Roster
Rosters that cover every shift, fairly
Optimized rosters with the right skills on every shift. When someone calls in sick, Roster re-plans the week within your working rules.
Every working rule kept, and an AI assistant sets it up with you.
How it works
Explain the rules once. Refine them in conversation
Your working rules go in as plain language, and stay easy to change.
A workable roster depends on knowledge that rarely sits in one system: who holds which qualification, which rules are fixed by agreement and which preferences can bend. Roster brings it into one model, so coverage, working rules and fairness are weighed together.
- 01
Bring your data
Work with workforce data from your existing systems. Staff lists, qualifications and shift patterns from your HR or time-recording exports are enough to begin.
- 02
Describe your operation
Describe shifts, skills and coverage priorities in plain language. The AI assistant asks how exceptions are handled today, from shift swaps and rest periods to minimum staffing at night.
- 03
Refine the model
Review and refine the rostering model with your team. Ask the AI assistant why someone was placed on a shift, then tighten or relax the rule behind it.
When a qualified specialist is unavailable
The quick swap covers every shift but breaks the rules people work by. Re-planning the week finds cover that keeps them.
Illustrative scenario
Five people, Monday to Friday, three shifts a day. Only people marked ★ may lead a night. After a night comes a rest day or another night, and a fifth shift in the week is overtime.
- Early
- Late
- Night
AI assistant
An assistant from set-up to every re-plan
Set up by conversation
Describe how your work runs in plain language. The assistant drafts the planning model from what you say and the data you bring.
Rules you can read
The model is laid out as rules, resources and priorities that your team can check and correct.
Ready for what-if questions
Later, ask the assistant what-if questions: who covers if a specialist is absent, what changes if demand shifts, and which assignments move.
Request Roster early accessExplore workforce resource allocation
What a better roster buys your team
Full coverage
Every shift is planned for headcount and skills, so gaps surface before the shift does.
Rules built in
Working-time rules and contracts are part of the model, not checked afterwards.
Fairer rotas
Unpopular shifts and overtime are spread evenly across the team.
Calmer changes
Absences are absorbed with as few changes as possible to people's plans.
Features built for your workforce
Roster helps planners compare workable alternatives and identify coverage conflicts that cannot be resolved under the current rules. The planner decides how to address any remaining shortage.
Coverage and skills
Match assignments to the number of people and specialist skills each shift requires.
Working rules
Account for availability, eligible assignments, hours and the applicable constraints included in the model.
Scenarios and fairness
Compare changes in demand, availability and shift preferences before approving a roster.
Under the hood
Planning applications run on the 4colors Optimizer
Takt, Roster and Stride run on 4colors optimization algorithms, the family that set new best-known schedules on a public project-scheduling benchmark.
Rules you describe become a model the engine searches within your time budget, so what-if questions return comparable alternatives, not a single plan.
Powered by
4colors Optimizer
Original search algorithms, tested on demanding benchmarks and run to your time budget. Also powers the Optimizer for Scheduling, the Optimizer for QUBO and the Quantum Compiler.
Explore the 4colors OptimizerMore planning apps
Takt
Production schedules for jobs, machines, changeovers and deadlines, re-planned when a rush order lands.
Stride
Project schedules built on the people and equipment you have, re-planned when a project slips.
What makes a roster workable?
Explore more use cases- Use case
The Mathematics of a Fair and Workable Roster
Headcount alone cannot ensure qualification coverage or a fair allocation of work.
Explore the use case - Guide
Hard and Soft Constraints: Where a Schedule Can Bend
A qualification may be non-negotiable even when a preference is flexible.
Read the guide - Guide
Build a Small Workforce Roster Model
Translate shifts, availability and staffing rules into a small inspectable model.
Read the guide - Insight
The Optimization Project That Worked Until Monday
A missing qualification can turn a sound schedule into an unusable one.
Read the insight - Insight
Why the Best Schedule May Not Be the Most Useful
When stability matters more than a small score improvement.
Read the insight
Bring us the roster that keeps breaking
Share a real month of shifts, skills and rules, and see what an optimized roster does with it.