How to Create or Modify a Work Shift

Introduction

Effective shift management is crucial for accurately analyzing production data and optimizing the performance of your industrial machines. By clearly defining work periods—such as day, evening, or night—you can align your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with your plant's actual schedules. Good shift management allows you to optimize scheduling and improve productivity.

Part 1: Create a Global Shift for better shift management

Global shifts are applied by default to all machines configured in your management application.

Step 1: Access Shift configuration

In the navigation menu on the left, click on Configuration.
In the submenu that appears, select Shifts.

Step 2: Add a new Shift

On the shifts page, click on Add Shift.
A shift creation window opens.

Step 3: Fill in the Shift information

Shift Name: Give your shift a clear name (e.g., Day, Evening, Night).
Time Zone: Select the time zone corresponding to your plant's location (e.g., America/Toronto for Quebec, Europe/Paris for France).
Shift Type: Indicate whether it is a day, evening, or night shift.
Shift Start Time: Enter the time when the shift begins (format HH:MM).
Shift End Time: Enter the time when the shift ends.
Days: Select only the days of the week when the shift starts.

Important: For a shift that spans two days (e.g., from 10:00 PM on Monday to 6:00 AM on Tuesday), check only the starting day, which is Monday in this example.

Step 4: Save the Shift

After entering all the information, click on the Add button to save the new shift.

Note: If an error message such as "There is an overlap in the shifts" appears, it means another shift is already configured during this time slot. You will need to adjust the times to avoid overlapping.

Part 2: Modify an existing Shift to optimize scheduling

Step 1: Access the Shift listing

Return to the Configuration > Shifts page.

Step 2: Select the Shift to modify

Click on the shift you wish to modify.

Step 3: Edit the Shift information

The edit window opens with the current shift information.
Make the necessary changes (name, times, days, etc.).

Step 4: Save the changes

Click on the Modify button to save your changes.

Part 3: Manage Shifts for a specific machine (advanced option)

This feature is useful if one or more of your machines have different schedules from the rest of the plant. For example, if a workshop operates 24/7 while others are on 8-hour shifts, or if you have sites in different time zones. A shift defined at the machine level will replace the global shifts for that machine only.

Step 1: Access the Machine Configuration

In the navigation menu, go to Configuration > Machines.
Click on the machine you want to configure.

Step 2: Access the Machine-Specific Shifts

In the machine configuration tabs, click on Shifts.

Step 3: Configure Machine-Specific Shifts

Create a new Shift:
Click on Add Shift and follow the same steps as in Part 1 for creating a global shift.
Import from a Template:
If another machine already has the shifts you wish to apply, you can copy them.
- In the Create from a Template dropdown menu, select the machine to use as a template.
- Click on the Import button.
- Confirm the action. The shifts from the selected machine will be instantly copied to the current machine.

Conclusion

Accurate definition of work shifts enables reliable analysis and optimal scheduling. By following these steps, you can customize shifts to meet the specific needs of your plant or machines, ensuring perfect synchronization between your production data and actual working hours. Effective shift management significantly contributes to optimizing performance and improving your company's overall productivity.