Case Studies

Warehouse Employee Productivity Tracking

Symbol Scanner
Posted in Inventory and Warehouse Control, Manufacturing Automation and Intelligence

Summary

DMC developed a system for tracking employee productivity and assigning employee tasks at a mail-order warehouse.

Warehouse

Warehouse

Solution

The system collects order information from the Warehouse Management system using a Windows service. Several factors such as distance and number of items are used to calculate the ‘expected time’ for the employee to perform a given task, such as fulfilling an order. Tasks are assigned to employees through a custom user interface by scanning bar-coded employee IDs. Start and stop times for each task are recorded at any of the networked checkout stations in the facility. The user interface gives graphical feedback on the completion status of all daily tasks, allowing better warehouse management and operations planning. The comparison of actual time versus expected time for each employee’s tasks is reported daily and tied to incentive-based pay for employees. Order-fulfillment tracking was so successful that the client added an additional phase to the project where DMC expanded the system to estimate and track times for several other tasks.

Customer Benefits

  • Accurate employee performance metrics assist staff improvements
  • Performance data allows improved operations planning and employee utilization
  • Increased employee efficiency and motivation through performance based incentives

Technologies

  • Microsoft SQL® Database
  • Microsoft Visual Basic® user interface
  • Microsoft .NET® Services
  • ProRep® Time Tracking/Reporting Services
  • Symbol® Serial Barcode scanners