On this episode, I was joined by Peter Schnorbach of Manhattan Associates. Peter is the Senior Director of Product Management at Manhattan Associates and we connected back at ProMatDX to discuss some COVID-19 guidelines they had put out and also talk about which ones will continue on beyond the pandemic and their labor management system. While we seem to be moving on from COVID there are still some really great pieces of information on how it has an impact on the way we move forward.

Key Takeaways

• Manhattan Associates brings software solutions to the marketplace to help your business operate more efficiently. They are well known for their supply chain suite which covers a wider variety of systems that operate in our space. This includes a warehouse management system (WMS), a yard management system, and what we focused on in our discussion which is the labor-management system. The labor-management system helps to track all productivity in your operation so you can ensure that you plan your resources properly and understand your capacity utilization.
• When it comes to COVID Guidelines I think we have all become pretty familiar with them. What I was interested in learning from Peter was his thoughts on what guidelines will stick with us as we head out of the pandemic. There were two very interesting guidelines that sound like they will stick and definitely caught my attention. The first was the utilization of mobile apps to communicate with your employees. I learned about two apps that I had not heard about previously which are Shyft and Work Jam. These apps allow you to send out notifications to your employees on when shifts are available or when extra coverage is needed. I love this idea because it gives you more flexibility and better planning tools because you do not need to wait until the employees come in for work next to ask if they can cover a different shift.
• The second takeaway from our discussion around COVID guidelines was the guideline to maintain and create open and honest communication within your operation. I believe this is such a key factor to overall success in business not just during COVID but all the time. Doing this allows you to have better insights into what is happening in all aspects of your operation because your employees will tell you what is going on without any hesitation. This is the best way to improve and ensure that you are on the proper track for growth.

Listen to the episode below and check out all the guidelines from Manhattan Associates after the episode.