Long term scheduling of task resources at a plurality of retail stores

Abstract

In some embodiments, apparatuses and methods provide long term scheduling at a plurality of retail stores including storing a forecasted data over at least eight weekly scheduling periods; first transforming based on the forecasted data into a first baseline hours demand value for each day of a week for each job function of a first set of job functions at a particular retail store; second transforming based on the forecasted data into a second baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function of a second set of job functions at the particular retail store; based on the first and second baseline hours demand values, generating a plurality of fixed schedules for a set of task resources at each of the plurality of retail stores; accessing a first fixed schedule associated with the first task resource; and displaying the first fixed schedule.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for long term scheduling of task resources at a plurality of retail stores comprising:
 storing, at a database, a forecasted data over at least eight weekly scheduling periods received from a remote control circuit, wherein the forecasted data is associated with a plurality of retail stores and comprises a listing of a plurality of job functions, a listing of the plurality of retail stores, days in a week, and a listing of a number of task resources every 15 minute increment on each hour on each day of the week for each job function of the plurality of job functions, wherein each store of the plurality of retail stores is associated with first and second sets of job functions of the plurality of job functions, wherein each of the set of job functions is associated with a demand-hours-value corresponding to each day in the week, and wherein the demand-hours-value is a number being at least  1  and representing a number of forecasted task resource hours;   first transforming, at a first control circuit, based on the forecasted data into a first baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function of the first set of job functions at a particular retail store of the plurality of retail stores, wherein the first transforming comprises:
 comparing corresponding demand-hours-values associated with each job function by a particular day of the week across the at least eight weekly scheduling periods; 
 in response to the comparing, determining a lowest demand-hours-value associated with each job function by the particular day of the week across the at least eight weekly scheduling periods; 
 determining whether the job function corresponds to an overnight job function of the plurality of job functions; 
 in response to the determining that the job function corresponds to the overnight job function, determining whether the lowest demand-hours-value is less than 8 hours; 
 in response to the determining that the lowest demand-hours-value is less than 8 hours, associating the lowest demand-hours-value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
 in response to the determining that the lowest demand-hours-value is at least 8 hours, associating a fixed value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; and 
 in response to the determining that the job function does not correspond to the overnight job function, associating the lowest demand-hours-value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
   second transforming, at a second control circuit, based on the forecasted data into a second baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function of the second set of job functions at the particular retail store, wherein the second transforming comprises:
 comparing the number of task resources for every corresponding 15 minute increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store; 
 in response to the comparing, determining a lowest number of task resources associated with the corresponding 15 minute increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store; and 
 in response to the determining of the lowest number of task resources associated with the corresponding 15 minutes increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store, determining the second baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store based on a summation of the corresponding 15 minute increment associated with the lowest number of task resources corresponding to the particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
   based on the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value, generating, by a scheduler, a plurality of fixed schedules for a set of task resources of a plurality of task resources at each of the plurality of retail stores, wherein the fixed schedules are to remain fixed for the at least eight weekly scheduling periods to provide a fixed minimum schedule for the set of task resources;   accessing, at a user electronic device associated with a first task resource of the set of task resources, a first fixed schedule of the plurality of fixed schedules associated with the first task resource; and   displaying, at the user electronic device, the first fixed schedule.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of job functions comprises a cashier, a stocker, a deli associate, a bakery associate, a meat associate, a maintenance associate, a front-end supervisor, and a bagger. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first set of job functions is associated with customer traffic driven job functions at the particular retail store, and wherein the second set of job functions is associated with task driven job functions at the particular store. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the task resources comprise one or more task resources that are crowd sourced, employee, and contracted third party. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the weekly scheduling periods comprise at least one of eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 scanning, by a handheld device communicatively coupled to at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, a plurality of identifiers of a plurality of products for sale at the particular retail store, wherein each of the plurality of identifiers is associated with information particular to one of the plurality of products;   tracking, by the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, a number of times a scan is made by the handheld device during a time period within the at least eight weekly scheduling periods;   determining, by the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, an amount of sale purchases processed at a point-of-sale device during the time period, wherein the point-of-sale device processes products sold at the particular retail store;   determining, by the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, whether the number of times the scan is made and the amount of sale purchases processed is within a predefined threshold relationship, wherein being within the predefined threshold relationship indicates that at least one of the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value does not need adjustment; and   in response to the determining that the number of times the scan is made and the amount of sales processed is not within the predefined threshold relationship, incrementing, by the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, the at least one of the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value.   
     
     
         7 . A system that provides long term scheduling of task resources at a plurality of retail stores comprising:
 a database storing at least a forecasted data over at least eight weekly scheduling periods received from a remote control circuit, wherein the forecasted data is associated with a plurality of retail stores and comprises a listing of a plurality of job functions, a listing of the plurality of retail stores, days in a week, and a listing of a number of task resources every 15 minute increment on each hour on each day of the week for each job function of the plurality of job functions, wherein each store of the plurality of retail stores is associated with first and second sets of job functions of the plurality of job functions, wherein each of the set of job functions is associated with a demand-hours-value corresponding to each day in the week, and wherein the demand-hours-value is a number being at least 1 and representing a number of forecasted task resource hours;   a first control circuit communicatively coupled to the memory, the first control circuit configured to:
 initiate a first transform based on the forecasted data into a first baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function of the first set of job functions at a particular retail store of the plurality of retail stores; 
 in response to the initiation of the first transformation, compare corresponding demand-hours-values associated with each job function by a particular day of the week across the at least eight weekly scheduling periods; 
 in response to the comparison, determine a lowest demand-hours-value associated with each job function by the particular day of the week across the at least eight weekly scheduling periods; 
 determine whether the job function corresponds to an overnight job function of the plurality of job functions; 
 in response to the determination that the job function corresponds to the overnight job function, determine whether the lowest demand-hours-value is less than 8 hours; 
 in response to the determination that the lowest demand-hours-value is less than 8 hours, associate the lowest demand-hours-value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
 in response to the determination that the lowest demand-hours-value is at least 8 hours, associate a fixed value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; and 
 in response to the determination that the job function does not correspond to the overnight job function, associate the lowest demand-hours-value to the first baseline hours demand value associated with the corresponding particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
   a second control circuit communicatively coupled to the memory and the first control circuit, the second control circuit configured to:
 initiate second transform based on the forecasted data into a second baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function of the second set of job functions at the particular retail store; 
 in response to the initiation of the second transformation, compare the number of task resources for every corresponding 15 minute increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store; 
 in response to the comparison, determine a lowest number of task resources associated with the corresponding 15 minute increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store; and 
 in response to the determination of the lowest number of task resources associated with the corresponding 15 minutes increment on the particular day of the week for each job function over the at least eight weekly scheduling periods at the particular retail store, determine the second baseline hours demand value for each day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store based on a summation of the corresponding 15 minute increment associated with the lowest number of task resources corresponding to the particular day of the week for each job function at the particular retail store; 
   a scheduler communicatively coupled to the first control circuit and the second control circuit, the scheduler configured to generate a plurality of fixed schedules for a set of task resources of a plurality of task resources at each of the plurality of retail stores based on the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value, wherein the fixed schedules are to remain fixed for the at least eight weekly scheduling periods to provide a fixed minimum schedule for the set of task resources;   a wireless access point associated with the particular retail store; and   a user electronic device communicatively coupled to the scheduler via the wireless access point, the user electronic device configured to access a first fixed schedule of the plurality of fixed schedules associated with a first task resource of the set of task resources; and display the first fixed schedule.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the plurality of job functions comprises a cashier, a stocker, a deli associate, a bakery associate, a meat associate, a maintenance associate, a front-end supervisor, and a bagger. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the first set of job functions is associated with customer traffic driven job functions at the particular retail store, and wherein the second set of job functions is associated with task driven job functions at the particular store. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the task resources comprise one or more task resources that are crowd sourced, employee, and contracted third party. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the weekly scheduling periods comprise at least one of eight, twelve, and sixteen weeks. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the scheduler is further configured to modify the first fixed schedule to include additional schedule stored in the database; and generate a final fixed schedule, wherein the final fixed schedule comprises the first fixed schedule and the additional schedule, and wherein the additional schedule is based on a prior input by corresponding task resource associated with the fixed schedule. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 a handheld device communicatively coupled to at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit, the handheld device configured to scan a plurality of identifiers of a plurality of products for sale at the particular retail store, wherein each of the plurality of identifiers is associated with information particular to one of the plurality of products; and   a point-of-sale device communicatively coupled to the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit and configured to process products sold at the particular retail store, wherein the at least one of the first control circuit and the second control circuit is further configured to:
 track a number of times a scan is made by the handheld device during a time period within the at least eight weekly scheduling periods; 
 determine an amount of sale purchases processed at the point-of-sale device during the time period; 
 determine whether the number of times the scan is made and the amount of sale purchases processed is within a predefined threshold relationship, wherein being within the predefined threshold relationship indicates that at least one of the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value does not need adjustment; and 
 in response to the determination that the number of times the scan is made and the amount of sales processed is not within the predefined threshold relationship, increment the at least one of the first baseline hours demand value and the second baseline hours demand value.