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Case Study: Shyft Benefits For Warehouses & Distribution Centers

Shyft Supply Chain Case Study

The subject of this case study employs 5,000 workers in their Supply Chain network of 12 national distribution centers (DCs) across 3 main regional hubs: Eastern, Central, and Western. The customer first engaged with the Shyft application through their own internal innovation community, piloting the technology at a DC in one of their busiest regions. Based on successful results, including increased shift flexibility and time savings for managers, they expanded Shyft to their national network of DCs.

This case study gives readers insight into the use of Shyft within an enterprise organization, the outcomes realized after a Shyft deployment, and the supportive data.

The Supply Chain industry is busier than ever before, adapting to an increased consumer interest in buying online and navigating a global pandemic. The shift in volume within a distribution center can be swift, and in some cases, change dramatically overnight. Legacy solutions for manually addressing volume changes do not scale to support today’s DC operations.

Shift Broadcasting: Replacing Paper & Pen With Digital Technology

Placing Shyft’s technology in the hands of the customer’s employees eliminated outdated methods of reacting to volume demands. Overtime sign-up sheets, difficult to read handwriting, record retention, lost sign-up sheets, and manual phone calls to employees were all eliminated. “This is an easy-to-use app that helps drive engagement for our associates as well as reduce manual activities for management, related to filling shifts at the last minute,” explains the National Manager of Continuous Improvement for Logistics.

According to an Operations Manager at one regional DC, it would take anywhere from 20 to 90 minutes to notify employees of available shifts prior to using Shyft. DC leaders needed to first identify employees who were interested in volunteering for overtime shifts, and then they would manually call employees. Conversely, with Shyft, DC leaders broadcast 100s of shifts in a matter of seconds and associates are notified via real time push notifications.

“You can post weeks, months out. Sometimes, we’ve posted a month out based on volume. Being able to do things digitally makes things a lot easier,” explains an Operations Manager at an Eastern DC.

Employees can clearly identify new shifts that have been broadcasted, the date and time they will be taking place, and whether or not they conflict with a shift they’ve already picked up. As soon as shifts are posted, associates apply to cover the shift and leaders are notified of the coverage via push and in-app notifications. When asked about their favorite Shyft feature, an Assistant General Manager responded, “When I hear the ding on my phone! When the associates start accepting the shifts, it is so easy, it is accessible, it is at home. You look at it, and instantly, you talk to your partner and say ‘hey, can I go in?’”

Instantaneous Shift Coverage

The coverage of shifts is almost immediate. In fact, 80% of all shifts covered within the Western region are covered in 1 hour or less after the shift posting and 46% of shifts covered are covered within 5 minutes of the shifts being posted. Coverage at the Central facilities can be speedy as well. “I have had to mute the notifications a few times because employees are covering shifts so quickly,” one Operations Manager explains.

Team Communication Features Lead to Success

Important details about the shifts, including all associate and manager interactions with them, are tracked on the shift cards and are visible to the employee covering. If, for example, an employee is unable to start at 7:00 am in the morning, they can reach out to a manager and ask if they can work from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm instead. Since rolling out Shyft, there have been over 68,000 comments posted by managers and associates. Worker productivity also increased while using Shyft. When surveyed, 63% of Shyft Administrators reported that they feel that worker productivity increases when associates pick up shifts voluntarily.

Forecasting & Planning

“Due to COVID, we had a lot of opportunities where we needed additional resources in a short amount of time, and Shyft was there to assist. We have integrated this into our way of working and our sites have seen good adoption rates from both the associates as well as the teams managing shifts,” explains the National Manager of Continuous Improvement.

The ability to look at short term and long term forecasting and know that the gaps can be filled is a key benefit to facility leaders. In some facilities, volume spikes may lead to shifts being posted 24 hours ahead of the shift start. At other points in time, shifts are posted 1 month in advance. Regardless of the shift post time, 100% of all DC leaders surveyed report that Shyft makes managing overtime easier.

Across all DCs included in this case study, 97% of all shifts are posted within 1 week of the shift start time, and 67% of all shifts are posted within 24 hours of the shift start time. The broadcasting capabilities of Shyft, combined with built-in features like shift reminders, helps ensure that employees are reminded of upcoming shifts and arrive at the facility on time.

Staffing Down in Real-Time

Shyft also allows for broadcasting voluntary time off (VTO) when volume is low and fewer employees are needed to work. By posting VTO in Shyft, employees are notified in advance of time off opportunities and can claim them from their phones. “Prior to using Shyft, sending people home and managing VTO was very, very manual. Now, employees really like knowing that they’ll be able to sign up for VTO earlier rather than later and know that it will get approved,” explains a business partner of the Western region.

By providing an improved employee experience, if VTO exists, employees no longer need to drive into the facility to be notified. They can receive the notification at home, claim the VTO, and save the time, effort, and cost of driving into the facility.

Getting The Right Shifts To The Right Associates

Shyft allows Distribution Centers to broadcast open shifts to employees that are best suited for the job. “If we want to reach people with certain skill sets, if we want the entire building, if we want to reach part-timers, we can,” explains an Assistant General Manager of a Central region DC.

Whether there is a demand for work that all employees could cover, or shifts for those with highly specialized skills, Shyft supports the request. DC leaders enroll employees into groups that best represent their roles and responsibilities within the facility. These groups are then leveraged to ensure shifts are broadcasted out to employees of an assigned location, shift, department, or certification.

Improved Data Accuracy

The switch from paper to electronic shift broadcasting allows a deeper level of compliance and understanding of business operations. Management and HR teams have access to all transactions along the lifecycle of the shift – when it was broadcasted, who covered it, when it was covered, who approved it, and any questions about the shifts that were posted, among other data.

Meanwhile, supervisors and operation leads have clear visibility into shift posting timelines and can correlate them to business patterns, improve scheduling practices, and monitor employee sentiment. Ultimately, this allows them to better understand the types of shifts employees are most interested in covering, when users are most active in the mobile app, and the types of communication that receive the highest level of engagement.

Shyft Improves Team Morale

In Supply Chain businesses, many employers face challenges to stay in virtual communication with their front-line employees. By providing Shyft to employees, they have a modern way to stay up to date on facility information, be better prepared for their shift, and experience a sense of community that cannot be derived from a poster board of paper flyers.

Groups created for shift broadcasting are often used to support facility communication. This case study’s DC leaders post motivational messages acknowledging performance, provide progress updates on how a site is trending towards KPIs, share goals for transparency, and post overtime eligibility policies, among other types of communication.

Shyft’s communication tools allow leaders to post plain text messages with emojis, upload files and images, link to external URLs, send in-app surveys, track read receipts, and monitor comments, likes, or questions in response to a leader’s post.

Leaders also reported that posting in Shyft allows them to be fair, equitable, and provide consistent shift posting for all employees. The health and safety of employees may have benefited, too. Eliminating manual processes reduces the need for employees to gather in large groups to learn about or sign up for shifts.

Shyft Creates a Lasting Impact

Shyft’s emphasis on outcomes, employees, and configurations has created a seamless and rewarding experience for this case study’s employees. Replacing manual methods for filling shifts has allowed supervisors and operational leads to save time, proactively respond to forecasting demands, and provide a cutting-edge solution for employees. In turn, employees are informed about facility operations in real time and can cover shifts best suited for their skillset.

By introducing the Shyft application, the company highlighted herein has ensured their employees benefit from mobile technology, pick up work opportunities when they are available, and stay connected with their team. The technology has provided the modernization and flexibility today’s workers crave, all the while ensuring that operational leaders can keep pace with volume, productivity, and customer demand.

Rolling out the Shyft application to facilities and team members is simple. When asked how long it takes to get new users up to speed on Shyft, one Assistant General Manager comments, “I don’t want to exaggerate, but it takes 2 minutes.”

author avatar
Brett Patrontasch CEO
Brett Patrontasch is the Co-founder and CEO of Shyft, an app that helps retail and service workers swap shifts and message each other.

Shyft Makes Scheduling Easy