Is industrial personnel planning strategic to the successful management of my plant?

[AlainBolyn]

Personnel planning involves determining a company's manpower requirements, assessing available skills and resources, and implementing measures to cover any gaps between needs and resources. All this while promoting a high degree of flexibility so as to be able to respond rapidly to market constraints as well as to the vagaries of day-to-day organization.

 So, in an Industry 5.0 where the human factor is regaining importance and being placed back at the center of the production process, it seems obvious that industrial personnel planning should be considered a strategic activity for many plants.

In any case, here are just a few of the key points that suggest that resource planning is not just a necessary evil, but a real challenge for the factory of the future...

Resource optimization: Effective workforce planning optimizes the use of available human resources. It ensures that the company has the right number of workers with the right skills to meet its business objectives. This can include analyzing short- and long-term manpower needs, identifying required skills and forecasting fluctuations in demand.

Cost management: Poor personnel planning can lead to additional costs, such as hastily recruiting and training new staff, or spending on overtime. By strategically planning staff, companies can avoid unnecessary costs and optimize their budgets by aligning human resources with actual needs.

Responsiveness to demand fluctuations: Industries can experience fluctuations in demand due to factors such as seasons, market trends or unforeseen events. Industrial workforce planning enables us to anticipate these fluctuations and adapt quickly to meet demand, avoiding labour surpluses or shortages.

Improved productivity: Effective workforce planning can help improve overall productivity. By having the right number of employees in the right positions, with the right skills, operations can be run more efficiently, resulting in better use of resources and increased productivity.

Talent development: Industrial workforce planning also enables talent development and succession programs. By identifying the skills needed in the future, companies can implement training and development strategies to fill gaps and prepare employees for leadership roles. This helps to retain talent and build a skilled workforce for the long term.

In short, industrial workforce planning is a strategic activity, as it enables us to optimize the use of human resources, manage costs, adapt to fluctuations in demand, improve productivity and develop talent. It plays an essential role in the overall performance of an industrial company.

... And in this balancing act, would PeopleForce be my ideal partner?

Indeed, PeopleForce is a software solution that makes it easier and more efficient to assign staff to production plants.

PeopleForce enables production teams to be rapidly scheduled, taking into account the many constraints of the production floor: opening of lines and machines, individual skills, multi-skilling, staff scheduling, fairness of rests and replacements, management of arduous work and prevention of RSI, productivity targets...

In addition, PeopleForce can be used to manage time allocation and the breakdown of hours on the factory floor, as well as to identify requirements for overtime, temporary staff and training.

In a very short space of time, PeopleForce saves time and increases efficiency, reducing risks and unnecessary direct labor, and boosting productivity.

Learn more about the PeopleForce solution