekly schedules for the selected work center and year appear in the Weekly Schedules list, located in the upper left corner.

·	Move the cursor to the Weekly Schedules List field.

·	If you want to edit an existing work schedule, click on it. The Work Schedule Chart, located below the Schedules list displays running and idle periods for the selected weekly schedule.

·	To change a shift time, move the cursor to the appropriate field, click, and type over any existing time.

·	If you want to create a new work schedule, click on a row in the Weekly Schedules list that is 'unused'. Click again to set the insertion point. Enter a new name over the unused title. Use the DELETE key to erase any unwanted characters.

·	Move the cursor to the shift name fields. These names default to 1,2,3,4,5,6, Idle, and End Idle. You can change the shift names, which can be up to 4 characters long.

·	Move the cursor to the desired time fields on the Weekly Schedule Chart and click. Type in new times.

·	Click on the Save button.

NOTE: A change made to a weekly schedule affects all weeks using the same schedule in that calendar year.

Assigning a Weekly Schedule to an Annual Schedule
The Shift Schedule window lets you assign one weekly schedule to each week within an annual schedule. An annual schedule can have a mixture of different weekly schedules or no weekly schedule. Assignments are done using the Calendar Board and a 'drag and drop' method.

To assign weekly schedules to an annual schedule:

·	Go to the Shift Schedule window.

·	Choose a work center with the WC field.

·	Choose a year with the Year field.

Move the cursor to the Weekly Schedules List field. Click on the desired weekly schedule. Holding down the mouse button, drag the rectangle that appears to the desired week block on the Calendar. If you want to unassign' a work schedule from a specific week, click on the none option in the Weekly Schedules List (always located at the top of the Weekly Schedule list). Holding down the mouse button, drag the rectangle that appears to the desired week block on the Calendar.

·	Release the mouse button. The week block color changes to match the color of the weekly schedule in the Weekly Schedules List.

·	Repeat steps 4 and 5 as many times as needed.

·	Click on the Save button.

Deleting a Work Center Schedule
Existing shift schedules may be deleted from the Shift Schedule window. Deleting a yearly schedule deletes not only the selected year schedule but all the year's weekly schedules as well.

To delete a work center schedule:

·	Go to the Shift Schedule window.

·	Move the cursor to the WC field. Choose the work center desired.

·	Move the cursor to the Year field. Choose the year schedule targeted for deletion.

·	The weekly schedules associated with the selected year schedule appear.

·	Click on the Delete button.

·	The work center schedule is deleted.