Labor Management of the Future
Labor management software is evolving rapidly. What has long been considered the stepchild of WMS software is about to steal the spotlight and become the long-awaited tool the supply chain industry needs.
Known for its performance score reporting and incentive benefits, labor management software (LMS), has slowly been building its repertoire of capabilities throughout the past 15 years. We’ve seen functionality like planning and balancing begin to grow and we’ve continued to observe the emergence of systemic observations and coaching. Recent updates even suggest the creation of a fully mobile platform further showcasing that labor management is evolving from engineered labor standards into a comprehensive solution.
Today’s software offers significantly more logic and capability than it did 15 years ago; but, what’s next on the horizon? Labor management is on the verge of becoming a system capable of learning, and adjusting, from the data it collects. The software will soon be capable of not only understanding the rates at which work is occurring but, also at what rate the work will need to occur.
Labor management is not far from the day that it becomes a tool capable of precise predictions of both consumer and employee habits to anticipate what is both required and feasible. We predict this will change in labor management software will be the greatest and most impactful change seen by supply chain software in the last 30 years.
In ten years, employees will no longer be directed by a supervisor. There will not be an interactive queue of work where users are manually assigned to tasks. Blending current retail scheduling software solutions and warehouse labor management solutions, employees will be directed entirely by software.
In a decade, we predict a warehouse employee will receive a text message 12 hours prior to their shift, assigning them to one of the company’s warehouses. The warehouse will be closest to their location where they have already been trained to work – all based on demand. Upon arrival and clock in, the warehouse employee will be directed by the software to their workstation based on their training, previous performance, and experience level. The employee will be provided with an expected performance for the day and receive reminders throughout the day as to whether their pace is currently meeting expectations. During a shift, the employee will be redirected to other stations in the fulfillment center to meet increased workloads. Upon clock out, labor management software will send the employee a text message informing them of their performance and calculated incentive earned by exceptional performance for the shift.
Since its inception, labor management has been the speedometer for warehouse management and execution systems. Labor management is about to become the driver. Currently, we offer supply chain software that can predict buying habits and influences on market demand, schedules and measures employees, and manages the receiving, storage, and fulfillment categories of the supply chain. It’s exciting to think that the logic invested in these already market-leading solutions is about to become the basis for software that directs and manages the human elements of supply chain fulfillment.
Step aside warehouse management software – it’s labor management’s time to shine!
For more information on Labor Management and how it can elevate your supply chain operations, contact Open Sky Group at marketing@openskygroup.com.
