Shift planning
the client

The client is responsible for the refurbishment and maintenance of stations within a major transport system.

the requirement

Planning, costing and delivering a station refurbishment is a complex, long-term process.

Translating these plans into a series of identified tasks that can be delivered by large teams of sub-contractors (often for a short period each night) is also challenging, especially when new requirements emerge that were unplanned or unexpected.

Traditionally, shift managers had to report on their shift by collating information from many sources and this could take several hours at the end of a shift.

Another problem was that each shift manager reported differently so it was extremely hard to identify common problems across sites.

The client asked Reference Point to develop a user-friendly solution that could obtain data from central planning but present the tasks in a way that individual shift managers would find easy to communicate to the workforce as part of a daily or nightly Shift Plan, as well as generate a standardised achievement report at the end of each shift.

Reference Point was chosen to provide the solution, as a leading Supplier of custom-made solutions for workforces and owing to its considerable experience in the construction and transport sectors.

the solution

The solution has three distinct elements:

• Plan Creation: A simple mechanism to create a new plan – either from scratch or based on an existing plan. Many of the plan components are selected from pre-defined drop-lists to save the shift planners’ time. Details that help inform the workforce about specifics can be entered by the planner so that the single plan contains reportable standard data, as well as site-based details that the workforce need. Sub-contractor numbers and their locations are all included in the plan as well as how much work is expected to be achieved. Prior to the shift start the plan is automatically locked down and all planned items become ineditable.
• Plan Confirmation: At the end of the shift, all the SM needs to do is log back in and call up this plan, which at shift end changes its state so that work achieved can be confirmed and reported. Any unplanned tasks can also be added, as well as other details such as changes to the workforce, their times on and off site.
• Analysis: There is a reporting wizard that provides a wide range of analysis. These include reasons for delays and lost time, monitoring of planned works against actual, then identifies trends to promote efficiency.

Commenting on the system's success since implementation, the client said: "The real beauty of the system comes in its ability to report back on site progress and issues encountered, providing effective record-keeping and handover information to all who need it at a press of the button."

"Reference Point have provided us with a robust solution which has improved the way we manage and report on our performance. The tool is extremely user friendly and they have shown great flexibility & commitment in customising the system to suit our specific business needs. Staff are always very helpful and provide immediate response to any queries and we appreciate the very high level of support including our valuable face to face meetings where many of our ideas are brought to life."

What Shift Managers have said:

"It’s a great system which is saving me valuable time that I can now spend on site. I used to spend the best part of one-and-a-half hours at the end of a shift collating information from subcontractors and affiliates and loading onto the computer before printing off hard copies. Now, all we have to do is compare work done against our plans and any updating is done with a quick click of the mouse. It's fantastic!"

"It’s a very good system – accurate and user-friendly – and the best bit is the time it’s freed up for me. I think it’s a great system and it’s a shame it was not brought in a lot earlier."