Installing Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution in many ways is the easy part of any labor scheduling initiative. Eliminating manufacturing labor waste is the bigger challenge. But it won’t happen without a fully automated and tightly integrated workforce scheduling solution.
With Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution, management is able to uncover inefficient manning and manufacturing labor waste. Working in partnership with Tugboat, facilities discover opportunities to improve labor utilization and productivity wherever possible. The business test for a workforce scheduling solution is to keep manufacturing labor waste to the absolute minimum.
Where to Look for Manufacturing Labor Waste
- Overtime. Overtime may be unavoidable. However, the key to reducing manufacturing labor waste is to eliminate unneeded overtime. Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution keeps overtime assignments to the absolute minimum.
- Unassigned Workers. Unassigned workers are a form of manufacturing labor waste. In the simple case, a worker punches in – no job is available on the schedule – yet he or she winds up on the payroll. Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution keeps unassigned workers to the absolute minimum.
- Unassigned Workers and Overtime. If unassigned workers are listed on the schedule and jobs are filled with overtime, this is a form of manufacturing labor waste. As an example, unassigned worker A doesn’t have the qualifications for any of the open jobs. So, an open job will have to be filled with overtime. However, if worker B, already on the schedule, is reassigned to one of the open jobs and then worker A moves into worker B’s original job, one overtime job is filled with straight time.
- Temporary Workers. Temporary workers are an invaluable resource when filling the gap between your regular labor pool and surges in production demand. However the overuse of temporaries is a form of manufacturing labor waste. Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution keeps temporary assignments to the absolute minimum.
- Training Planning. Even when overtime or the use of temporary workers appears to be the only solution, one can still mitigate these types of manufacturing labor waste if more employees are trained and available for jobs which are chronically short staffed. Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution highlights resources shortages and schedules on-the-job training in a tightly integrated manner with workforce scheduling.
Contact us today for more information on how you can eliminate manufacturing labor waste with Tugboat’s workforce scheduling solution!
