About Situation - Run Types

Number of Runs

This situation contains parameters that have a lower and upper limit with corresponding penalties. They are soft rules, therefore, if you use small penalties, BlockBuster compiles results that are more than the upper limit or less than the lower limit if doing so would result in the most cost- effective runcut. To prevent BlockBuster from creating results that are more than the upper limit or less than the lower limit (so instead fall between the two limits), use large penalties to make the creation of runs outside the parameters too expensive to create.

If it is impossible for BlockBuster to comply with the Upper and Lower limits, then BlockBuster creates the extra runs. For example, if you have five blocks out between 06:00 and 10:00 and you specify an Upper and Lower limit of four “earlies”, since it is impossible to create only four “earlies”, the system has to produce five.

Number of Pieces

This situation is used to control the number of pieces a run can have.

On Time “Driver”

This refers to the time that an operator can start on a piece of work, which usually includes Report allowances. The minimum is the earliest on time for a run type while the maximum is the latest on time.

Start Time “Vehicle”

This situation is similar to On Time. It includes the time before an operator actually starts a piece of work for which he/she may be paid an allowance.

For example, an operator reports for work at 7:50 a.m. (considered On Time) but actually starts his piece of work at 8:00 a.m. (Start Time).

End Time “Vehicle”

End time and Off time are applied in the same manner as On time and Start time to the end of a piece of work. End time is either Pull-in time or Relief time. The minimum is the earliest end time while the maximum is the latest end time for a run type.

This includes the time after an operator ends a piece of work for which he/she may be paid an allowance. Off time usually includes Turn-in allowances. The minimum is the earliest off time while the maximum is the latest off time for a run type.

Pay Time

This situation lists parameters that establish the pay time rules for a run type. This refers to the period of time for which an operator receives payment for his or her work. In other words, the amount of time for which an operator is paid for the day.

Info: Minimum Pay Time is time prior to any Guarantee allowances. This also applies to minimum values or penalties.

Commonly Used Parameters

Some of the more commonly used parameters associated with the Run Types situation are:

• Hourly Wage Rate: Type the hourly wage rate of your site.
• Guaranteed Time: A driver might be guaranteed a minimum daily pay time, if so, type the guarantee, for example, he/she may be guaranteed 8h30 even if he/she only works 8h00.
• Overtime Threshold: The point at which a driver starts being paid at the overtime rate for example, any pay time over 9h30 minutes may be paid at an enhanced rate.
• Overtime Premium: If the regular wage rate is $6.50 per hour and the overtime rate is $7.15, the overtime premium is 10%.
• Overtime Steps: Use these parameters to type values if the wage rate increases incrementally beyond the Overtime Threshold.

Piece Break Time

The situation covers the length of the break that an operator is allowed in between pieces of a run.

Piece Pay Time

This situation applies to the minimum and maximum amount that an operator may be paid for a piece of work on a two-piece or three-piece run.

Piece Platform Time

This situation refers to the minimum/maximum driving time or length of a piece.

Platform Time

The situation refers to the minimum/ maximum amounts of time an operator is scheduled to operate a vehicle.

Road Relief Time

This situation controls the placement of reliefs on a piece. For example, a piece may not be cut before 8:00 a.m. Type 8:00 on the Minimum field in the appropriate column.

Shift Break Time

The situation refers to breaks that an operator is allowed between shifts. This is usually longer than a Piece break. You need to specify the minimum and maximum values of this time in the Parameters table. For example, an operator with a five-hour run must have a break of at least 30 minutes.

Shift Time

Info: The system initially considers a break as a Piece break and a Shift break when runcutting. Based on the parameters that you set, the system assigns a break as a Piece break or a Shift break depending on what creates the cheapest solution.

This situation applies restrictions on the amount time before a shift break must occur.

Meal Break Time

This situation defines how much time of an operator’s meal break is paid and when a meal break is placed within a run.

Spread Time

This situation refers to the extent of time of the run. It covers the earliest time to the latest time of the run depending on the parameters you have decided to include within this duration.

Travel Pay Time

This situation refers to the amount of travel time paid to an operator. Note that only the maximum (the highest) value is set.

Travel Time

Travel Time is similar to Travel Pay Time. It limits the total amount of time that an operator is allowed to travel during a run. Note that only the maximum (the highest) value is also set for this parameter.

Work Time

This situation determines the minimum/maximum total period of time that an operator works on a run.

Cumulative Break Pay

This situation allows you to set the threshold of the payment of operator breaks based on the total value of all breaks in the run. It does not depend on how long the breaks are or when they occur. For example, based on the union contract, only 30 minutes of an operator’s total breaks should be paid.

Shift Layover

This situation allows you to set the minimum and maximum amount of layovers in a shift. A parameter in this situation also allows you to set the minimum amount of layover that can be included in the cumulative calculations.

The Shift Layover column on the Runs tab displays the total layover for each shift.

Layover

This situation allows you to control the total layover on a run. You can set the minimum and maximum amount of layovers in a run.

The Layover column in the Runs screen shows the total layover in a run.

Wheel Turning Time

This situation refers to platform time without a layover. It is calculated by subtracting positive shift layover from the platform time.

Wheel Turning Percentage

The situation sets AM straight runs to have this percentage no greater than 0.00%. If set to 100.00%, this parameter is not activated.

Miscellaneous Run Types

This situation is a collection of various parameters that do not fall under any of the other situations. Rank is a parameter associated with run types.

• Rank - Rank is a parameter of the Run Types group in the Miscellaneous Run Types situation. Ranking should not be confused with the Run type number assigned to each run type within the Run Type screen. The Run Type number listed in the Run Type screen has no effect on the parameters you set.

In contrast, Rank is a fundamental component to successfully performing automated runcutting within BlockBuster.

If a run abides by the legal parameters set within multiple run types, BlockBuster can classify it according to any one of the run types for which it is legal. BlockBuster decides which run type to create by choosing the highest ranking run type for which it is legal where a rank of “1” is the highest value. If two legal run types have the same rank, and if a run can be created in either, BlockBuster will favor the cheaper one. Undesirable run types should be assigned a lower ranking (higher number) than all of the Desirable run types.