1. Bottom-up insights
The first principle, create software informed by top-down rather than bottom-up insight, ensures a solution aligns with manager needs. While the need to improve warehouse productivity and performance is often identified in the C-suite, the most effective solutions are informed by shop-floor experience.
Yes, in line with best governance practice, it is important to create a steering group, that typically comprises finance, IT, Procurement and HR leaders, but hands-on, store manager experience is essential to create a system that drives productivity improvements.
This means IT business analysts must capture store manager requirements from the get-go. Without their insight the steering group will not have the necessary information to evaluate the effectiveness of a proposed solution. Neither will the solution meet manager needs.
2. User buy-in ahead of implementation
A bottom-up approach delivers a second benefit, securing user buy-in ahead of implementation. Managers who know a system has been designed to meet their needs will confidently champion the solution to other users whether that’s peers or team members. User engagement is consistently higher at roll-out and beyond when staff feel the solution is being done with them rather than to them.
3. Company-wide solution
A third principle, implementing a company-wide rather than local solutions, enables organisations to create an integrated system with the capability to collect and utilise data across all distribution centres and head office functions, such as HR payroll and finance.
4. Integrate permanent and contingent workforce
Fourth, in a workforce heavily reliant on contingent workers, a solution that only includes permanent staff will not enable an organisation to reduce the cost of its contingent workforce, or to strengthen its permanent workforce.
With a solution that integrates both workforces, managers can spot opportunities to fill capacity gaps with permanent staff, increase utilisation and efficiency of the permanent workforce, and understand upfront the cost and implications of moving staff between distribution centres.
