Method and apparatus for queue-based automated staff scheduling
First Claim
1. A queue-based scheduling apparatus for automated staff scheduling and for enforcing scheduling rules and requirements, comprising:
- means for defining conditional and unconditional rules;
means for ranking rules and requests in varying priority as represented by a numeric value assigned to each rule and request; and
means for specifying rules both per individual and per group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention disclosed herein provides a queue-based scheduling system, which comprises an automated staff scheduling computer program that is highly flexible in enforcing scheduling rules. This flexibility comes from the ability to: (1) Define conditional and unconditional rules; (2) Rank the rules/requests in varying priority as represented by a numeric value assigned to each rule/request; and (3) Specify rules both per individual and per group. These three abilities synergistically produce an automatic scheduling system that can enforce a wide variety of scheduling rules and requirements seen in actual staff scheduling situations. Furthermore, all these abilities rely on using a queue per scheduled assignment to hold requests and rules.
24 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A queue-based scheduling apparatus for automated staff scheduling and for enforcing scheduling rules and requirements, comprising:
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means for defining conditional and unconditional rules;
means for ranking rules and requests in varying priority as represented by a numeric value assigned to each rule and request; and
means for specifying rules both per individual and per group. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A scheduling process, comprising the steps of:
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collecting requests and rules using a graphical user-interface;
determining a scheduling period that has a user-defined start date and stop date;
creating a request queue for each day of a period;
for each request or rule, determining which days said request or rule is applicable;
for each applicable day, inserting a request into its queue;
sorting said days from most constrained to least constrained;
beginning scheduling from a most constrained day;
for each assignment in a day, creating a list of candidates for that assignment for that day;
for each candidate, associating a highest priority request in said request queue that applies to said candidate, wherein said highest priority value for a candidate is a candidate bid for a chosen assignment;
sorting said candidates according to a bid calculated in the immediately preceding step;
scheduling a candidate having a highest number;
determining a schedule for any remaining days. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. An auction method for resolving conflicting scheduling requests, comprising the steps of:
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giving each scheduled individual a fixed number of points or currency to spend;
each individual then deciding how to distribute or spend said points to various requests, based on individual needs and preferences;
wherein an individual that spends the most points wins a request for an assignment for a specific day. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. An automated staff scheduling method, comprising the steps of:
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allowing a large number of conflicting requests and rules to be entered;
said requests and rules competing in a scheduling decision based on numerical priority associated with said requests and rules. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification