Offshore organisations experience an average of 27 days of unplanned downtime per year, costing approximately $38 million annually. In this post, I’ll explore five ways Propeople’s workforce scheduling software helps HR and crew managers reduce delays like late mobilisations, mismatched skill sets, and last-minute changes due to illness or certification lapses; improve crew task alignment and respond fast to disruptions that affect crew management in offshore projects.
According to a 2016 study by Kimberlite, a 1% downtime rate (just 3.65 days per year) for an offshore project can cost operators more than $5 million annually. This figure doesn’t account for worst-case scenarios, where extended delays can push losses well beyond $88 million.
These costs can stem from idle vessels, stalled production, delayed logistics, and the cascading effect of missed deadlines. In offshore projects, even short disruptions can trigger contractual penalties, lost revenue, and reputational damage.
Poor crew scheduling is one of the most preventable causes of downtime in offshore operations. When schedules are built on outdated data, lack visibility, or fail to account for compliance and logistics, the consequences can be costly.
Workforce scheduling tools like Propeople help mitigate these risks by improving visibility and planning accuracy.
Workforce scheduling software helps HR and crew managers stay ahead of workforce related risks and downtime by improving visibility, coordination, and responsiveness related to managing crew on projects. Here are the five key ways effective crew scheduling reduces downtime:
Weather disruptions, medical emergencies, and travel delays are common last-minute obstacles that crop up in offshore projects and affect your crew scheduling. When crew availability shifts unexpectedly, manual rescheduling can be slow and error-prone.
Propeople’s drag-and-drop functionality allows managers to update multiple crew assignments in seconds. Real-time availability and compliance checks ensure replacements meet all requirements, while automated alerts and workflows help teams follow up without missing critical steps.
Downtime often stems from mismatches in crew qualifications: for example, when a required certification has expired or a role is filled by someone without the right training. Propeople’s scheduling system flags gaps in competence before they become operational issues. Managers can see at a glance who is qualified, who is nearing expiry, and who needs reassignment. This reduces the risk of delays, or worse, caused by non-compliance or last-minute crew changes.
Crew scheduling doesn’t happen in isolation. Offshore projects depend on coordinated travel, transfers, and port access. Propeople integrates scheduling with travel and logistics modules, giving managers a clear view of crew locations, nearest airports, and harbours. This helps avoid delays caused by routing errors or missed connections and ensures that crew members arrive on time and ready to work.
Assigning the right crew to the right task at the right time is essential for operational efficiency. Propeople includes shift planning within its scheduling tools, allowing managers to align crew availability with project needs. This reduces idle time, prevents overstaffing, and ensures that each shift is covered by qualified personnel. Workforce scheduling plays a key role in aligning shifts with project needs, helping avoid bottlenecks caused by poor task allocation.
Poor communication is one of the leading causes of crew-related downtime. When schedules change or compliance issues arise, delays often result from slow or unclear follow-up. Propeople’s dashboards provide a clear, visual overview of current and upcoming gaps, making it easier to spot issues before they cause delays.
For more proactive planning, users can implement an automatically generated gap list. This list highlights qualification gaps based on actual planned activities and includes key details like the associated project and role. With this level of visibility, teams can act early to close gaps and keep operations on track.
Unplanned downtime becomes inevitable long before a crew member steps onto a vessel if you’re relying on outdated processes, fragmented communication, and reactive planning. Prevent delays before they happen by following the best practices for offshore crewing, which, when supported by workforce scheduling software, helps reduce the risk of last-minute crew gaps, compliance breaches, and logistical missteps.
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Downtime in offshore projects is costly, and crew-related issues can often be a cause, but these issues are preventable if teams are armed with the right tools. Propeople Crew Management Software gives HR and crew managers real-time access to crew availability, qualifications, and location data, allowing them to assign the right personnel to the right task, coordinate travel efficiently, and respond quickly to last-minute changes. To learn more about how our crew management software helps manage crew scheduling challenges, download the Propeople brochure today!
Crew scheduling focuses specifically on assigning personnel to offshore roles based on availability, location, and qualifications. Workforce scheduling is broader and includes planning across departments and shifts. In offshore projects, both are essential for minimising downtime and ensuring operational continuity.
Key features of crew scheduling software include:
These capabilities help HR and crew managers respond quickly to crew-scheduling disruptions and keep offshore projects on schedule.
Yes. Crew scheduling software includes tools for monitoring crew qualifications, tracking certification expiry dates, and flagging compliance gaps before they affect project execution. This helps HR and crew managers avoid delays caused by mismatched or non-compliant assignments for personnel.