Automated workforce planning for the smart factory

Automated workforce planning creates more transparency: Since the beginning of the year, the production plans for the total of 300 product variations of the Swiss chocolate wafer manufacturer Kägi Söhne AG in Lichtensteig, St.Gallen, which were created with the help of a mathematical model, have been loaded into the workforce planning system, with which suitable personnel schedules are created in each case within three minutes on the basis of various components. For this purpose, work schedules are stored in the system that define how much time and how many employees are needed to produce a certain quantity of a specific product. In the next step of the automation process, a special matrix was stored with the qualifications and a corresponding role assignment, on the basis of which the defined requirements for the production of each product group can be met.

Automated employee scheduling leads to higher satisfaction

Technical skills are one production component. The availability of individual employees is just as important. The working hours (full-time/part-time), hourly wages, availability for overtime, vacations and specific blocked days are therefore entered in the digitalized Kägi employee planning system, which can be automatically taken into account when planning each order. The allocation of employees to the one to three shifts with which Kägi operates, depending on workload and product line, is also recorded in the system. Numerical coding enables fair variation between the shifts. The result: employee planning, which previously took up to one working day, is now available within a few minutes. "Especially when it comes to working hours, time balances and shift scheduling, automated employee scheduling brings more transparency and fairness," explains Pascal Grin, COO of Kägi Söhne AG. "Comprehensible decisions ensure greater employee satisfaction in the long term. The feedback on automated personnel planning is positive, not least because our teams now receive their schedules immediately after completion of the production plans, twelve hours earlier, without the previous one-day delay."

First step: process of self-analysis

In order to achieve such time savings and optimized processes through automation, companies must always first go through a process of self-analysis. "Automation means questioning the system and finding a set of rules on the basis of which the artificial intelligence works," says Memo Dener, CEO of axeed AG, which is supporting Kägi on the path to "Smart Factory 2024". "Ultimately, this leads to more than just the desired implementation of more efficient workflows through automated processes. Companies get to know their processes, resources and possibilities better, which is an important basis for continuous progress and further development." After production and employee planning, the next step for Kägi is real-time monitoring of machines so that the benefits of the automation processes already implemented can also be continued in this area. Source and further information: axeed AG and Kägi Sons AG

This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/automatisierte-mitarbeiterplanung-fuer-die-smart-factory/