Auto Build allows for the automated creation of template-based schedules. This effectively allows you to start your week with a basic schedule already in place, ready for employee assignment and precision editing.
Select your location of choice from the Location drop-down toward the top of the page. You can also filter the page to show active, deactivated, or all available auto builds. Creating/Editing an Auto Build Schedule Select + NEW AUTO BUILD SCHEDULE to begin the creation of a new auto build schedule, or the pencil icon to edit an existing one. This will bring up a new window where you can adjust your Auto Build schedule settings. Alternatively, select the red x icon to delete an existing Auto Build.
- Schedule Name: Enter a name for your schedule. Using the supported schedule name patterns table, you can also append name data that will change depending on when and where the auto build is applied. Note that your name must be unique for the current location. Notes: Add notes to help you better identify your schedule.
- Lead Days: Lead days designate how far in advance of the schedule’s first day you would like the schedule to be created. This is based around the first day in your company’s work week, and the day on which you are running the auto build.
Example: Say your work week starts on Monday, and you have an Auto Build with Lead Days of 3. That means that Monday’s schedule will be created 3 days before Monday, beginning with the next available Friday.
Example 2: If you have an Auto Build with Lead Days of 12, that means that on the first upcoming Wednesday, a schedule will be created for the Monday 12 days from then. See the Running an Auto Build Schedule section for more information.
- Type: Select between ‘Copy Previous Schedule’, ‘Copy Template’, ‘Rule Based’, and 'Prior Week's Schedule' build types. Depending on which type you choose, the data in the ‘Reference’ drop-down will change.
- Reference: The ‘Reference’ column will display different data depending on your chosen Type.
- Copy Previous Schedule: Choose from a list of pre-existing schedules. Similar to the Builder, this includes any saved schedule data, and is not limited to posted schedule
- Copy Template: Choose from a list of saved Schedule Templates.
- Rule Based: The Reference drop-down will be replaced by a list of shift rules - simply check which rules you wish to apply. Note: Though you are able to select multiple shift rules for a single Auto Build schedule, all shift rules are handled independently of each other, and do not take each other's metrics and limitations into account. All shifts that would be created by each rule will be added to the schedule in question, regardless of contradictory metrics. The same applies if you have multiple Auto Build schedules running for a single location on the same day.
Prior Week's Schedule - This option does not occupy the Reference column. Instead, RADAR will look to the prior week's schedules to see if there are any with a matching name or name template. If there are, that schedule will be copied in its entirety. If there are no such schedules, a blank template will be created.
Users to Notify: Any users selected from this drop-down will be notified by email when the auto build is run and a schedule successfully created.
- Unless the user is a site admin, they will need the report permissions in order to be available for selection in this dropdown. This can be done on a location-by-location basis by navigating to the user's report privileges in Company Config > User Manager > Report Privileges. From here, select the green arrow icon next to Labor Scheduling, then move the relevant locations into the 'Currently Assigned' column.
- If a user only needs access to their primary location, select the report privilege 'Report Access for user's Primary Location Group only', and the Labor Scheduling module privilege, 'Use Primary LG for Labor Scheduling'.
Enabled: Enabled auto builds will create recurring schedules in accordance with lead days for as long as they are active. To disable an auto build without deleting it, un-check this box.
Save/Cancel: Select SAVE to create your new auto build, or CANCEL to negate it.
Running an Auto Build Schedule
Early every morning, RADAR's automated processes consider each of your enabled Auto Builds to determine if a schedule needs to be created. If lead days fall in line with the start of your work week, the relevant schedule will be built.
If you wish to see instant results, the automated process can be bypassed by clicking the RUN AUTO BUILD SCHEDULE button at the top of the page. This option ignores lead days to immediately build all applicable Auto Build Schedules across all locations.
These schedules will be dated for the following week. Note that although lead days are ignored, manual Auto Build execution otherwise has the same validations as if the system executed it itself. As such, a schedule will not be created if it is not enabled, or if another schedule with the same name is present.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why is my schedule not being created?
A: There are several reasons why you may not be seeing results for your Auto Build: Lead days are not relevant. This is common when attempting to create an Auto Build that starts next week. As RADAR's automated processes take place in the early hours, you may be out by one day.
Example: Your work week starts on a Monday, and you are creating an Auto Build Schedule on a Monday afternoon. If you want this schedule to be built for next week, you will either need to run the build manually by selecting RUN AUTO BUILD SCHEDULE, or you will need to set your lead days to 6, not 7. This is because RADAR's next automated check will take place in Tuesday's AM hours.
Validations are not being met. A schedule will not be created if it is not enabled, or if there is already another schedule of the same name saved or posted on the relevant week. Using date-based Name Patterns that result in a different name each week is an easy way to avoid this. The Auto Build may need more time to run. If you are manually running your Auto Build by selecting RUN AUTO BUILD SCHEDULE, RADAR typically takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete the process. More time may be needed during times of heavy traffic.