Scheduler Instructions

Follow these steps to configure the workforce scheduler, generate a schedule and review the results.

Workflow

1
Business
2
Employees
3
Availability
4
Days Off
5
Solve
6
Results
1

Configure the business

Start by defining the basic operating structure of the organization.

On the Business page you can define:

  • The working days included in the schedule.
  • The shifts operated each day.
  • The number of employees required for each shift.
The staffing requirement represents the minimum number of employees that must be assigned to each shift.
Business settings
2

Configure employees

Add the employees that can participate in the schedule.

Employee names are used throughout the scheduler when defining availability, days off and final assignments.

If an employee is removed, any previously saved availability or preferences for that employee may no longer be used.
Employees
3

Enter employee availability

The availability page determines when each employee is allowed to work.

Select the shifts for which each employee is available. An unavailable employee will never be assigned to that shift.

Example

If Beatriz is unavailable for Night shifts, leave all Night-shift boxes for Beatriz unselected.

Availability is a hard constraint. The optimizer cannot override it.
Availability
4

Enter requested days off

Employees may request certain days off.

Unlike availability, a requested day off is normally treated as a preference rather than an absolute restriction.

The optimizer tries to respect requested days off, but it may assign the employee if this is necessary to create a feasible schedule.

When a requested day off cannot be respected, the corresponding penalty is included in the optimization objective.

Requested days off
5

Generate the schedule

Once the configuration is complete, run the optimizer.

The scheduler evaluates possible assignments and searches for a solution satisfying all mandatory rules while minimizing scheduling penalties.

The optimizer considers rules such as:

  • Required employees per shift.
  • Employee availability.
  • Maximum one shift per employee per day.
  • Weekly workload limits.
  • Night-shift restrictions.
  • Requested days off.
  • Fair workload distribution.
Solve schedule
6

Review the results

If the optimization succeeds, the results page displays the generated weekly schedule.

Additional information helps evaluate the quality of the solution:

  • Total shifts assigned to each employee.
  • Number of Night shifts per employee.
  • Requested days off and whether they were respected.
  • Penalty values.
  • Optimization statistics.
An Optimal result means the optimizer found the best solution according to the rules and objective currently defined.

What if no schedule can be generated?

Sometimes the solver may report that the schedule is Infeasible.

This means that no possible assignment can satisfy all mandatory constraints at the same time.

Common causes include:

  • Not enough employees available for a shift.
  • Staffing requirements that are too high.
  • Too many employee availability restrictions.
  • Weekly workload limits that are too restrictive.
  • Night-shift rules that make coverage impossible.
Review the availability and business requirements, adjust the necessary constraints and run the solver again.

Hard constraints vs preferences

Hard constraints

Rules that must always be satisfied.

  • Employee availability
  • Required staffing
  • Maximum shifts per day
  • Night-shift restrictions
Preferences

Rules the optimizer tries to satisfy.

  • Requested days off
  • Balanced workload
  • Fair distribution of Night shifts
  • Minimum scheduling penalties

Ready to create a schedule?

Start configuration Availability