Warehouse Labor Management Solutions Optimize Employee Productivity and Job Satisfaction

How can you achieve workforce optimization with a Warehouse Labor Management (WLM) system?

The last vestiges of the industrial age are slipping away, and with them, traditional methods of workforce optimization. With a serious labor shortage plaguing the logistics industry—current estimates indicate that about 1.4 million jobs will need to be filled by 2018 (Industry Week, November 13, 2015)—attracting superior talent is of primary importance for the survival of the global economy. But aggressive recruiting will not be enough.

The hard power model of behavior inducement—holding out carrots to induce good behavior and brandishing sticks to punish it’s opposite—simply won’t work with today’s employees. This is not a consequence of overindulged youth, but of a better educated, global culture that demands more from a job than just a paycheck. A labor management solution designed for the supply chain can provide this, and more.

What is a Warehouse Labor Management (WLM) System?

A warehouse labor management (WLM) system is software that collects data on an individual employee or group of employees working within a warehouse in order to gain visibility into where, how, and how much of their workforce dollars are being spent. Typically, companies will set their acceptable performance level for each warehouse process, and employee productivity will be measured against that standard.

With the advent of big data analytics, today’s WLM system can determine performance standards for business processes using data correlation—which is a more efficient, and custom, approach. As data is collected on employee productivity, the WLM system correlates that data and sets standards based on a stretch goal above current levels, adjusting as necessary if and when employees reach better performance levels.

What are the benefits of an Enterprise WLM?

Simply put, the right WLM system can transform a business by creating and sustaining a performance-based warehouse culture. By foregoing traditional “carrot and stick” methodology, companies can increase throughput, utilization, and performance quality while reducing cost and turnover.

Accelogix resells and deploys JDA WLM, and has integrated JDA WLM with WMS, TMS, ERP, and other systems.