About Crews In Mobile

A Crew is a group of resources that can be assigned to complete work. A resource that belongs to a crew that has been assigned work can view and execute these assignments in the mobile clients. There are two types of resources in a crew, the Crew Leader and Crew Member(s). The Crew Leader will be responsible for keeping assignments up to date and has the ability to report on behalf of the entire crew, whereas a member has access to view the work assigned to the crew, and some limited actions, such as time reporting, described further below.

Transferring Crew Work to Mobile

Work Tasks assigned to a crew can be transferred to the mobile. When work is transferred the Allocated Start Time determines who is set as the Crew Leader and which Crew Members to include. The assignment is sent to all members of a crew.  If no Crew Leader is defined for the period, the transfer will be prevented.

If the allocated start of the assignment is in the past at the time of transferring to the mobile (overdue work), then the system date is used to find which valid members the assignment can be sent to.

When crew work is transferred to mobile, Work Task events are generated to indicate to whom the crew assignment is sent.

The Transferred Tasks/Work Assignments page has a sub-table for mobile transferred crew assignments, which consists of records created for each crew member.

• The Delete option is available on each member record, enabling the Service Administrator to remove crew assignment from a selected crew member.
• The Service Administrator can also use the command Provide Leader Rights to a member from this table. Changes to the leader will be pushed to the mobile clients of both the previous and new leaders. This option is useful if there is no one who can execute the work assignment on a mobile. However, this action does not change anything in the crew setup and is intended to be used only if the crew assignment is stuck in mobile without having a leader to execute it.

If a Work Task assigned and transferred to a crew has an associated Pickup task, the Pickup task is automatically sent to the crew leader to process the part pick-up.

Crews in Mobile

Crew Assignments that have been transferred to mobile are available to view under My Work and can be seen by every crew member. Only the Crew Leader can control the status of a crew assignment.

In the Crew Information section in Work Details, it is possible to see the role as well as the assigned Crew leader for a specific task.

All members can view the operational crew in the mobile client and create any crew deviations on the current crew.

Transacting Crew Work

Only the crew leader can execute the crew work, and has full access to manage related activities such as material handling.

Crew members can view the assigned crew work but with limited access.

Time Reporting for Crew Work

Auto Time Reporting

Automatic time capture when the leader executes the work assignment is created on the crew resource level.

• The Primary Resource Group and the Default Time Type defined on the Crew Resource are used when creating the work time clocking.
• The Default Travel Resource Group and the Travel Time Type defined on the Crew Resource are used when creating the travel time clocking.
• Time reported for the crew is split into member reports on the server side once it is synchronized from the mobile device to the server. Each individual member's time report record is then pushed back to mobile.
• The member-level time records can be viewed under crew time details. This is an online-only view.

Only the crew leader can modify/delete time reports reported for the entire crew, whereas any member can modify/delete member-level records (split time) on mobile.

• Modifying or deleting the crew-level time reports by the leader will also modify or delete the respective member-level records.
• Modifying or deleting member-level time reports will not affect crew-level time reports.

Manual Time Reporting

Only the crew leader can report time for the entire crew.

• The crew time is split in the backend to the member level and is pushed back to the mobile.
• The member-level time records can be viewed under crew time details when the device is online.

Only the crew leader can modify/delete the crew-level time reports, whereas any member can modify/delete member-level records (split time) on mobile.

• Modifying or deleting the crew-level time reports by the leader will also modify or delete the respective member-level records.
• Modifying or deleting member-level time reports will not change or delete other member time records or crew-level time records.

Both the leader and member can report time on the person's resource level.

Workflow Configuration and Survey Support for Crew Work

Configuration with type Work Task

• Configuration applies for both leader and member devices as usual.

Workflow Configuration with type Configured Work Task

• The configuration only applies to the Crew leader’s device, and the leader executes the crew work.
• This is to support the Configured Work Task concept (the tech is driven through predefined steps). 
• The member gets a view of the Work Task with limited access.
  • Work Details
  • Some read-only actions, such as
    • Materials
    • Assignments
    • Work Order
    • Service Book

Crew work-specific eForms

• It is possible to create eForms that are only valid for crew work.
  • To utilize this functionality, there is a toggle called Use in Crew Only in the eForm tab in the Workflow Configuration screen.
  • If an eForm is not set as crew work specific (default setting), the eForm triggers irrespective of who (crew or individual resource) executes the work.
• This option is available only for Work Task and Configured Work Task Workflow Configurations.

View the Operational Crew

My Crew – accessed through the main menu on the left-hand side of the application, gives the crew members access to view the crew composition as well as to make changes.

• A user can view the assigned crew and its composition through My Crew for any given date. The My Crew option is in the main menu of both the IFS MWO Service and IFS MWO Maintenance apps.
  • In My Crew, it is possible to view the leader and members available in the crew for the system date by default. Operational crew is derived based on the planned crew details and the existing crew deviations.
  • The user can also get his crew for a future date by modifying the crew date. Once a new date is selected, the page is refreshed, and the valid crew appears.
  • My Crew is implemented as an online view to see real-time crew details.
  • My Crew option can be turned on/off through security permissions in Solution Manager / Mobile Apps / Administration / Security Grants, and Entity Filters / Security Grants By Permission Set by removing Security Group Crews.
  • Members can be contacted through the communication methods provided in the contact widget.

Managing Crew Deviations in Mobile

There can be instances where the crew needs changes for a selected date. For example, a crew member called in sick and is unable to take part in the crew. In such cases, the member can be removed from the crew for that date by registering a Remove Member Deviation.

Changes to My Crew due to deviations will not affect to the Planned Crew. However, if there is a permanent member removal or long-term absence, it should only be handled at the Planned Crew level.  

• Following crew deviations can be registered on My Crew in the mobile client.
  • Replace Leader
    • This will replace the existing leader with another crew member or a person not currently part of the crew for the selected date. Only a mobile user can be selected as the new leader. If the new leader is not currently in the crew, a member deviation will also be created in order to create the membership.
  • Add Leader
    • This will add a leader for the operational crew for the selected date. One of the crew members or a resource who is not currently part of the crew can be set as the leader. This option is enabled only when the crew does not have a leader. Only a mobile user can be set as the new leader.
  • Replace Member
    • This will replace the selected member with a person who is currently not part of the crew for the selected date.
    • A new member does not have to be a mobile user.
  • Add Member
    • This will add a new member to the operational crew for the selected date.
  • Remove Member
    • This will remove the selected member from the operational crew for the selected date.
• All changes due to deviations are immediately updated in My Crew in the mobile client.
• Based on the member/leader deviations entered, the already transferred crew work (if any) will be re-sent/removed accordingly.
  • Work is sent out to new members.
  • Work is taken-off from the removed members.
  • The new leader gets access to process the work on mobile.

Note: If a leadership or membership is expired while crew work is on mobile, such situations should be manually handled. For example, if the leadership period has ended for the current leader, any ongoing crew work on the mobile should be incomplete & returned if the leader cannot process it any longer. 

Show Crew Member Allocation(s) and Crew Work Allocation(s)

Crew Member Allocation

• Crew member allocations are shown in the My Work Calendar as a separate calendar event.
• Details of the allocations can be viewed by clicking on the calendar event.
• This feature is only available in the IFS MWO Service.

Crew Work Allocation

• Crew work allocations are shown in the My Work Calendar as a work allocation.
• Details of the allocations can be viewed by clicking on the event.
• This feature is only available in the IFS MWO Service.

Report New Crew Work in Mobile

Reporting new work is supported only for crew leaders in the mobile client. This is applicable for the following processes in the IFS MWO Service and IFS MWO Maintenance.

• Add Request Scope.
• Create a scope and add to my crew – This will create a new work scope, and work tasks within the scope will be assigned to the current crew in the backend. Crew work is then pushed to the relevant crew members devices.
• Prepare Scope for dispatching – This will create a new scope with a work task in the back office.
• Plan a scope for reviewing – This will create a new scope and will be shown under Scope Review in the crew leader’s device for further processing.
• Additional Work
  • Create additional work that needs to be done – This will create a new work task in the back office. In this process, the crew leader can suggest a crew resource group or a personal resource group for the new task.
  • Create additional work that My Crew will perform – This will create a new work task, and the task will be assigned to the current crew and directly displayed on the crew leader’s device. A copy of the task is then pushed to the other crew members devices. If the additional work task is created by using a standard task, the task is created, and assigned to the current crew in the backend, and pushed to the relevant crew member devices.
  • Report additional work that My Crew has done – This will create a work task with a crew assignment in a completed state.
• New Assignment/Task Re-plan
• Assign to My Crew – This will create a new crew assignment for the current crew and directly displayed in the crew leader’s device. A copy of the work is then pushed to the other crew member devices.
• Need to be planned – This will create a new resource demand for the task. In this process, the crew leader can suggest either a crew resource group or a personal resource group as the new demand for the task.