Author: Jim

The FDA and Sanitation

Everyone in the food industry is rapidly becoming aware of the new sheriff in town.

The FDA has vastly more authority than it did only a few months ago and it’s having an impact on how companies are looking at their sanitation scheduling and standards. (see the Food Safety Modernization Act).

I have worked at a few of these companies recently and they compare the new inspection standards to those once reserved for those subject to the USDA.

In short – the bar has been raised.Companies have the following options: Get this right or get shut down.

One of the keys to success under this new environment is the scheduling of your sanitation periods and crews.  There are two basic scenarios (with several smaller ones that will not be covered here).

Scenario #1: You have plenty of capacity and plan to continue sanitizing on the weekends.  This is a good idea and usually works when you have a dedicated sanitation crew that works full weekends.  In the world of shift scheduling, we call this crew a Weekend Warrior Crew.  There are two reasons this works.  First of all since most sanitation takes place on the weekends, you can have a crew that is sized appropriately to handle that additional work.  Secondly, while you may be able to run more than five days between sanitation periods, you probably don’t want to.  The reason for this is that this may cause sanitation to take place during the week which could then push production into the weekend (overtime!).

Scenario #2: You are out of capacity and are currently running 24/7.  When this occurs, you want to run as long as you can before stopping to sanitize.  This also means that sanitation could occur at any time and therefore, you must be staffed for that.  This can be handled in two different ways.  The first way would be to increase the number of sanitation specialists you have.  This will provide broader coverage but create significant idle time when no cleaning is taking place.  The second way is to train production crews to help sanitize.  This means more training as well as some discipline since most production people don’t like to change roles.

Finally, there is the methodology to get from whatever you are doing now to however you want to be doing things in the future.  You must have a clear idea of what you need.  How many production people do you need to stay over and how much time will it save/cost to use more/less?  What is the opportunity cost of downtime lost to sanitation?  How will you bring the workforce onboard? Remember, this could be a big change for them, and people don’t like change.

Please contact us if you’d like to discuss how we can help.  Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

Shift Schedules for the Food Manufacturing Industry – how to eliminate overcapacity

Shift work – The more you learn about it, the more you find out how much you didn’t know.

I have friends that know very little about what I do for a living.  When I say “I evaluate, design and implement shift schedules,” they will respond with “Aren’t all shift schedules basically the same?” I will respond with something neutral like “sometimes” and leave it at that.  They are laymen who are not involved in the business of running a business that needs to cover something other than Monday through Friday, day shift.

However, if you are in that business, the business using shift work, then you know what I’m saying when I tell you, “There is far more to shift work than schedules.” To this end, I have decided to write a series of blogs that talk about how shift work varies from one industry to the other.

I will start with the Food Manufacturing Industry.

The one thing that sets the Food Manufacturing Industry apart from all others is the need to sanitize.  Depending on the nature of their product and process, this can mean shutting down weekly or even daily for several hours to clean.

Most companies over-clean.  They do this because their shift schedule makes them do it. Over-cleaning creates overtime.  It increases costs and eats into valuable capacity (it’s not unusual for a food production line to cost well over $10 million.)

How does the schedule make them do this?

Following a typical growth pattern for most industries, they handled expansion through a combination of capital acquisition and the addition of afternoon and night shifts.  They plan for 5-day operations and base their capacity on that.

Now, let’s take 3 typical sanitation requirements and see how a schedule affects them.

  1. You must clean when you shut down.  This requirement has nothing to do with periodicity.  So, if you shut down every day, then you must clean every day.  If you shut down once a week, then you must clean once a week.  If you never shut down, then you must never clean due to this requirement alone.
  2. You must clean when you change products, especially if allergens are part of the equation.  If you are running, for example, 5 lines Monday through Friday and you need to convert one of the lines over to peanut-free, then you must shut down that line and clean it.  This takes that expensive line out of the production model which means (assuming you need the production) either weekend work or the need to buy more capital.  If you had an idle line, you could simply set up that line and then shift to it when needed.  A better schedule can make this happen.
  3. You must shut down based on a biological emergence rate.  Bacteria become a hazard in a very predictable time frame based on conditions.  The same is true for a number of other pests. The schedule being worked has no impact on this.

Let’s suppose that in your operation, you are running 7 lines for 5 days.  This means you are using 35 line-days a week.

Suppose you went to running 5 lines for 7 days a week.  This still gives you 35 line-days a week.  However, this also addresses the first two issues above.  Running 24/7 on a line means you no longer have to clean a line weekly just because you are shutting down weekly.  It also frees up other lines so you can switch from one line to the other without experiencing lost production time.

Thus, looking at sanitation alone, we can see that just changing from 5-day operation to 7-day operation can save capacity and eliminate over-sanitation.

Freeing up extra lines also allows maintenance to work on equipment without having to wait until the weekend (where they now try to do a week’s work in 2 days.)
Freeing up extra line also allows you to do setups on one line while the other line is running.  You can then shift to the newly set up line without losing production.

Does this mean that you should be running your operation 24/7?

It’s never that easy.  Food Manufacturing has a lot of moving parts, schedule-wise.  Sanitation aside there is also seasonality and new product introduction.

The best schedule is one that carefully considers everything from both a business and an employee perspective.  Every industry is unique.  Every company is unique.  Every facility is unique.

It should not come as a surprise that every shift work solution is unique as well.

Call Us and We Can Help

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.

The Impact of Local Unemployment

More often than not, companies come to us when they are out of capacity.  Overtime is high and the workforce is becoming tired.  Absenteeism is leading to under-staffing and more overtime.  This is the type of death-spiral that does not right itself unassisted.

Improved shift scheduling can help.  However, one component is often to bring in more straight time hours – hiring more employees.

Given the currently high national unemployment rate, it can be hard to imagine that this would be one of the hardest parts of a schedule change.  Certainly, there are plenty of people out there looking for work, right?

Possibly.

Areas with high unemployment can be viewed as a “buyers market”; one in which a person is selling his time and the company is buying that time.  Since there are a lot of people willing to sell their time, the market is flooded and therefore, the buyer (the company) is in a stronger position when it comes to setting wages.

However, if manpower is scarce, this changes.  It becomes a “seller’s market”; one in which the person selling his time has more power and control over wages.

Where is the tipping point?

This is hard to precisely identify as it depends on the skill set you are looking for.  You may be in a high unemployment area but the skills you need are scarce so it will feel like a low unemployment situation.

However, most companies start to see the change when unemployment drops to about 6%. Above this number, it’s relatively easy to find labor.  Below this number,  labor starts to get scarce.

When unemployment drops below 5% companies really start to feel the pain.  Basically, everyone that wants a job already has one and those remaining are unemployable for some reason

Companies need to be prepared to sweeten the pot when this happens.  Wages alone will not attract and retain quality employees in a tight labor market.  Get creative with your schedules.  Have different schedules that offer appeal to different demographics.  We had one company actually place ads in the local newspaper touting the fact that they had several types of schedules to fit all different types of lifestyles.

Thinking outside of the box when it comes to work schedules is a low-cost way to attract and retain the people you want and need.

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

How will a new schedule impact your Employee Handbook?

Measure twice, cut once.

This adage is as applicable to a schedule change as it is for those in the carpentry trade.

Make one mistake and either be prepared to live with it or face the uphill battle of yet making another major change to your workplace.

There are all types of pitfalls.  You can put in the wrong schedule (yes, not all schedules are the same).  You can alienate a section of your workforce.  You can use the wrong staffing model.  You can overlook an opportunity.  Or you can put in the wrong policies.

This last mistake, the “policy” mistake is a big one.

Let’s take a look at a going from a 5-day schedule to a 7-day schedule.

To begin with, you will need “process” policies. The workforce will want to know “how” you are going to do things.  How will you decide who goes to what shift?  How will you pick the shift times?  How will you pick the schedule?  Does seniority count more than skills?  Should temporary employees participate?  Will there be a trial period?  This is a list that can seemingly go on forever.

Once the schedule is in place, will you have policies ready to support it?

If your answer is “Yes, our 5-day policies will work on a 7-day schedule,” then the answer is “No” your policies are not ready to go.

You will need to look at the following, at a minimum:

  • Overtime pay
  • Holiday pay, Holiday premiums, Recognized Holidays
  • Shift Differentials
  • Breaks
  • Jury Duty
  • Partial vacations
  • Vacations
  • Overtime coverage
  • Training
  • Shift Swaps
  • Absentee coverage
  • Attendance policy
  • Pay week hours
  • Payroll system settings

Let’s just take a look at vacation; possibly the simplest policy to address.  If you go to a 12-hour schedule, will employees still be able to take off full weeks or will they change to blocks of days?  Will they be able to take single days off and how much will their account be charged when they do and how much will they be paid?  Will vacation count towards hours worked for overtime calculations?  Can they carry over or sell back time at the end of the year?  Suppose they have some vacation left but not enough to take a week or even a full day off, what do they do?  Can they combine vacation time with other types of PTO?  Suppose I am on vacation (12-hour shifts) and a holiday falls during my time off, will I get 8 hours or 12 hours of pay?

Be ready to address your policies ahead of time if you want to have a successful transition.  They should be ready to go before the change takes place.  Remember to get your IT people involved as well.

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

Is Overtime Really a Problem?

I recently participated in an online forum about the “Evils of Overtime.”  I was surprised at how uniformly overtime is seen as something to be avoided.  Its as if overtime was a measurement of how poorly you were managing your workforce.  Here was one of my comments:

Overtime is only a problem if you see it as such. It’s not unusual for a company to contact me with an “overtime” problem. They look at their costs and see, for example, a million dollars spent on overtime last quarter. They think they will save this amount if they eliminate overtime. The fact is that, unless they are improperly staffed, they will only reduce overtime by increasing the straight time (hiring). After all, the work supposedly needs to be done and eliminating overtime means its either not getting done or you found another way to do it.

The cost of an hour of overtime is typically competitive with the cost of straight time. I’m working at a company right now and the precise cost of paying someone $15.47 an hour is $25.25. At the same time, the cost of paying someone that same hourly rate at time-and-one-half is…$25.35 an hour. 10 cents more!

Overtime allows you to compete for labor even though you cannot afford a high hourly rate. People can make more money and supplement their income in spite of low wages. I can work at company A for $20 an hour but no overtime or I can work at company B for $17 an hour but can work all the overtime I want.

Overtime is flexible. You don’t have to buy it in 40-hour/week increments. The person is already trained and hired.

On the downside, there are fatigue/safety issues, although these can be managed if you are paying attention. There is also to the potential of too much overtime – translated into “not everyone likes a lot of overtime but everyone is getting a lot of overtime.”

This last issue can be fixed if you remember that overtime is a function of how much work there is and how many people you have to share in that work. Variations in workload aside; you should staff to the point that there are typically reasonable amounts of overtime for those that want it and very little mandatory overtime for those that don’t.

Two rules of thumb: (1) 20% of your workforce wants a lot of overtime; 20% wants no overtime and 60% will take it from time to time and (2) If your workload is flat, you should be in the 5% to 15% overtime rate. Note: Companies often boast that they are perfectly staffed because they have no overtime. They couldn’t be more wrong. Zero overtime almost certainly means you are overstaffed.

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

Why should you consider changing your shift schedule?

Changing shift schedules is not like changing the curtains in your kitchen.

It’s complicated.  It disrupts your workforce.  It takes a great deal of effort in an area that you likely have very little experience AND if you make a mistake, you must be prepared to live with it for a very long time.

So, if you don’t need to change your schedule don’t change it.

Having said all of that, there are many very compelling reasons to at least take a look at alternative ways of scheduling your workforce.

Here is a sampling of reasons that companies have given us in the past:

  • We are out of capacity during the weekdays
  • There is no room to expand our facility outside of our current building
  • Overtime is out of control
  • The workforce is tired and mistakes are on the rise
  • Safety
  • Costs need to be contained
  • Product flow is irregular causing shortages and stockpiles
  • Seasonality
  • High turnover
  • We need to reduce shutdown and start-up costs
  • Lean manufacturing initiative is not supported by the current schedule
  • Trouble distributing skillsets across all shifts
  • We are combining two plants into one
  • Lower costs
  • Supervisors don’t match the crew schedules
  • Vacation and absentee coverage is difficult
  • Current schedule does not support training
  • We need to get rid of a weekend warrior schedule
  • We are in a tight labor market and need a more attractive schedule

This list goes on and on.  Nearly every company has its own unique reason for wanting, at the very least, to look at alternative ways of scheduling their employees.

Every company that competes on the open market must be constantly striving to improve.  However, be careful.  Your workforce is likely to be very wary of any attempt to upgrade its schedule.  Interestingly, this is even true if they hate their current schedule.

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005.

Changing Schedules 101

Every now and then, I like to return to the basics.  Today I’m going to cover some of the basic DOs and DON’Ts for those of you considering a change to your schedule.

DO make sure you have clearly identified your needs.  Changing schedules can be a traumatic experience for your workforce.  You don’t want to put them through it over and over again and you seek the perfect schedule coverage through a series of Trials and Errors.

DON’T think that there is a schedule where 100% of your workforce will be happy.  There are two reasons for this.  First of all, shift workers judge a schedule by the time off it provides. Since everyone goes to different lifestyles when they leave work, it is not surprising that they will have different opinions about what schedule best serves their needs.  Secondly, about 5% of every workforce comes to work to be the contrary.  They will oppose any change.  In fact, if you try to appease them by not changing anything – they will oppose that.

DO keep the workforce informed.  As with any change, rumors are the enemy.  There has never been an instance where two shift workers are talking and one says, “I wonder what’s going on with our schedule” and the other one replies, “I have no idea but I’m sure we will like whatever it is that they come up with.”  If what you are planning to do is the right thing, then you should make whatever effort it takes to share your thoughts and actions with those that will be impacted.

DON’T assume that a small change is easy to make.  If you don’t believe this, tell the workforce that you intend to change the shift start times by 15 minutes; then stand back and watch what happens.

DO get the workforce involved.  No one likes to be told what to do.  If you need to change schedules, there must be a reason for this.  Tell the workforce and then solicit their input in creating a solution.  There are always numerous solutions to a scheduling issue; many of which will work equally well.  Since this is the case, why not use the schedule that best meets the needs of your employees.  They know better than you when it comes to knowing what they want.

DON’T assume your current pay and work policies for your current schedule will work equally well for your new schedule.  Things like a vacation, holiday pay and shift differential must be addressed to make sure they are not costing you or the workforce more on the new schedule. When companies contact Shiftwork Solutions because their 24/7 schedule does not work, the problem is rarely with the pattern and nearly always has something to do with policies.

DO your math.  It’s one thing to think you know what you need, it’s another to be able to demonstrate it on paper.  If you can’t justify your schedule change using math, then maybe you are making a change based more on assumptions rather than reality.  I personally don’t like to guess.  I like to measure twice and cut once.

DON’T take short cuts.  Being “penny wise” will result in mistakes and missed opportunities that you will not quickly recover from.

DO be thorough.  Involve everyone in your change process; even those that will not be impacted.  Telling a group “We are changing schedules over in that area and you will not be affected,” is much better than leaving an unaffected group out of the loop and allowing them to make up their own reality.

Call Us and We Can Help

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.

Preparation is part of Doing

I just saw a post on LinkedIn where a LEAN expert mentioned that 20% of implementing LEAN is having the right tools. The other 80% is the mindset. In other words, the table must be set in order for dinner to be served.

It strikes me that this is an “oft-overlooked” phase of every project.

A company we worked with was charged with writing software for an entire state’s medical insurance program. There were several hundred programmers; all of them busy all of the time. As I began my process of evaluating the workload in preparation for a schedule change I was surprised at what most of their work consisted of.

When we asked, “What do you spend your time doing every day?” The average answer came back as “I spend 80% of my time with my customers, identifying their needs. I spend the remaining 20% writing code.” Another instance of “measuring twice before cutting once”.

I recently had a deck at my house painted. It took about 20 hours. This wasn’t a large deck and I expected it to take much less time (although I wasn’t in a hurry). As I watched the painters work, I noticed that nearly all of their time was spent sanding and taping off different areas. When it comes to actually painting…that took no time at all.

Whether it’s implementing a LEAN program or writing code or painting a deck, preparation is the key to success.

In my world at Shiftwork Solutions, things are no different. Implementing a shift schedule takes preparation as well as the process. In a sense, the preparation is part of the process. Sure, you can go online and find schedules anywhere; we even put them on our website. But don’t be fooled into thinking that what you have found is the key to success – because it’s not.

My advice – Do it right the first time.

Call Us and We Can Help

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.

Work-Life Balance

A frequent lament I’ve been hearing for the last 30 years is “Today’s kids don’t have the work ethic of their parents.”

Interestingly, the frequency of this type of statement is inversely proportional to the local unemployment rate. When unemployment is low, then companies start to notice that their employees become less “sticky”. They leave their job and move on to something else.

Typically this is a natural phenomenon. If there are more jobs than people to fill them, the employee becomes the “price makers.” They pick and choose from a menu of employment options. When there are not enough jobs available, the opposite occurs and employees become “price takers”; they take whatever is available.

Today’s employees have more choices than they have typically had in the past. There are jobs out there;, especially in the skilled trades. It’s natural for people to want to move on to greener pastures when they are out there and technology makes them easy to find.

There are other conditions aside from unemployment which are driving today’s workforce down a different “loyalty path” than their parents took. The new generation is marrying later, they are living at home longer and they are on their parent’s healthcare plan. In short, they have less of a need for job security; at least in the short run.

Companies are scrambling to get their heads around this generation. What do they want? How can you keep them from leaving? How can you attract them in the first place?

This is a complicated issue and there is no shortage of research on this subject. However, it looks like it comes down to the following four issues: (1) Today’s workforce wants to be involved. They want you to ask them what they think. (2) Today’s workforce likes technology. They don’t want to read a bulletin board, they want to read their I-Pad. (3) Today’s workforce wants recognition. This is not something new but still, it’s high on their priority list. And (4) Today’s workforce places a very high value on Work-Life balance.

It’s this last issue, Work-Life balance, which is probably the most complicated. It’s complicated because each individual has their own idea about what this means. Does it mean job security with predictable days off? Does it mean ready access to as much overtime as you want? Does it mean having weekends off or not working nights? Does it mean a flexible work schedule? Does it mean having the ability to work harder so you can go farther or does it mean getting as much time off as possible?

Work-Life balance is complicated. It’s also the number one reason companies have come to Shiftwork Solutions over the last couple of years. Our process gets the workforce involved. Our process identifies ways to achieve Work-Life balance while meeting the needs of a company.

Companies are “in the business of being in business.” Still, it’s important to remember, “if you take care of your workforce, they will take care of your company and it will take care of the workforce…etc.”

The biggest key to making employees “sticky” again; the key to attracting them in the first place, is to focus on Work-Life balance. Only they know what that means. The trick is to allow them to express themselves with regard to this important issue. Once you have this information, the next step is to create an environment that helps them to achieve this balance.

Call Us and We Can Help

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.

A bird in the hand

I help companies change schedules. I do this for a living.

Some people think the hardest part is coming up with a schedule. Generally speaking, that is the easiest part of my job. Helping people to overcome the anxiety of change is much more complicated.

I will give a short example here.

Companies that use schedules to cover 24/7, typically use 4 crews, each averaging 42 hours a week and thus providing coverage for the 168 hours in the week. This is just math and says nothing about the schedule. Each crew could work forty-two, 1-hour shifts or a singe 42-hour shift; both would provide the coverage needed.

The reality is that most people prefer 8-hour or 12-hour shifts. In fact, over the last 20 years, 12-hour shifts are selected by 95% of the companies I work with. They choose 12’s for 2 reasons: (1) more days off and (2) 8-hour shifts must rotate (to work properly).

Let’s start with the “more days off”. On a 12-hour schedule, you would work 182 12-hour shifts in a year for a total of 2,184 hours of work. On an 8-hour shift, you would work 273 8-hour shifts in a year; also working 2,184 hours. So, 12-hour shifts provide 91 more days off per year.

As far as rotating is concerned, with 8-hour shifts, you have 4 crews to cover 3 shifts a day. Either one of those crews must rotate or all of them must rotate. This mean sometimes working from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm and sometimes working from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am or 3:00 pm to 11:00 pm. On 12’s, two crews cover Day shift and two crews cover the Night shift. No need to rotate.

Now, shift workers love getting more days off. They also hate to rotate. This explains why I see so many of them choosing to go to 12-hour shifts to cover 24/7.

But what about that 5% that don’t want 12-hour shifts?

In every instance, this group is already covering 24/7. Not only that, they are already on an 8-hour shift.

When I ask “Don’t you want fixed shifts? Don’t you want 91 more days off a year without your pay being affected?”

The answer is “Yes…but I will have to come in on those days off to cover other people.”

This happens to be true. However, it will only happen around 10 times a year. So, you get an extra 91 days off a year, but on 10 of those extra days off, you will have to come in and work overtime.

They hear this. They understand the logic and then say, “I would rather get 91 days off per year on my 8-hour schedule than to get 182 days off on a 12-hour schedule when 10 of those 182 days off will have to be worked as overtime.”

Note, there is also overtime on the 8-hour schedule but instead of coming in on a day off, they hold over or come in early for 4 hours. So, 120 hours of overtime becomes 30 instances of adding 4 hours to an 8-hour schedule or coming in on 10 days off on a 12-hour schedule.

Take someone that is currently on a 5-day schedule and they will shake their head at this logic. There is no way they would choose a rotating schedule with only 91 days off per over a fixed shift schedule with 182 days off per year.

This goes to demonstrate the massive amount of “schedule inertia” that must be overcome to implement a change.

People like what they have even if they don’t like it very much.

Call Us and We Can Help

Call or text us today at (415) 763-5005 to discuss your operations and how we can help you solve your shift work problems. You can also complete our contact form and we will call you.