Job Loader

Abstract

The systems and/or processes described herein are configured to help an entity operating one or more facilities manage the scheduling and assignment of jobs. The systems and/or processes implement a loading service to manage the scheduling and assignment of jobs based on one or more factors including, but not limited to, a type of service or work to be performed on an item (e.g., an automobile), an initial estimated duration of time to perform the type of service or work, a revised estimated duration of time to perform the type of service or work (e.g., based on technician input), technician schedules, technician skills, technician skill level, and/or one or more labels assigned to a job. Consequently, the loading service is able to help, e.g., via the generation and output of graphical user interfaces, the entity balance the scheduling of appointments for jobs amongst technicians working at one or more facilities.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for an entity to balance scheduling of appointments for automobile service jobs amongst a plurality of work stations configured to service automobiles, the system comprising:
 one or more processors;   a database storing facility schedule information comprised of a plurality of automobile service technician schedules associated with the plurality of work stations;   memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, configure the system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving real-time input from a plurality of work station devices associated with the plurality of work stations, the real-time input indicating a time when an individual automobile service technician is to complete an active automobile service job the individual automobile service technician is currently working on; 
 updating the facility schedule information stored in the database using the real-time input; 
 receiving, from a scheduler device, an instruction to schedule an appointment for a new automobile service job to be performed on an automobile of a customer, wherein the new automobile service job includes a type of automobile service job to be performed; 
 matching, for the new automobile service job, the type of automobile service job to be performed with a predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job; 
 accessing the facility schedule information to determine available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job; 
 applying a policy to balance a distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations, wherein application of the policy identifies a recommended time slot from the available time slots; 
 generating a graphical user interface that:
 displays the plurality of automobile service technician schedules, an individual automobile service technician schedule comprising already scheduled automobile service jobs which have reserved time slots; 
 visually distinguishes the available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job from the reserved time slots in individual ones of the plurality of automobile service technician schedules; and 
 provides a graphical indication of the recommended time slot; and 
 
   causing the graphical user interface to be displayed via the scheduler device.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise accessing a job label associated with the new automobile service job, wherein the available time slots are determined based at least in part on the job label. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the job label indicates that the new automobile service job is to be assigned to a particular automobile service technician that previously worked on the automobile for which the appointment is being scheduled. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the job label indicates that the new automobile service job is to be assigned to a particular automobile service technician that has a threshold level of skill. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the new automobile service job further includes an indication of whether the customer comprises (i) a waiting customer physically located at or proximate to an automobile service facility or (ii) a non-waiting customer that has dropped off the automobile at the automobile service facility and subsequently left the automobile service facility, wherein the determination of available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period is based at least in part on the indication of whether the customer comprises (i) the waiting customer or (ii) the non-waiting customer. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise automatically assigning the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving, from the scheduler device based on input from a scheduler, confirmation to assign the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot; and   adding the appointment for the new automobile service job to the facility schedule information based on the confirmation.   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical user interface provides visibility, for a period of time, into the distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations. 
     
     
         9 . A method comprising:
 receiving real-time input from a plurality of work station devices associated with a plurality of work stations, the real-time input indicating a time when an individual automobile service technician is to complete an active automobile service job the individual automobile service technician is currently working on;   updating, by one or more processors, facility schedule information stored in a database using the real-time input;   receiving, from a scheduler device, an instruction to schedule an appointment for a new automobile service job to be performed on an automobile of a customer, wherein the new automobile service job includes a type of automobile service job to be performed;   matching, for the new automobile service job, the type of automobile service job to be performed with a predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job;   accessing the facility schedule information to determine available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job;   applying a policy to balance a distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations, wherein application of the policy identifies a recommended time slot from the available time slots;   generating a graphical user interface that:
 displays a plurality of automobile service technician schedules, an individual automobile service technician schedule comprising already scheduled automobile service jobs which have reserved time slots; 
 visually distinguishes the available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job from the reserved time slots in individual ones of the plurality of automobile service technician schedules; and 
 provides a graphical indication of the recommended time slot; and 
   causing the graphical user interface to be displayed via the scheduler device.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising accessing a job label associated with the new automobile service job, wherein the available time slots are determined based at least in part on the job label. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the job label indicates that the new automobile service job is to be assigned to a particular automobile service technician that previously worked on the automobile for which the appointment is being scheduled. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the job label indicates that the new automobile service job is to be assigned to a particular automobile service technician that has a threshold level of skill. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the new automobile service job further includes an indication of whether the customer comprises (i) a waiting customer physically located at or proximate to an automobile service facility or (ii) a non-waiting customer that has dropped off the automobile at the automobile service facility and subsequently left the automobile service facility, wherein the determination of available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period is based at least in part on the indication of whether the customer comprises (i) the waiting customer or (ii) the non-waiting customer. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising automatically assigning the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 receiving, from the scheduler device based on input from a scheduler, confirmation to assign the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot; and   adding the appointment for the new automobile service job to the facility schedule information based on the confirmation.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the graphical user interface provides visibility, for a period of time, into the distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations. 
     
     
         17 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processers, cause a system to perform operations comprising:
 receiving real-time input from a plurality of work station devices associated with a plurality of work stations, the real-time input indicating a time when an individual automobile service technician is to complete an active automobile service job the individual automobile service technician is currently working on;   updating, by one or more processors, facility schedule information stored in a database using the real-time input;   receiving, from a scheduler device, an instruction to schedule an appointment for a new automobile service job to be performed on an automobile of a customer, wherein the new automobile service job includes a type of automobile service job to be performed;   matching, for the new automobile service job, the type of automobile service job to be performed with a predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job;   accessing the facility schedule information to determine available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job;   applying a policy to balance a distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations, wherein application of the policy identifies a recommended time slot from the available time slots;   generating a graphical user interface that:
 displays a plurality of automobile service technician schedules, an individual automobile service technician schedule comprising already scheduled automobile service jobs which have reserved time slots; 
 visually distinguishes the available time slots that can accommodate the predefined time period required to complete the type of automobile service job included in the new automobile service job from the reserved time slots in individual ones of the plurality of automobile service technician schedules; and 
 provides a graphical indication of the recommended time slot; and 
   causing the graphical user interface to be displayed via the scheduler device.   
     
     
         18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the operation further comprise automatically assigning the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot. 
     
     
         19 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 18 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receiving, from the scheduler device based on input from a scheduler, confirmation to assign the appointment for the new automobile service job to the recommended time slot; and   adding the appointment for the new automobile service job to the facility schedule information based on the confirmation.   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of  claim 17 , wherein the graphical user interface provides visibility, for a period of time, into the distribution of automobile service jobs across the plurality of work stations.