Insight optimizes scheduling
Complex capacity planning
Staffing is crucial aspect for a provider of international cargo transport such as KLM Cargo. Each shift at KLM Cargo must have a sufficient number of people with different functions and qualifications to optimize the logistics workflow. KLM Cargo transports air cargo to the desired destination in accordance with agreed timelines and quality requirements. There's a lot involved in this.
From checking the paperwork of trucks at the loading station to building the various pallets in the warehouse. When a pallet is ready for departure, this cargo must be put in the plane. In this complex capacity planning, information from staff schedules needs to be combined with information on certifications and staff qualifications.
Agile scrum project methodology
To ensure that the expansion in the Novulo software contributes optimally to a better process, an agile scrum project methodology was applied.
In mutual consultation between supplier and customer, as much business value as possible was delivered by specifying the planning method in regular standups and weekly workshops with the product owner, planners, a business analyst, a functional administrator and Novulo.
During this joint development, the business value of developments was continuously determined in order to exclude unnecessary routes and to increase acceptance. Because Novulo fills in functionality with reusable components, which it complements with customer-specific functionality, customer demand can be optimally supported.
Modelling optimal flow of logistics
The pace of development was high because a large part of the functionality that had already been developed within other business units of the KLM Air France group could be reused as a basis for optimizing the planning process. The planning functionality is modelled so that it collects data from multiple source systems and calculates the optimum work layout based on the workload, available capacity and staff certifications and qualifications.
Colors are used to show a planner whether each department has the right staffing to safeguard optimal flow of logistics. Staff assigners are presented with a shift schedule in the software that they can adjust for the long term and for the short term of two weeks. Red indicates understaffing, while blue indicates overcapacity.
Digital operations platform
The Novulo software has accelerated KLM Cargo's capacity planning and the planning horizon is expanded and available at greater detail. The planner works faster because the heavy calculations have been done, but above all because colors are used to clearly indicate points for attention. In addition, the new planning overview enables a planner to better assess the impact of an individual leave application on long-term planning.
Plans have been made to improve capacity planning in the future by planning the required resources and associated skills far ahead of time. This improves the employability and training of staff.
SCHEDULING IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE
Modeling a workforce scheduling system on the Novulo platform has provided KLM Cargo with optimum transparency and efficiency. An agile project in which the customer organization and the supplier optimally complemented each other was instrumental in this optimization. Details of this project were provided in an interview by Stefan Matena, product owner, Anco Prins, application manager and Anouk Sijlmans, business analyst at KLM Cargo.
HOW DOES KLM CARGO WORK AND WHAT DOES NOVULO CONTRIBUTE TO THIS?
Stefan Matena: "As product owner I am the link between business stakeholders and filling in software demand. Each shift needs the right number of people with good qualifications and sufficient experience. You need a planning system that identifies the short-term and long-term staff needs in detail. Existing applications for work scheduling and employee qualifications were not suitable for this purpose.
The decision was made to develop long-term planning in Novulo, as this platform had proven itself in other business units and through modeling and adaptability provided a good basis for the improvement of scheduling. The Novulo software also supports links with master vendor systems for the hiring of temporary workers."
WHO USES THE NOVULO SOFTWARE?
Anco Prins: "I have known Novulo the longest in my role as functional application manager, contributing to identifying business demand and development of the software. Better insight into scheduling and a more efficient scheduling process are the most important improvements realized with the Novulo software.
This is because the Novulo software proposes a clear shift schedule that the planners can quickly incorporate from the long-term schedules, if necessary after a minor adjustment. The added value of the software is further increased when the team coordinators also started working with it. They can make minor changes to the work schedule 24 hours in advance. For example, they can assign employees to a different workplace to accommodate personal preferences."
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH THE SOFTWARE?
Stefan Matena: "At the start of 2019, the Novulo software did not meet the planners' wishes in terms of structuring shifts. We met as a team and were assigned a budget and a scrum master to model the scheduling functionality iteratively with Novulo. During that time, a graphical timeline was developed on which the various shifts are displayed with color indications. When this timeline, representing a horizon of the coming two weeks, was finished the process of ordering temporary workers was made a lot more efficient.
The Novulo software calculates an optimum schedule allocation based on the data from external systems, and presents this to a planner. The planner checks the proposed schedule and then automatically sends the application for temporary workers on the basis of this confirmed allocation. Subsequently a timeline was built with a longer planning horizon of 9 months."
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WHAT HAS THE SOFTWARE DELIVERED IN CONCRETE TERMS?
Anouk Sijlmans: "As a business analyst, I review all the processes involved in scheduling and the planning of the workforce at KLM Cargo. The Novulo software has brought some much-needed improvement. A planner who used to spend two to three hours placing an order for temporary workers can now do this in fifteen minutes. This process has been further optimized to two minutes by improving the overview of an order for temporary workers.
A planner now has all the details at hand in the overview, which means an order can be dispatched much more quickly. A subsequent improvement will be to take strategic personnel planning to the next level. We are not satisfied with this at the moment, mainly because various units within KLM Cargo have different processes concerning strategic human resource management. In such a situation, software cannot offer added value.
The improved work layout increased the quality of scheduling. The two KPIs that we now use to measure quality are closely related to the customer. One indicates whether a cargo has been dispatched at time and on the flight agreed with the customer. In order to be able to guarantee this, a certain amount of work needs to be scheduled in the Novulo software. If this is not arranged correctly, the quality will suffer because, for example, cargo will have to be shifted onto a later flight.
The other KPI indicates whether the cargo has received the agreed quality treatment, for example in the case of refrigerated transport. On each shift, sufficient personnel with specific experience and qualifications needs to be scheduled. When planning the work schedule, currently the Novulo software cannot sufficiently guarantee compliance and security aspects, because the process of registering authorizations is not yet standardized. We've got a lot of work to do in that area."
WHAT IS THE ADDED VALUE OF THE LONGER PLANNING HORIZON?
Anco Prins: "Think of it as a Titanic which can see an iceberg approaching much earlier and in much more detail. The longer planning horizon of the Novulo software better safeguards the quality of the logistics process. The staff assigners, unit managers and temporary employment agencies KLM Cargo works with gain earlier and more accurate insight into the long-term demand for temporary workers. The longer horizon also ensures that there is much more insight into the impact of granting leave to individual employees on the work schedule as a whole. If you compare Novulo's scheduling capabilities with a standard software package, Novulo provides much more transparency for the longer term.
In addition, the software is well capable of automating administrative tasks. Novulo integrates with several source systems and combines the parameters from these systems. Based on this data the software continuously creates the ideal match between employees and the demand from various workplaces. Novulo optimally supports KLM Cargo's working methods because it displays all the days on a clear timeline."
WHAT APPEALS TO YOU IN NOVULO?
Anco Prins: "Novulo is fairly unique in its ability to model existing processes to a great extent, based on detailed customer input, and automatically convert this model into a working application. The software goes much further than standard software packages, because such software only offers limited configuration options. Novulo's strength lies in its extensive capabilities to support enterprise-specific processes. This flexibility allows you to find the middle ground between adapting and optimizing processes with software when improving business operations."
WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THE COOPERATION AND WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED?
Stefan Matena: "Novulo is a company with a personal touch. We enjoy working with the Novulo consultants, because they take all our processes into account and critically review our wishes when necessary. This is good, because that's how we come up with new ideas on how to improve our staffing levels. Clear instructions were always at hand when KLM Cargo employees had to enter information. This personal approach of the somewhat smaller and more agile Novulo sometimes has its disadvantages. For a short time we worked with a replacement for the permanent consultant, who had a different way of working. These were exceptions."
WHAT CAN NOVULO DO FOR YOU?
This example of KLM Cargo shows that the Novulo platform is capable of modeling complex schedules better than any other system. Novulo's prescriptive low-code platform contains a rich collection of ready-made components to which industry-specific knowledge and functionality can be added in a short period of time. In this way, Novulo automates a complex problem in a short period of time that has to fit specific business demand, right down to the smallest details.
The Novulo platform has been designed in such a way that organizations can expand their application environment step-by-step, in a controlled way and closely intertwined with business strategy. If you would like more information about the added value for your organization, please fill in this form for a tailor-made demo. Thank you for your attention, and for your confidence in Novulo.