Fire and Rescue Service burns out roster issues with Smart Human Logistics

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the second largest fire authority in the country, needed an advanced system to efficiently manage flexible rosters for its 1625 operational staff, improve productivity and accurately administrate employee data. Smart Human Logistics, the leading workforce management provider, has been chosen to standardise processes by consolidating time management, reducing overtime and introducing employee self service with their single integrated scheduling
and attendance solution.

Steve Beckley, Assistant County Fire Officer at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue, comments; “The Fire and Rescue Service is unique and complex but what is vital is that the fire-fighters we need are available at the times we need to save lives. The tailored technologies that Smart’s system provides will help us to achieve this. We will significantly benefit from optimised workforce processes – from long term labour planning to workforce utilisation which will save us valuable time, ensure accuracy and allow us to plan the deployment of our fire fighters more effectively in the future.”

With labour costing the Authority over £75 million a year, Greater Manchester Fire was in need of real time visibility and the ability to roster their staff according to demand. The authority provides 24/7 emergency support; but a key issue is that they experience peaks in demand at certain times of the day and night and in particular areas at certain times of the year. Smart’s latest product version, eHL 2005 r1, will address this by giving the authority the capability to effectively deploy fire fighters as and when needed ensuring there is optimum cover at all times.

The system will also encourage workforce flexibility and staff empowerment by enabling them to manage their own rosters. This will be made possible through the unique self service functionality in the system which allows staff to view their rosters, request holidays and shift swaps with colleagues freeing up management time.

The system will go live in January 2006 and will be managing 1625 fire-fighters, across 35 locations. Along with the implementation of eHL 2005, Greater Manchester Fire will be introducing biometric hand readers across all the sites to increase security and accuracy within the authority. Significant cost savings, improved employee work life balance and increased productivity are just some of the benefits Greater Manchester Fire will reap from Smart’s system.

Founded in 1986, Smart Human Logistics is a world leader in the development of enterprise solutions for workforce management. Our unique eHuman Logistics offering integrates advanced time and attendance automation with workforce planning, scheduling and self service facilities.

With over 500 employers worldwide benefiting from Smart solutions and managed eHL services, the company has been instrumental in establishing the value of workforce management in today’s competitive enterprise.

For further information or photos to support this release please contact:
Gurpreet Binning
Tel: 01438 822211
Fax: 01438 822240
Email: gurpreetb@smarthumanlogistics.com