The Challenge
We started working with a manufacturing client that had very erratic staffing needs. Their daily temporary staffing levels could fluctuate by as much as twenty people from one day to the next. They were currently working with four vendors yet experienced daily staffing shortages, which led to missed shipments. Plus, there was a lot of miscommunication from one department to the next regarding who needed help and who didn’t. Some days temporaries were sent home in one department when other departments could have utilized the staffing. In addition, because temporaries were always coming and going, supervisors were constantly being paged from the floor to get new people started. This frustrated the plant supervision, slowed productivity, and was extremely inconvenient for everyone involved.
The Solution
We implemented an on-site program where we sent a recruiter on-site every day at the beginning of production to coordinate the placement of all temporaries. Supervisors could now coordinate with one person regarding all needs and they never had to leave the production floor. Because our person was included in production meetings, we had more lead-time on staffing needs and were able to prepare for shifting demand. We were able to get the right number of people for them every day.
The Result
Productivity soared! Moreover, the client was able to eliminate all other staffing companies. Accounting loved it because now they could deal with one staffing vendor instead of four!