A labor management system in a warehouse exists to answer three questions before the shift starts and one after it ends: how many people does today's work take, what will the week cost, what is the cost per line against what the client pays, and did the shift hit the standard. Enterprise systems answer them with time clocks, engineered standards and a module licence; a small operator can answer the first three with a worksheet and the fourth with a record, and buy the module when the team outgrows both. This page walks the four questions and the arithmetic behind each, and the free warehouse labor management system worksheet on this site works the headcount and the cost from your figures.
How many people does the work take
Lines the day will bring over the standard rate is the pick hours the day needs; over the productive hours in a shift it is the pickers, rounded up. At 1,200 lines and 60 lines a picker hour that is 20 pick hours, and on an eight-hour shift that is 85% productive it is three people. The same arithmetic staffs receiving and packing from their own standards, and the roster is made of whole people.
What the week costs, and per line
Pickers times shift hours times days times a loaded rate is the week's labour: three pickers, eight hours, five days at $22 is $2,640, and over the 6,000 lines of the week it is 44 cents a line. That figure beside the client's handling rate per line is the account's margin on labour, before space and overhead, and it is the figure to know before the rate card is quoted.
Did the shift hit the standard, and what the record does
Standard hours earned over hours paid is performance, and it only means something as a trend per process and per person. That is what the system holds that the worksheet does not: Pickpathly Pro keeps the standard per process and each week's actual against it, so a shift that starts running at 80% of standard is seen the week it starts.
Questions people ask about labor management system warehouse
What does a labor management system do in a warehouse?
Holds a standard per process, clocks hours against the work produced, computes the headcount a day needs and the cost of the week, and reports each shift and person against standard. The worksheet on this site works the headcount and the cost; the record keeps the trend.
How do I calculate warehouse staffing?
Lines a day over the standard rate is the hours; hours over the productive hours in a shift is the people, rounded up. Enter your own lines, standard, shift and utilisation into the worksheet; it publishes no benchmark.
What utilisation should I use for a warehouse shift?
Your own measured figure: breaks, meetings, replenishment and dock waiting come out of the shift, and the worked example uses 85% only to show the arithmetic. Time a week in your building and use that.