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The Strategic Value of an Agile Workforce
Last month we shared with you our excitement about the coming year. Our 2011 newsletter will continue to focus on the strategic value of workforce scheduling. Throughout the year we will cover topics that will demonstrate how an agile workforce contributes significant value to an organization by helping:
- improve profit margins through benefits absorption, reduced inventory carrying costs and reduced labor costs;
- manage fluctuations in demand, allowing organizations to produce or deliver only what is required at the best possible cost;
- reduce risk by staffing only qualified personnel and working within the constraints of complex labor agreements;
- reduce turnover and improve employee satisfaction due to fairness of scheduling practices, scheduling employees for the best available job and providing more control and visibility of schedules.
This month we will focus on how an agile workforce is critical to the best possible execution of an operational plan.
Why an agile workforce is critical to the execution of operational planning
Agility in manufacturing is top-of-mind for many executives. Organizations are focused on responding to the needs of customers while maintaining high quality standards and controlling costs. Today’s supply chain has moved from simply automating to being able detect and respond to changes in demand or supply. We now hear terms like “dynamic supply chain,” “real-time supply chain” and “Lean 2.0.”
Tools and methodologies like Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP), and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) are hot topics for those manufacturers looking for ways to become more dynamic. To obtain agility in today’s environment, manufacturers need to have tight integration between planning and execution. However, we hear very little about the execution piece of these plans on the shop floor, or more specifically, at the workforce planning level.
If an organization has undertaken the effort and cost to implement an S&OP or APS, why would they not optimize the labor in support of it? While it’s important to predict what customers want and when, it’s a competitive advantage to have the right labor resources to deliver. A successful S&OP implementation benefits from an optimized workforce with the right number of people that have the right skills to produce according to plan at the lowest possible cost.
Labor is typically viewed as a constraint to the successful movement of goods through the supply chain. ScheduleSoft offers a unique approach whereby we are eliminating the variances in labor to provide a predictable labor force that is producing only what is required. Many of our customers are companies where small variations in performance can have a dramatic impact on the profitability and ultimately the viability of the company. Without an agile workforce that can flex with changes in demand, unexpected production glitches or material shortages, a good production plan is rendered virtually useless.
As organizations strive to achieve a real-time supply chain, the tools for managing and executing the changes in demand become more critical. Detecting changes in demand and supply is only useful if you can respond to them and change the production schedule and corresponding workforce schedule.
The bottom line is there are many methodologies, tools and processes to help make organizations competitive, but if the workers that execute these plans can’t respond to changes like supply shortages, plant breakdowns or other unexpected disruptions, an organization is not optimized. It has become as much of an execution issue as it is a planning issue. Organizations that have obtained workforce agility use it as a strategic advantage.
Schedule a Demo
If you haven’t already seen a demonstration of our workforce scheduling solution, contact us today. We will show you how an agile workforce helps drive agile manufacturing.
sales@schedulesoft.com
1-800-416-9006
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