Anyone know of a program or math equation...

[Shane2943]

That can calculate this:

We have 13 technicians in our shop. There are 5 different special shifts that get rotated among the techs on (what is supposed to be) a twice-yearly basis.

Here are the shifts:
Dispatching: 1 tech for 2 weeks
Saturday weekend shift: 1 tech for two weeks
Full weekend shift: 1 tech for two weeks
Out of town tech: 1 tech for 1 week (switches to backup out of town the following week)
Backup out of town tech: Previous out of town tech for one week

So far we have been doing it manually and having 2-3 people draw up different portions of the schedule. obviously, this ain't working. We're having over-lapping shifts, techs getting screwed by working too many special shifts in a short time (like me having worked 3 weekend shifts already this year), etc. Is there a calendar program that can figure this out or maybe a mathematical equation for this? It's complicated, yes, but I know there's a way to set this up without duplicates, overlaps, and techs getting screwed.

I know there are some ridiculous smart people here. What say y'all? Any ideas?

 

[AntimonyER]

Well the problem is, Technically there are only 4 shifts, the out of town and back-up out of town are linked, so it should be treated as 1 shift, with two people on it, rotating every week. That is what makes the scheduling so difficult.

Basically because of that, instead of each shift twice per year, you will do the out-of town shift twice every 6 months, 4 times a year.

 

[AntimonyER]

Here is a schedule based on the shifts you have, for the 13 techs. You can see by Week 1 and Week 27 being the same, this schedule repeats every 26 weeks.

Spoiler

W1: 1,2,3,4,13
W2: 1,2,3,5,4
W3: 6,7,8,9,5
W4: 6,7,8,10,9
W5: 11,12,13,1,10
W6: 11,12,13,2,1
W7: 3,4,5,6,2
W8: 3,4,5,7,6
W9: 8,9,10,11,7
W10: 8,9,10,12,11
W11: 13,1,2,3,12
W12: 13,1,2,4,3
W13: 5,6,7,8,4
W14: 5,6,7,9,8
W15: 10,11,12,13,9
W16: 10,11,12,1,13
W17: 2,3,4,5,1
W18: 2,3,4,6,5
W19: 7,8,9,10,6
W20: 7,8,9,11,10
W21: 12,13,1,2,11
W22: 12,13,1,3,2
W23: 4,5,6,7,3
W24: 4,5,6,8,7
W25: 9,10,11,12,8
W26: 9,10,11,13,12
W27: 1,2,3,4,13

You can see everyone has to do the out of town shift twice every 6 months, 4 times a year, due to the weekly rotation of that one. You could draw to pick numbers, either every year, or every 6 months, then use the schedule above to ensure fair distribution of the shifts.

 

[Shane2943]

Here is a schedule based on the shifts you have, for the 13 techs. You can see by Week 1 and Week 27 being the same, this schedule repeats every 26 weeks.

Spoiler

W1: 1,2,3,4,13
W2: 1,2,3,5,4
W3: 6,7,8,9,5
W4: 6,7,8,10,9
W5: 11,12,13,1,10
W6: 11,12,13,2,1
W7: 3,4,5,6,2
W8: 3,4,5,7,6
W9: 8,9,10,11,7
W10: 8,9,10,12,11
W11: 13,1,2,3,12
W12: 13,1,2,4,3
W13: 5,6,7,8,4
W14: 5,6,7,9,8
W15: 10,11,12,13,9
W16: 10,11,12,1,13
W17: 2,3,4,5,1
W18: 2,3,4,6,5
W19: 7,8,9,10,6
W20: 7,8,9,11,10
W21: 12,13,1,2,11
W22: 12,13,1,3,2
W23: 4,5,6,7,3
W24: 4,5,6,8,7
W25: 9,10,11,12,8
W26: 9,10,11,13,12
W27: 1,2,3,4,13

You can see everyone has to do the out of town shift twice every 6 months, 4 times a year, due to the weekly rotation of that one. You could draw to pick numbers, either every year, or every 6 months, then use the schedule above to ensure fair distribution of the shifts.

NICE! How'd you come up with that? It's genius!