Operations management - a concept for a self-organized task and workplace allocation

One of the main tasks of production planning and control is workforce scheduling. The responsible personnel (supervisors, department or production managers) must optimally plan the execution of pending orders to achieve high delivery capability, low inventory levels, short lead times, and high resource utilization. Typically, employees are assigned to workstations in shifts and then allocated to workplaces and orders. With every change that occurs (employee absences, material shortages, machine breakdowns, etc.) the previously created production plans must be adjusted to the new circumstances and communicated. This results in many managers spending significant time on planning instead of focusing on their core leadership responsibilities. To reduce the high planning effort and directly involve shopfloor employees in the capacity and operational control of work assignments an concept for a self-organized task and workplace allocation is being developed. The concept of self-organized shift planning enables employees to enjoy more attractive working conditions and greater autonomy, while simultaneously relieving managers of non-value-adding administrative tasks. Centralized planning and allocation of orders, workstations, and employees are replaced by self-organized shift planning, supported by a mobile planning board. This paper emphasizes the necessity of employee qualification to achieve greater workforce flexibility. A critical factor for the successful implementation of an agile and self-organized production is the cross-divisional qualification of employees. In such environments, employees are expected to take on greater responsibility, make independent decisions, and adapt quickly to new challenges. In this way, employee qualification not only enhances individual performance but also strengthens the overall adaptability and resilience of the organization in the face of rapidly changing market conditions. This approach to self-determined workforce scheduling is presented in this paper, showing a partial result from the research project "agileASSEMBLY." Including the next steps an introduction of a digital planning board, which identifies qualification needs and strategically guides employee development.