People are the reason the wheels of the business keep turning. This is true of any company, especially those in the manufacturing industry. The employees working on the floor of manufacturing facilities are essential to the actual production of products, which is what our business is all about.
However, companies that operate without an effective strategy for hiring or distributing their workforce often create a slow-moving business wheel. According to IndustryWeek, this can result in lost time, increased burnout, and ultimately a reduced level of overall production. To make the most cost-effective decisions regarding your workforce, strategic manufacturers must find unique ways to use scheduling data.
The Importance of a Resource Allocation Tool
For your plant to make best use of resources and time, you must find the optimal distribution of your employees across all positions and shifts. One of the most efficient ways to discover the best dispersion of employees is to use a resource allocation tool. This kind of software allows you to input your various detailed facility needs and constraints. The best tools are flexible, letting you set the minimum number of people needed for each task during each shift. Some even allow you to input the required skill level.
A resource allocation tool can generate a variety of hypothetical options, allowing you to decide on the ideal distribution of employees in your plant schedule. This flexibility can also help determine if adding an extra employee to a certain shift will produce a positive return, or if that person could be better allocated elsewhere. Armed with this data, you can be assured that your plant is working with the most effectively distributed workforce possible.
Analyze Your Hiring Needs
Based on the data you received from resource allocation, you will be able to decide whether or not you need to hire additional employees in order to reach your desired output. If paying an additional employee for 40 hours of work will create enough product to recoup the cost, it may be worth it to add that extra position. However, you may also find that the output will not be higher than the employee’s total compensation, and it’s best to explore additions elsewhere.
Some plants may approach resource allocation differently. Manufacturers who aren’t able to hire as many new positions as they would like are faced with deciding which hires would be the most impactful. Sample labor models can help these companies measure the effect of each individual new position and compare the results to make the most cost-effective decisions. If these companies are able to continue hiring in the future, they can revisit this tool and find the next most effective new position.
Invest in Training
Another way to increase your plant’s productivity is to help your existing team produce a higher output. These improvements will often require additional training to help employees learn where they can advance their skills and minimize mistakes. If your team’s duties involve software and other advanced technology, consider developing training materials that will expand on the various features and functionalities. Spending a bit of time documenting a deeper knowledge of these tools can help speed up the learning curve.
In order to create time for this training, you may consider using a scheduling tool to plan time around your production schedule. Consider scheduling these blocks of training time like you do planned maintenance to cause minimal disruption to the overall system.
An advanced manufacturing planning & scheduling tool, such as VirtECS, will have the beneficial resource allocation feature built into the software. VirtECS has the unique ability to create a model of your entire manufacturing plant, including employees, equipment and all of their constraints. We hear from our clients all the time how valuable it is to have a resource allocation tool that is so flexible and specific. For more information on using VirtECS at your facility, please fill out the form at the bottom of our News & Insight page.
