Introduction: The Scheduler (21-25)

Overview

The Scheduler is used to assign orders to a route or consolidated schedule. It appears in POS Entry, Order Processing, and Service when processing an order or work order and can be accessed directly, through the Centralized Delivery menu (21-25).

NOTE: In this document, we are assuming that you are accessing the Scheduler from the Centralized Delivery menu. While there are minor differences with the Scheduler when accessed through POS Entry, Order Processing, or Service, the usage is basically the same and any differences will be noted in this documentation.

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Selections that Access the Scheduler

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Advanced Scheduler vs Quik Scheduler

There are two versions of the Scheduler: the Advanced Scheduler and the Quik Scheduler.

The Advanced Scheduler is the full feature version that allows you to perform all scheduling tasks, including selection of the route, branch, and skill. You can also modify previously scheduled orders with the Advanced Scheduler.

The Quik Scheduler is a simplified version of the Advanced Scheduler, which restricts certain options (e.g. route, branch, and skill selection), to make the scheduling process more efficient for salespeople. It also allows managers to control how much of the scheduling process the salesperson can take part in.

IMPORTANT: The Quik Scheduler is only used in POS Entry, Order Processing and Service. The Scheduler selection accessed through the Centralized Delivery menu always uses the Advanced Scheduler.
IMPORTANT: Since the Quik Scheduler cannot be used to schedule orders with multiple delivery dates, the Advanced Scheduler will always appear for orders of that type.
NOTE: You can access the Advanced Scheduler from the Quik Scheduler if the ‘QUIK Scheduler has Advanced button’ preference is set to allow it.

Overbooking

When a delivery/service (schedule) has a time requirement (stops/minutes) that is greater than that of a single timeslot (stop name), the system will automatically schedule the delivery/service into subsequent timeslots until the time requirement is satisfied.

However, when a route has reached its limit for time and/or volume, the system will warn you that the route is already booked to capacity. Depending on how the Overbooking preferences are set, the system will either allow or disallow you to overbook the route. You have the option to either overbook the route (if allowed) or find another route or date for the delivery/service. When a stop/route is overbooked, ‘OB’ will appear in the ‘Available’ column on the Schedule Details screen for stops and the quantity in the ‘Available’ field will appear as a negative number.

EXAMPLE: We have a delivery that requires four stops that we want to schedule for 1:00PM. However, all of our timeslots have a maximum of two stops. Additionally, the 1-3 (PM) stop only has one stop available. When we select the ‘1-3’ stop name, the system will extend the delivery/service into the ‘3-5’ stop name, but since only three total stops are available and we need four, the system will warn you that this schedule will cause the route to ‘Overbook for the day.’

First AM/First PM/Late/Other Overbooking

If you are using First AM/First PM/Late stops, the system will also warn you when you try to schedule a delivery/service that exceeds the allotted time for a First AM/First PM/Late stop (regardless of whether a First AM/First PM/Late stop is requested by the customer). Depending on how the Overbooking preferences are set, the system will either allow or disallow you to overbook the First AM/First PM/Late stops.

EXAMPLE: We have a delivery that requires three stops that we want to schedule for 8:00AM. Our ‘First AM’ timeslot, which has a maximum of two stops, begins and ends with the ‘8-10’ stop name. When we try to schedule the route for 8AM, we will receive the message, ‘Overbooked for the AM/PM/Late/Other. Continue?’ because the delivery requires three stops and there are only two available for the ‘8-10’ stop name. In this case, there is plenty of time on the route for the day to schedule this delivery. But since the delivery/service is now extending outside of the ‘First AM’ timeslot, the system warns you so that you can verify that the customer will be available up until that time.

Multiple Delivery Dates

When an order contains multiple delivery dates (some or all items have different delivery dates), you must schedule a delivery for each different date on the order. Please see the Scheduling OP Orders with Multiple Delivery Dates tutorial for more information.

No Routes Available

While using the Scheduler, if at any point the system cannot suggest a schedule meeting the requirements of the order, the message, ‘No routes selected for the criteria entered,’ appears. You have the option to manually find another route, change the criteria for the schedule, or schedule the order later (through the Unscheduled Details selection).

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