The Boots subsidiary invested in the system to ensure that it is utilising staff effectively in its stores.
Prior to the system’s implementation, the company planned labour using average sales figures. Labour is the biggest cost within Alliance Pharmacy’s operational budget, so careful management of it is crucial.
The system forecasts the demands of the business and its customers, ensuring that staff are contracted to work at times that best meet the peaks and troughs of business activity. It is also allowing Alliance Pharmacy’s area development managers to allocate labour based on up-to-date information.
The companies designed and developed the sophisticated algorithms needed to calculate labour requirements together. Using the system, central operations staff and area development managers can track productivity, service levels and cost effectiveness KPIs at a company, regional, area and branch level.
Presenting labour demand in a way that is quick and easy to interpret was crucial to Alliance, so particular attention has been given to the system’s user interface and design.
Alliance Pharmacy central operations general manager Mandy Whittall said that developing a system with Retail Answers was cost-effective compared with other companies it considered. She said: “Retail Answers gained a good understanding of our business processes and specified our requirements quickly.
“It has provided us with a high-quality bespoke application, delivered for half the cost of the packages we initially reviewed.”
No comments yet