STOKENCHURCH, U.K.

RedPrairie Corporation, a world leading consumer driven optimisation company, has announced the introduction of Workload Planner, a new component of the company’s Unified Workforce Management solution. The update will allow users to analyse and manage workload based on individual labour standards by task and by store.

Jenny Lovin, VP Operations & Service for Borders Group Inc., says, "Workload Planner has made a significant difference in our optimization efforts by improving our ability to gatekeep at the corporate office and moving our organization away from a one-size-fits-all store operations approach. In the past, we had to use the same estimate at every store when planning and communicating work. Now, each store’s tasks are scheduled according their individual ability to handle work. The result has been an increase in efficiency, productivity and compliance."

In the past, store operations planners had no ability to calculate the impact of various labour options from a bottom-up perspective. Workload Planner allows power users within a company’s workload planning group to optimize the return on labour for each store by calculating actual effort required to complete each project. The system provides what-if scenario analysis on project timing, content, priority, and phasing. As a result, organizations can use Workload Planner to phase and prioritize projects over time, while comparing demand for labour to capacity by store, by week.

“Previously, retailers relied on complicated manual efforts to manage each store’s workload,” says Noel Goggin, RedPrairie VP of Store Execution Management Applications, “These processes were not only time consuming, but often resulted in costly inconsistencies such as overloading stores with work, or failing to leverage available resources. Workload Planner combines real-time visibility into store operations, inventory and labour processes, with sophisticated algorithms to deliver multi-level prioritization and precise project scheduling.”

As a whole, Workload Planner provides sales associates with more time on the sales floor with customers by optimizing process planning across each retail organization’s entire chain. Tying in labour standards with calculated activity requirements produces a more efficient store, and a more efficient business overall.