The Labor Driver Rule generates an aggregated labor driver curve from a minute-level data source such as a forecast pattern, an imported pattern, or a service pattern (that is, the labor driver rule performs the offset and duration spreading for driver values within a specified time period). Then, the Activity Lookup Rule uses the values of the aggregated labor driver curve as an input into a lookup table to determine the number of people performing an activity in each interval. See Activity Lookup Rule.
For example, the driver source could be the interval level forecasts of the number of customers ordering their meals in a restaurant. Each customer ordering a meal is assumed to arrive 15 minutes before the order and will stay for 60 minutes after the order. This represents an offset of -15 minutes and a duration of 75 minutes. The resulting curve from the driver values represents the forecast number of customers in the restaurant at any time.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Use Actuals for Ideal | Use each day’s minute-level actuals to create the distribution curve. |
| Labor Driver Source |
The source for the labor driver. Options are ForecastedPattern, Imported, PreDefinedPattern, and SameDayLastYear.
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| Zone for KPI (leave empty for current) |
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| KPI Multiplier | The multiplier to use. This is what the driver value will be multiplied by when constructing the aggregated curve. |
| Labor Driver Amount | The KPI that the rule uses to adjust the labor driver values before they’re offset and spread. All existing driver values in the time period are adjusted proportionately so that the total matches the value in the KPI. This is done just prior to the offset and duration spreading. |
| Rounding Threshold (0 - 1) | The rounding that’s applied at the end of the aggregation. Entering a number between 0 and 1 means that if the decimal portion of the value in the aggregated curve is greater than that number the value is set to the integer value further from 0, otherwise it will be the one closer to it. For example, if the rounding threshold value is 0.6 and the value is 4.7, then the rounded value is 5. If the value was -4.7 then it would be -5. If no rounding threshold value is specified, then the value is left as is. |
| Offset (minutes) | The amount of time that the aggregated curve will be shifted from the labor driver curve. This moves the distribution curve either forward or backward by the number of intervals that the supplied value translates to. For example, a value of -15 shifts the curve back 15 minutes from its original position. A value of 60 shifts the curve ahead 60 minutes from its original position. |
| Duration (minutes) | How long to extend an interval requirements duration. The standard duration is 15 minutes. If you enter 30, then the interval requirement of each interval will extend its own interval plus the next interval. This creates a ‘stacking’ effect. For example, an Offset (minutes) value of -30 and a Duration (minutes) value of 45 means that the value in each 15-minute interval of the driver will be shifted back 30 minutes and continue for 45 minutes. So, if the value in the driver curve at 1:00 PM was 6, then 6 is applied to the time period 12:30 PM to 1:15 PM in the aggregated driver curve. |
| Start Time | The time of day that the rule starts looking at labor driver data. |
| End Time | The time of day that the rule stops looking at labor driver data. |