The Overview of Shifts

The creation and modification of shift definitions and items associated with shifts is separated on five forms that are accessible from two buttons on the Manage tab.  The Shift button opens a drop down with options for Shift Groups, Shifts, and Shift Hours.  The Shift Assignments button opens a drop down with options for Shift Breaks and Shift Equipment.

The items in the Shifts drop down must be defined in order to use the basics of the shift functionality.

• The Shift Groups form allows for multiple shift groupings such as Summer Hours and Winter Hours.  A minimum of one Shift Group is required.  Having multiple Shift Groups is a convenience allowing to switch from one set of shift definitions to another very quickly.

• The Shifts form is where the name of each shift is defined.

• The Shift Hours form is where the start and stop time for a shift is defined for each day of the week.

The items in the Shifts Assignments section extends the basic functionality of shift definitions.

• The Shift Breaks form allows planned breaks to be assigned to each shift.  The expressions can then be used to automatically enter the planned downtimes at the appropriate time of the day.

• The Shift Equipment form is only needed if there are overlapping shifts, and in this case, these assignments are required.  This functionality specifically assigns a piece of equipment to a specific shift grouping.

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