The Importance of Employee Scheduling in Manufacturing
Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
“Time is money” is a prevalent phrase for an excellent reason. Managing time on a day-to-day basis is not always an easy task. Some inconveniences and distractions can cause plans to change, and that time is not used efficiently as scheduled.
In a company, it is the same: the time it takes for the materials to arrive, manufacture a product, and make a delivery; time plays a vital role. Using this resource at its best in your business’s processes increases the profit margin and customer satisfaction, leading to be a more competitive and efficient company.
However, optimizing the schedule can be tricky since there are many considerations to be taken, such as fairness, flexibility, and regulations. This is when Automated Employee Scheduling comes into play.
Let’s find out how this tool will aid your business in making time a profitable asset.
What is an Automated Employee Scheduling?
An Automated Employee Scheduling is a software that dictates the specific activities an employee has to complete to deliver a product or service within a particular time frame and adjusts on the go if necessary according to the compliance regulations.
With Automated Employee Scheduling, a company can better appreciate and manage time, know when it is necessary to work overtime, which employees are willing to work this new shift, and comply with regulations. Also, with Automated Employee Scheduling, you can promote workplace safety and reduce stress, leading to a better work environment.
There are several conflicts your company can easily avoid by having an Automated Employee Scheduling. Doing a work plan by hand on physical spreadsheets or even excel documents can be tedious to handle and organize, not to mention how time-consuming it can be or how burdensome it can get to make last-minute changes.
Some of the issues your staff will easily manage with this software are:
- Inequitable shift distribution: Overworking can lead to stress, and not being able to take the opportunity to get extra money by working an additional shift can be frustrating. Counting with an Automated Employee Scheduling Software will be a lifesaver to distribute the hours fairly. It will manage the shifts for your employees and prevent favoritism, conflicts, distress, and burnout. Your staff will be able to decide if they want to take extra hours or not.
- Unfair payment: Managing the employees scheduling on paper or excel spreadsheets can be complicated, and human errors can happen, especially in big companies with a large number of workers. The help of an Automated Employee Scheduling makes this task easier by reviewing a worker’s history, making payroll management more straightforward for all the staff.
- Problems with Regulations: To be aware of federal regulations is essential when creating a schedule. An Employee Schedule APS can manage holidays, parental leave, overtime payment, sick leaves, required breaks, safety rules, and more according to the law.
- Mistakes with Availability: A schedule won’t work if there is no in-real-time information about the availability of employees. For example, there can be a double booking by mistake or a last-minute change in an order that needs more workers to complete an order which is why communication is pivotal. With an Automated Employee Scheduling Software, a company can keep track of your workers’ performances and post the extra shifts available. Employees can sign up for them by submitting a form, calling, or writing an e-mail.
- Harmful use of Time: With an Automated schedule, your employees will know what they need to do and at what phase. This will prevent bad practices like “time theft” by tracking employees’ activities, leading to better productivity and fewer burnouts.
As a whole, an Automated Employee Scheduling details the processes and resources a worker needs to perform to maintain production working to its fullest capacity, even with last-minute changes in a specific and flexible time frame.
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What are the benefits of having Automated Employee Scheduling?
To count with an Automated Employee Scheduling, your company won’t only organize better the employee’s shifts; it will earn a good amount of benefits that will make the workflow more organized.
Among the advantages and profitability of having software that manages scheduling are:
- It will optimize the work of all company areas with a flexible and adaptive production plan. See our suggestions how to optimize Lead Times.
- It will manage time more accurately and profitably, even with sporadic incidents like late delivery or bottlenecks.
- Controls the value and reduces the labor cost with scheduled activities, reducing overtime and overstaffing on projects.
- It will give you and your employees increased in-real-time workflow visibility within devices that aid decision-making.
- It makes it easier to see opportunities that can be realized in work processes for continuous improvement and productivity.
- Ensures the correct use of security rules, improving employee health and a more efficient workflow. It will also ensure that your company shifts follow federal regulations.
- It will promote a better work-life balance for your employees.
Ensure the Perfect Shift with an Automated Employee Scheduling
The world is constantly changing every day, and a company can’t forever have the same production schedule; it needs to adapt to last-minute changes like sick leave or sporadic cases. Adding an Automated Employee Scheduling to your ERP or MES system like Skyplanner APS will help create the most efficient production plan in mere seconds.
It is time to say goodbye to physical spreadsheets and complicated excel documents. With Skyplanner APS customized for your company’s needs, your employees will get a transparent and more organized view of the work history, have fewer payments issues and guarantee your company’s shifts get the right amount of people.
Let’s start with a demo and see for yourself!
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