When many budgets are being cut, a lot of companies start looking for places to cut corners — like using Labor Management Systems (LMS).

So it helps to know what works — and what doesn’t — while dispelling rumors and misconceptions about LMS.

1. Labor Management doesn’t mean you’ve thrown up your hands and ceded control to a software program. Instead it relies on supervisors working as “coaches,” and incentive pay and other rewards for employees. The active cooperation of staffers is essential.
2. Morale tanks when an LMS is implemented. Often, the opposite is true. With a greater sense of organization and purpose — sweetened by performance incentives — morale and retention has increased in many supply chain facilities.
3. If you have a Warehouse Management System (WMS,) you already have LMS. Newer WMS systems are incorporating a LMS capabilities. But most existing WMS operations don’t deliver the full value of a LMS.
4. LMS cure all of your supply chain ills. Many experts scoff at claims that an LMS can boost picking rates by 30-40%. While results like this aren’t common, many supply chain operations report labor productivity gains of 20% or more.

Tags: Labor Management System, LMS, supply chain, warehouse management system, WMS