Task Scheduling and Due Date Options

The system can be configured to calculate a due date for submission production tasks and editorial tasks. Four due-date options can be used with production tasks. One option applies to editorial tasks.

Due-date calculations may be affected by a publication’s configured due-date preferences regarding calendar/working days and national holidays. See Allow for Non-Working Days when Calculating Due Dates and Define National Holidays for Task Due Date Calculation.

Depending on configuration, due dates may be calculated in two ways:

Based on assignment date: When a task is assigned, the system calculates the best due date counting forward from assignment date.
Based on anticipated publication date: When a submission is put into production, the system calculates a Must Start By date for the task (i.e., a scheduled start date).

The four options for due-date calculation described below can be used independently or in combination.

Assignment date

The due date can be calculated in relation to the assignment date of the task.

When this option is used independently, the system calculates a due date at the time the task is assigned by counting forward a specified number of days from the assignment date. (A system administrator defines the number of days a task recipient is allocated to complete the task.)

When this option is used in combination with one of the target publication date options below, the system may adjust the task due date in order to meet, if possible, the due date calculated by the target publication date option. The specified number of days configured for this option is also used when the system calculates a scheduled Must Start By date for the task.

The calculation is affected by the settings for calendar/working days and national holidays.

This option may be used for production tasks and editorial tasks.

Submission target online publication date

A target online publication date is manually set for each submission on the Production Details page. This date is specific to the submission.

When this option is used independently, the system calculates a task due date by counting back a specified number of days from the target online publication date. The system warns the user assigning the task if the calculated due date has already passed, so the user can manually adjust the date.

When this option is used in combination with other options, the date calculated for this option is used as the due date if it is earlier than any other calculated due date. The system warns the user assigning the task if the calculated due date has already passed, so the user can manually adjust the date.

For calculating a scheduled Must Start By date, the configuration for this option is combined with the specified number of days after assignment (if configured in the first option, above). If more than one target publication option is configured, the earliest Must Start By date calculated by the system displays in the Production Status Grid and is used to calculate any task slip value. (Task slip is explained later in this article.)

The submission’s target online publication date is not overridden when the submission is assigned to a Schedule Group. This option allows a publication to identify an earlier target date for individual submissions even when they are assigned to an issue or other Schedule Group.

The due date calculation based on this target date is affected by the settings for calendar/working days and national holidays.

This option is available for submission production tasks.

Note: The submission target online publication date setting allows a publication to give individual submissions an ahead-of-print publication date that may be different from the submission’s associated Schedule Group, if the submission is assigned to a Schedule Group.

Schedule Group target online publication date

The Schedule Group target online publication date is read from the controlling Schedule Group when the submission is assigned to the Schedule Group (or when the submission’s designated controlling group is changed). The task due date is calculated by counting back a specified number of days from the Schedule Group target online publication date.

The due date calculation based on this target date is affected by the settings for calendar/working days and national holidays.

Schedule Group target dates can be modified from the Manage Schedule Group folder, by users with the Manage Schedule Groups permission.

This option is available for submission production tasks.

Note: The Schedule Group target online publication date may be used to give a Schedule Group an ahead-of-print publication date.

Schedule Group target publication date

The Schedule Group target publication date is the print publication date inherited from the controlling Schedule Group when a submission is assigned to it (or when the submission’s designated controlling Group is changed). The due date is calculated by counting back a specified number of days from the Schedule Group target publication date.

The due date calculation based on this target date is affected by the settings for calendar/working days and national holidays.

Schedule Group target dates can be modified from the Manage Schedule Group folder, by users with the Manage Schedule Groups permission.

A submission’s own target publication date is overridden when the submission is assigned to a Schedule Group (i.e., the submission target publication date and Schedule Group target publication date are synchronized). The new target date value is retained if the submission is subsequently removed from the Schedule Group.

This option is available for submission production tasks.

Visibility to time-sensitive tasks

Information about production task due dates and potential impact on schedules may be configured to display in several areas.

The production status grid can include Must Start By dates and task slip figures. Task slip is a measure of how late an individual task type is running (past its Must Start By day or Must End By date).

Editor and Publisher roles with permission have access to an “At Risk” Submissions folder on the Production Tasks menu. This folder contains all submissions that have an associated schedule slip. Schedule slip is a measure of how late a submission is currently running based on all individual submissions task slip figures for associated production task assignments.

To Configure:

Go to PolicyManager > ProduXion Manager > Configure Submission Workflows and Production Tasks.

Click the Edit link next to the applicable workflow. This opens the Configure Submission Workflow page.
Click the Edit link next to the task to configure with a due-date option. This opens the Edit Submission Production Task page. (Or click Add New Task Type to create a new task.)
In the Scheduling and Due Date Options section, set display options for scheduling and due date information.
1. Show Task in Production Status Grid: Check the box to include a column for this task in the grid.
2. Include this task in “At Risk” and “Must Start By” date display: Check the box to display task in “At Risk” Submissions folder and to display “Must Start By” and task slip information in the production status grid (if the task is configured to display in the grid). When this option is selected, at least one “prior to” due-date calculation option must be selected in step 4b (below). Recommendation: Configure the Number of Days After Assignment Date option in addition to a “prior to” due-date calculation option.
Select the appropriate due date option.
1. Task is a Milestone Task (no due date required): See Milestone Tasks.
2. Calculate a Due Date based on (one or more options may be configured):
  1. Number of Days after Assignment Date: Check the box next to the setting and enter a number in the text box.
  2. Number of Days prior to Submission Target Online Publication Date: Check the box next to the setting and enter a number in the text box.
  3. Number of Days prior to Schedule Group Target Online Publication Date: Check the box next to the setting and enter a number in the text box.
  4. Number of Days prior to Schedule Group Target Publication Date: Check the box next to the setting and enter a number in the text box.
Click Submit to return to the Configure Submission Workflow page.

For more details on task configuration, see Configure Submission Production Tasks or Editorial Tasks.