This blog article explores why spreadsheet workforce management is the way of the past, and why Veryable's Workforce Management tool offers a superior solution.
Managing your workforce with spreadsheets might seem attractive at first glance due to the low upfront costs and perceived simplicity, but in today’s fast-paced environment, the cons simply outweigh the pros. Spreadsheets come with siloed information, they increase the risk of costly forecasting errors, and make scheduling rigid and inefficient. In today’s environment, having access to real-time data insights, automated scheduling, and rapid adaptation capabilities is crucial to maximizing operational efficiency.
In this article, we’ll discuss the top few reasons why you should stop managing labor with spreadsheets, and explain how Veryable’s Workforce Management tool offers a better solution.
Spreadsheets trap your labor data in a static format, making it nearly impossible to see what’s happening on your shop floor as it unfolds. By the time you update and share a spreadsheet, conditions may have already changed leaving you to make decisions based on outdated information. This lag can result in misallocated labor, missed deliveries, and unnecessary overtime. Without instant access to real-time insights, you’re forced to react to problems after they’ve already impacted your operations, rather than preventing them in the first place. In a fast-paced manufacturing environment, this lack of real-time visibility can be the difference between meeting deadlines and falling behind.
How Veryable’s WFM Tool Addresses This:
Veryable’s WFM tool integrated seamlessly with your existing HRIS, ERP, and WMS systems to provide a centralized, one-stop shop for viewing real-time attendance, and production data. Whether you’re trying to track performance for a specific worker or shift, or your entire facility as a whole, WFM enables you to do so with just a few clicks. Having this capability helps you proactively address bottlenecks, save hours each week, and drive continuous improvement by fostering data-driven decision making.
Spreadsheets rely on manual data entry, which of course is prone to human error. Just a single typo or formula mistake can have ripple effects throughout your entire operation, causing missed deliveries, misallocated labor, and even compliance risks. Multiple team members editing the same file can also lead to conflicting versions and confusion. As your operation grows, the risk of errors only multiplies, making it harder to maintain accuracy and accountability. These mistakes can erode trust in your data and create costly setbacks that undermine profitability
How Veryable’s WFM Tool Addresses This:
Through seamless integration with existing systems, Veryable’s WFM tool automatically creates forecasts and schedules based on real-time needs. With a single source of truth, you reduce risk and free your team from tedious reconciliation tasks. This automation not only saves time but also ensures your labor data is always accurate, reliable, and ready for action.
Spreadsheet scheduling is slow and cumbersome. When demand spikes or workers call out, it can take hours to rebalance shifts and communicate changes. By the time your updates are complete, the situation may have already shifted again leaving you perpetually behind. This inefficient process limits your ability to respond to last minute changes, often resulting in overstaffing, understaffing, or missed deadlines. The lack of responsiveness can directly impact your bottom line and customer satisfaction.
How Veryable’s WFM Tool Addresses This:
Veryable’s WFM tool automates scheduling and leverages predictive analytics to recommend optimal staffing levels. Additionally, with the platform’s text to schedule feature, you can quickly send out a VTO or VTI request to all workers by text in just a few clicks. The first ones to respond are automatically added or removed from the schedule, while planned output for this shift is updated automatically. You can also utilize this feature to quickly send out new updated schedules, which eliminates the need for old-fashioned printed schedules or whiteboard communications. All in all, this automation and rapid response capability not only saves your team hours per week, but it ensures that last minute changes don’t impact your service levels or bottom line.
Designed by former operations leaders that are intimately familiar with the challenges faced by manufacturers and distributors, Veryable's WFM tool consolidates multiple systems into one and replaces manual Excel spreadsheet planning with a streamlined, demand-driven approach. This helps to maximize productivity across your entire workforce, resulting in improved service and a lower cost per unit.
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