Planning personnel in the most efficient way is a pretty good start to save costs. It is also a pretty complex task. Additionally, there are people who perform certain tasks better than others. So, add effectiveness to the equation. Now it might get a bit tricky. Especially if you need to consider people’s availability, working time restrictions or car sharing teams. So, the more people and the bigger your warehouse, the more complex planning gets. Luckily, redPILOT offers an easy way out: the automatic resource allocation helps assigning the right people.
Planning efficiently is defined as fulfilling the required demand with the right amount of people by utilizing them in best way, as fast as possible. Effective planning means to use the people to produce the best overall results as a group. The best result being the highest performance achieved with the least amount of effort. A planner or shift leader may know exactly how many people are needed and which ones are the best for the individual job.
Circumstances change constantly
But what if people get sick? Or, what if the best person for the job has worked too many hours already? He might also be in a car sharing group and cannot get to work at the required time. Besides that we have learned, in times of COVID – now more than ever – that people need flexible arrangements. It is hard to keep track of all these bits and pieces. Therefore, redPILOT developed the automatic allocation feature, that supports planners with this task.
How to assign the right people?
redPILOT automatic allocation considers many factors to decide which operators should be selected in which order and at what times. The parameters that are taken into account for assigning the right people for each process step are:
Occupation: redPILOT allocates exactly as many operators as required based on the demand forecast and operational strategies.
Availabilities: Operators are allocated based on their needs which can be configured from very strict rules to very flexible ones.
Work group assignments: This parameter refers to full time-, part time- and temp workers. The system assigns according to priorities in order to fulfil permanent staff working hour agreements first. Altogether that results in lowest costs whereby redPILOT displays the costs immediately to the Planner.
Competences: The operator’s rated competence for a certain process step is an important factor for the automatic allocation.
Working time restrictions: redPILOT considers maximum daily and weekly working times, maximum number of shifts and minimum rest times. The automatic allocation makes sure these restrictions are complied with.
Process step order: The most important process steps are utilised with highest priority.
Teams: If operators belong to a team, e. g. a car sharing group, the system tries to allocate people of the same team within the same shift.
Also, other influencing factors like open vacation days or saldo hours are incorporated in the automatic allocation algorithm.
Automatic allocation for increased performance
redPILOT’s automatic allocation provides a way to optimally schedule resources. It supports the planner by creating a shift plan within a few seconds. Of course, the planner can manually adapt the recommended shift plan. In that way, planning time is substantially decreased, and planners can also concentrate on other important tasks. But the real benefits are increased performance due to the optimal deployment of resources and decreased costs.
