Systems and methods for automatic scheduling of a workforce
First Claim
1. A method of workforce scheduling, comprising the steps of:
- in an instruction execution system, receiving a first workforce schedule describing existing assignments of a plurality of workers to a plurality of shifts, each of the shifts being associated with a time range and a day;
in the instruction execution system, receiving a shift alteration template describing allowable alterations to shift time ranges;
in the instruction execution system, receiving an association between the shift alteration template and at least one of the workers; and
in the instruction execution system, producing a second workforce schedule that modifies the length of at least one of the plurality of shifts, by applying at least one schedulable object to the workforce schedule in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints, wherein the at least one schedulable object is based on the shift alteration template.
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Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for scheduling overtime and time-off for a workforce. In one embodiment, the method comprises: receiving a workforce schedule including assignments of workers to shifts; receiving a template describing alterations to shifts; and applying schedulable objects to the workforce schedule in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints. In one embodiment, the system comprises: a user interface and a scheduler. The user interface allows creation of shift alteration templates and associating templates with workers. The scheduler uses the shift alteration templates to modify an existing schedule of assignments of workers to shifts.
209 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of workforce scheduling, comprising the steps of:
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in an instruction execution system, receiving a first workforce schedule describing existing assignments of a plurality of workers to a plurality of shifts, each of the shifts being associated with a time range and a day; in the instruction execution system, receiving a shift alteration template describing allowable alterations to shift time ranges; in the instruction execution system, receiving an association between the shift alteration template and at least one of the workers; and in the instruction execution system, producing a second workforce schedule that modifies the length of at least one of the plurality of shifts, by applying at least one schedulable object to the workforce schedule in accordance with a workload forecast and schedule constraints, wherein the at least one schedulable object is based on the shift alteration template. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system for workforce scheduling, comprising:
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an instruction execution system configured to execute a user interface operative to create a shift alteration template describing allowable alterations to shift time ranges and to identify an association between the shift alteration template and one or more of a plurality of workers; the instruction execution system configured to execute a scheduler operative to generate a second workforce schedule based on a first workforce schedule, wherein the second workforce schedule describes assignments of one or more workers to one or more of a plurality of shifts, and wherein the second workforce schedule comprises a modification of the length of one or more of the plurality of shifts assigned to a worker, and wherein each of the shifts are associated with a time range and a day, the scheduler comprising; logic to create at least one schedulable object from the shift alteration template; logic to create a domain of potential bindings for the at least one schedulable object based on the assignments in the first workforce schedule; logic to select one of the potential bindings for association with the schedulable object; and logic to modify the first workforce schedule by applying the selected binding to the schedulable object. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer-readable medium having a computer program stored thereon, the computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for performing a computer-executed method for workforce scheduling, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a first workforce schedule describing existing assignments of each of a plurality of workers to one of more of a plurality of shifts; receiving a shift alteration template describing allowable alterations to shift time ranges; receiving an association between the shift alteration template and one or more of the plurality of workers; creating a plurality of schedulable objects based on the shift alteration template; creating a domain of potential bindings for each of the schedulable objects based on the existing assignments; selecting one of the potential bindings for association with each of the schedulable objects, wherein the selected binding is optimal in meeting constraints and optimizing goals; and applying each of the selected bindings to the associated schedulable object to produce a second workforce schedule that modifies the length of at least one of the plurality of shifts. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification