Understanding Crew Scheduling

Note: Typically, the process of assigning resources to work orders manually is used only when you do not use the crew scheduling process. If you are creating crew schedules, you use the Work With Work Assignments program (P48330) to assign resources to the schedule and not directly to the work order.However, many of the processes, such as locating resources, assigning resources to tasks, and revising resources, are similar or the same, regardless of whether you are using crew scheduling. Therefore, you should review the information in this chapter even if you are implementing crew scheduling.

A common practice within a maintenance environment is the preparation of a schedule of work for a crew that has responsibilities for a particular area and craft (trade). When preparing the schedule, the maintenance scheduler must consider both supply and demand variables. The demand variables can include upcoming preventive maintenance work, reactive work orders, allowance for emergency work orders, and work orders not completed in previous periods. On the supply side, the variables consist of capacity by craft for a crew, vacation and holidays, training, material availability, and special scheduling requirements.