Crew Scheduling: Automate the Schedule

Automating the schedule builds repeating crew schedules across a date range in one step, instead of drawing each one by hand. You choose an asset, a rotation, and a date range, choose who fills each position, and Helm CONNECT creates the schedules for you.

The schedules you automate aren't published. You can review them on the schedule first, then publish them when they look right. See "Crew Scheduling: Publish Crew Changes."

Before You Begin

Automating uses the rotations and crewing requirements you've already set up, so make sure the asset has a rotation assigned and a crewing requirement with its crew groups filled in. See "Crew Scheduling: Set Up Rotations" and "Crew Scheduling: Set Up Assets and Crewing Requirements."

Automate a Rotation

You can automate a rotation in the Automate Rotation window, which you open from the Personnel > Schedule > Schedule tab. The top of the window sets the date range, asset, and rotation. The section below it, Rotate through the following crew groups, sets who fills each position.

The Rotate through the following crew groups section has one row for each position on the asset and one column for each crew group. When you choose a crewing requirement, its positions fill the rows. You then choose a crew group for each column, and the crew named in that group fill the column. You can change anyone here for this run only, without changing the crewing requirement itself.

To automate a rotation

1. Go to the Personnel > Schedule > Schedule tab.
2. Click AUTOMATE.
3. Complete the following fields:
   • From and To: Select the date range you want to fill. The From date is when the first crew group comes on.
   • Asset: Select the asset. The list offers the assets in your current schedule filter that have a rotation assigned.
   • Rotation: Select the rotation to use. The list offers the rotations assigned to that asset.
4. From the Requirement list, select the crewing requirement to use. Its positions fill the rows below.
5. From the Crew Group list at the top of the first column, select a crew group. The list shows each crew group with its crewing requirement, for example "A - Default." The crew from that group fill the column.
6. For each additional crew group, click the plus icon (+) to the right of the last column, then select the crew group for the new column.
7. (Optional) For any position, select a different person from the Crew list in a column.
8. (Optional) To add a position, click ADD ROW. To remove one, click the minus icon (−) to the left of its row.
9. Click AUTOMATE.

The window keeps the settings from your last run, including any offset. To start over, click CLEAR, which empties the window.

The new schedules appear on the timeline, and you can review them there. Click SAVE to keep them, or DISCARD to throw them away.

How Crew Groups Take Turns

Helm CONNECT fills the crew group columns one at a time, in order:

1. The first crew group starts on the From date and works one full rotation.
2. When the first group's rotation ends, they come off and the next group comes on for the same rotation.
3. Each remaining group takes its turn the same way.
4. After the last group, it goes back to the first group and starts again.

It keeps going until the To date. If the To date falls partway through a rotation, Helm CONNECT still draws that rotation in full, even though it ends after the To date. No new rotation starts after the To date.

By default, every crew group column uses the rotation you selected at the top of the window. To give each column its own rotation, turn on Override Rotations. Each column then has a Rotation list. Leave it at No Override to use the rotation at the top, or select a different rotation for that column. This is useful for uneven arrangements, such as a 5-day weekday crew paired with a 2-day weekend crew.

Add a Gap or Overlap Between Schedules

When you automate a rotation, each schedule ends when the next one starts. You can use the advanced settings to leave a gap between schedules, for example for an asset that doesn't operate on weekends, or to have crew overlap on crew change day.

The offset moves the start or the end of every schedule in the run by the same amount. A negative number moves it earlier, and a positive number moves it later.

To add a gap or overlap between schedules

1. In the Automate Rotation window, click Advanced settings.
2. Turn on the Offset crew changes toggle.
3. From the Offset list, select Crew On to move the start of each schedule, or Crew Off to move the end.
4. In the Number field, enter how far to move it. Use a negative number to move it earlier, or a positive number to move it later.
5. From the Unit list, select Days, Hours, or Minutes.
6. Complete the rest of the window, then click AUTOMATE.

Example Rotations

The examples below cover the most common patterns. Each one gives the rotation you set up and how to fill the crew group columns in the Automate Rotation window.

Example 1. Balanced rotations: 7/7, 14/14, 21/21, and 28/28

Crew spend equal time on and off. The setup is the same for all four, and only the rotation length changes.

• Rotation: A daily rotation the length of the on and off period: 7, 14, 21, or 28 days.
• Crew groups: Two columns.
• Crew: A different person in each column. No one appears in both.

Each crew member ends up with schedules the length of the rotation, separated by time off of the same length.

Example 2. Uneven rotations: 14/7 and 28/14

Crew spend twice as long on as off. You build these on a rotation the length of the time off, not the time on.

• Rotation: A daily rotation the length of the time off: 7 days for 14/7, or 14 days for 28/14.
• Crew groups: Three columns. Click the plus icon (+) to add the third.
• Crew: For each position, list the same person in two columns in a row, and a different person in the third.

When the same person is in two columns in a row, their two schedules meet end to end, and Helm CONNECT joins them into one schedule twice the rotation length. For 14/7, each person works 14 days on and 7 days off, repeating, without a 14-day rotation ever being set up.

On an asset with two positions of the same kind, such as two deckhands, three people are enough to cover both, because while one is off, the other two are working. Offset the second position by one column:

Each person then works 14 days on and 7 days off. In the first cycle, one person starts partway through their 14 days, so their first schedule is shorter. In the table above, Person 2 works the first 7 days, has 7 days off, then works 14 on and 7 off like the others.

Example 3. A crew change on the 15th of every month

The crew change falls on the same date every month, however many days the month has.

• Rotation: A monthly rotation with Months in rotation set to 1.
• Crew groups: Two columns.
• From date: The 15th of any month. That date becomes the date the crew change repeats on.

Because months are 28 to 31 days long, each rotation is a different number of days, but the crew change always falls on the 15th.