Workforce Management Solutions Applicable Across the Board, With a Few Changes

In the area of workforce management solutions, there are a full range of options on the market. Many of these options promise to deliver the best quality, but how do you truly extract the optimal performance from your solution? The first step is to understand what you need and then select and implement accordingly.

This is especially true for those operating in the manufacturing, distribution and logistics markets. These organizations often have very different needs in order to meet the changes in demand and workflows. They can still benefit from workforce management solutions, as long as they are designed specifically for their environment.

To further explore this area, Staff Management, a provider of sustainable temporary staffing and contingent workforce management solutions, has released a white paper, The VMS Functionality Gap. This paper explores the unique technology requirements found in the manufacturing, distributions and logistics segment.

By studying these segments, Staff Management was able to produce data on the technology necessary to manage contingent staffing and how this differs from the staffing industry overall. There are unique needs within this segment as companies attempt to manage and redeploy their contingent workforce at both the shift and line level as production levels change.

Dana Shaw is a Senior Vice President with Staffing Industry Analysts. When commenting on the VMS paper, Shaw noted that there is no denying that the technology needs within the manufacturing and distribution environment are unique. In truth, light industrial buyers are an underserved market in terms of technology to create an effective contingent workforce management solution.

As light industrial buyers often require labor and scheduling management at the shift and line level, a technology solution is needed that enables granular workforce management, added Shaw.

One key focus in this paper are the reasons why Vendor Management Systems (VMS) are often not the right fit for those operating in the manufacturing, distribution and logistics environment. As a result, filling the VMS functionality gap is not part of the development strategy for many a VMS provider.

The good news is there is an alternative to fill this gap and provides end-users with access to real-time data and scheduling functionality that is necessary to produce fluid production environments.

The same solutions would not make sense in a more static white collar placements, which demonstrates the value they present in very specialized fields. This certainly highlights a demand, identifying opportunities for those who can develop the right workforce management solutions for such environments.

Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Chris DiMarco