SCDigest Editorial Staff

The News: Manhattan Associates recently announced a new labor scheduling module for distribution center applications.

SCDigest Says:

By automating the process and using optimization-like mathematical techniques to develop the schedule, Manhattan says that DC labor costs can be reduced by as much as 6-9% - a sizable number. What Do You Say? Click Here to Send Us Your Comments

Why It's Worth Noting: Scheduling labor resources in distribution centers, especially those with large numbers of employees, is not easy. Most companies do it manually or with spreadsheets, but given the complexity of the task in larger DCs, is it clear a more mathemetical approach would often deliver improved results.

While for many years, DC labor scheduling has been a part of Labor Management Systems and some basic functions have sometimes existed in Warehouse Management Systems (WMS), the new solution from Manhattan is noteworthy for several reasons.

First, it is a stand alone product that can solve labor scheduling challenges without necessarily implementing a full Labor Management System (LMS).

Second, it takes a true optimization approach to the problem by considering many variables (worker skill sets, specific customer requirements, expected orders, receipts and other work, seniority privileges, costs, etc.) to develop an optimized schedule that meets service parameters at lowest possible cost. Our sense is that this really ups the ante from traditional DC labor scheduling tools.

Third, the reality is that few DC managers and supervisors really have the time - and often the skill sets - to really do the labor scheduling task well. Tools to automate the process could be the answer to getting this process right.

The Story: Manhattan Associates calls the new product Labor Scheduling Optimization, and says it "is an intuitive solution that uses advanced optimization technology to adeptly match employee skill sets to meet specific workload forecasts during the labor scheduling process."

By automating the process and using optimization-like mathematical techniques to develop the schedule, Manhattan says that DC labor costs can be reduced by as much as 6-9% - a sizable number.

The new product may stem, in part, from developments on the retail store floor, where increasingly sophisticated scheduling systems for associates have seen widespread adoption and seem to be delivering real savings.

Of course, scheduling systems will only be as good as the input that goes into them, so companies considering DC scheduling applications such as this one need to evaluate carefully their ability to generate the data on customer orders and other work that will be used to feed the schedule optimizer. The more timely, complete and accurate that data is, the better the resulting optimized schedule will be, though even "good guesses" may result in improvements with a tool like this versus manual methods.

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