Cyclical Work Schedule

A document visually depicting the course of the production process in time and space and representing a graphic image of technological processes according to previously determined work conditions. The cyclical work schedule is widely used at mining enterprises, particularly coal mines. The cycle in the working face in a coal mine is the aggregate of processes and operations required for cutting coal along the entire length of the longwall; in the development face the cycle is the aggregate of processes and operations for the entire section of the face for the specified advance. The work cycle in a coal face (longwall) provides for the extraction of a certain amount of coal in a specific interval of time and depends upon the parameters of the working face, that is, the length of the working face, the thickness of the excavated seam, the cutting depth, and the proportion of coal to other material.

The work cycle in the development face (drift, crosscut, and so forth) provides for the advance of the face by a set distance and depends upon the excavation section, the amount of blasthole drilling when the detonation method is used to cut the coal or the rock, the method for loading the rock and coal, the type of shoring, and the number of cutters in a brigade. The cyclical work schedules are compiled on the basis of calculations that determine the volume of work and the duration of individual operations in the cycle, taking into account the opportunity of combining a number of operations over time; the number of workers, in terms of job classifications, needed to perform the entire work cycle; and the distribution of jobs constituting the cycle in terms of daily shifts. The cyclical work schedule includes a job planogram (a time schedule) for the shifts of the day (and within each shift, for the hours), which can serve to show in what areas of the face (what meter point measured off on the longwall) work should be carried out at each specific time interval; a schedule for appearances at work determining how many workers of various job classifications should be present for work on each shift; a table of technical and economic indexes characterizing the results of the work; and the symbols used in the planogram. The cyclical work schedule can be mono-, bi-, and multicyclical depending upon the number of cycles performed in one day.

Cyclical work schedules are originated by the section chiefs and approved by the chief engineer of the enterprise. They help to improve the production rhythm, strengthen production discipline, make better use of the work front, raise labor productivity, reduce production costs, improve industrial safety, and improve the technical-economic indexes for the work of a brigade, section, or enterprise. The cyclical work schedules are also used at other industrial enterprises having cyclical work processes.