Automated Schedules for All!
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Welcome back to INGENIOUS, the weekly newsletter exploring all-things-productivity. We delve into various concepts and methods related to boosting productivity each week. Remember, you don't need to be born wealthy or have a genius-level IQ to earn a seat in the C-suite.
Let's Revisit?
Last week, you learned how event-driven automation operates with rule-based automation, with events as triggers for specific actions or workflows. The post also covered how event-based automation establishes predefined rules or conditions that serve as triggers to determine when particular workflows or actions will occur. This week, you will learn about scheduling automation. Just like regulations correspond to event triggers, events correspond to scheduling.?
A Match Made in Heaven: Scheduling Automation and Data Analysis?
As you learned last week, a feedback loop drives event-driven automation. Data is fed back into the rule-based system, informing the creation or adjustment of rules for continuous optimization. Like real-time data inputs form the basis for event triggers, allowing for immediate responses and dynamic workflow adjustments, data analysis is a critical element of a symbiotic relationship with scheduling automation.?
The relationship between scheduling automation and data analysis enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of scheduling processes. When data appropriately and adequately informs business decisions such as scheduling, an organization can expect lean and intelligent resource allocation, vastly improved productivity, and streamlined operational processes. Better performance all around.?
It Works Like This?
Scheduled automation involves executing tasks or processes at predefined times or intervals.?
Event triggers are critical in the scheduling automation process. Scheduling automation relies on real-time data inputs to optimize workflows. Because schedules are automated based on real-time data, workflows become increasingly optimized over time because the automation model is being fed real-time data. As the model acquires more data, the automation will draw from patterns of data, meaning the output has the potential to be extremely precise and complex - something that might take a large team of PhDs years would take an automated scheduler seconds. Just like a feedback loop driving rule-based and event-driven automation, there's one driving scheduling-based automation, too. The data generated from scheduling automation processes provides valuable insights that inform current and later decision-making and further refine scheduling algorithms.
The Basics: How scheduling automation works?
As you can imagine, scheduling automation profoundly impacts productivity and efficiency. It works by leveraging technology to streamline and optimize creating, managing, and executing schedules across various tasks, projects, or resources. It typically involves software or algorithms that analyze relevant data inputs, such as task requirements, resource availability, deadlines, and constraints. Based on this analysis, the automation system generates schedules automatically, assigning tasks to appropriate resources and optimizing the allocation of time and resources to achieve desired outcomes efficiently. Scheduling automation can also incorporate real-time data updates and dynamic adjustments, allowing schedules to adapt to changing circumstances or priorities in real time. Overall, scheduling automation simplifies the scheduling process, reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and improves productivity by ensuring that tasks are completed on time and resources are utilized effectively.
Scheduling automation is like having a personal assistant who will help you manage your life and juggle your responsibilities, meetings, and to-dos while feeding you ideas and inspiration for growth. Opting into automated scheduling enables you to catch up. Your personal scheduling assistant will organize your calendar so that each appointment, task, deadline, and corresponding detail is automatically added and updated in real-time.?
The Big Players are Using It
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Automation is taking over non-managerial staff scheduling. For example, scheduling is automated in the retail, food and beverage, and restaurant space based on store traffic patterns, sales forecasts, and labor regulations. The system considers factors like employee availability, skills, and preferences to generate schedules that meet business needs while ensuring a positive work-life balance for employees. McDonald's is basing its scheduling on customer traffic patterns and employee preferences, while Starbucks' employee schedules are based on store traffic patterns and labor regulations. At Amazon, automations are scheduled to run at a specific interval or at a particular time using State Manager associations and maintenance windows. Overall, it's a godsend for big businesses, and they're gaining extensive as automation allows them to generate optimized schedules that meet business needs while accommodating shifting buying trends, customer habits, and employee preferences.?
Applications of Scheduling Automation?
E-commerce
In the world of e-commerce, the conceptual customer journey is governed by rule-based automation. However, the ins and outs of the User Experience are significantly impacted and enhanced by event-driven automation. This is because event-driven automation enables immediate responses to customer actions. With rules and events, scheduling automation can take place. Thankfully, all three come together seamlessly in the world of e-commerce. This is important as automated schedules play an extremely crucial role in e-commerce. In e-commerce, automated processes manage the day-to-day tasks and make long-term investment and cost-saving decisions. Indeed, it's the reason any sizeable online store runs efficiently. Armed with real-time data inputs and predefined rules, streamlined activities include inventory management, order processing, delivery logistics, and schedule generation.?
Any e-commerce or similar organization can benefit from automated software. Use cases include inventory replenishment via sales data analysis, forecasting consumer demand, and automatic order placement with supplier and vendor partners when inventory is at or below a specific threshold. As mentioned, it operates as a self-fulfilling feedback loop, where the data is continually updated and utilized to generate ongoing schedules for tasks ranging from warehouse worker shifts to precise shipment timeframes down to the second.
The dependency goes like this:?
Fulfillment → Assigned Orders →? Fulfillment Centers (Based on proximity to the customer's location) + Current Inventory Levels → Fulfillment?
By automating these tasks, scheduling automation enhances operational efficiency, reduces fulfillment times, and improves the overall customer experience in e-commerce transactions.
Beauty?
Large beauty companies are utilizing scheduling automation to streamline appointment bookings for their salons and spas. Specifically, they use automated appointment booking systems to simplify their scheduling processes for services like haircuts or manicures. Automated scheduling systems can also send out confirmation receipts via email, deals, and coupons. For example, a prominent salon chain might implement automated scheduling software that allows customers to book appointments online based on real-time availability, reducing the need for staff to schedule and enhancing the overall customer experience manually.
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Scheduling in the Healthcare Context?
Within the healthcare sector, major hospitals and clinics leverage scheduling automation to optimize patient appointments and resource allocation.
In healthcare, event-driven automation facilitates prompt responses to patient needs and medical emergencies, ensuring timely care delivery. For instance, a large hospital might utilize scheduling software that automatically assigns doctors and medical staff appointments based on availability, patient needs, and resource constraints. This would ensure efficient resource use and timely patient care.
Automation should be widely adopted in the medical field and healthcare industry as a safety and cost-saving measure, not only nationally but globally. However, we have yet to reach that point. A complete transition to healthcare automation is crucial because decisions based on real-time availability and contextual data significantly reduce the margin of error and the likelihood of legal consequences.?
The industry is making strides, but only recently due to pressure from patients and staff concerns. Investments are growing heavily in the healthcare automation space right now.?
According to a recent report by Market.us, the Global Healthcare Automation Market size is expected to be worth around USD 119.5 Billion by 2033 from USD 49.5 Billion in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 9.2% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2033.
Many hospitals, including the Providence Health System, based in Atlanta, are automating clinical and support staff scheduling.?
The Providence Health System has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to help make staffing schedules more flexible. Creating schedules can be very time-consuming for managers, and adding many variables, such as child care, can be difficult. That is where AI can help with the task and minimize scheduling headaches, among the factors impacting clinician burnout.?
Non-management Staff Shift Scheduling
Retail stores, restaurants, and chain stores—anywhere shift-based staffing is needed—should use scheduling software to assign shifts to employees automatically. These systems help the business create optimized schedules and consider factors like employee availability, skills, and labor laws.
Wal-Mart has been using automated scheduling software in their stores since 2018. This might be why even uber-conservative, family-owned firms like Brookshire Brothers (1928) are following suit. Brookshire owns over 200 Super 1 Foods, Spring Market, and FRESH locations in Texas, Louisiana, and surrounding states that are replacing legacy solutions to improve flexibility. Specifically, they replaced the legacy WFM solution with Logile to improve flexibility, the associate experience, and operational effectiveness.?
Forbes List of the 10 Best Scheduling Software in 2014:?
Retail Sector Analyzed?
According to Retail Merchandiser Magazine, automation technologies rapidly transform the retail sector. This automation is spurring growth and improving efficiency across the board - making employees live better lives and helping customers to be happier with the services provided. This is saving money and driving growth. The sentiment has changed over time. According to workforce.com, in 2021, the general feeling is that when managers create a schedule by hand, they're considering many factors, not all of which can be quantifiable as easy to capture data. Luckily, the beauty of generative AI is that it trains itself over time. Currently, more and more large companies are entrusted their livelihoods in automation.?
Here are the top 5 technologies favored in retail right now:?
Self-Employed and Managerial Staff?
Tools like Calendly and Doodle allow entrepreneurs and remote workers to schedule and streamline their meeting workflow with colleagues, clients, partners, and friends. The settings generally enable each party to view the other's availability and book time slots that work for everyone. This eliminates email communication back and forth and reduces the likelihood of scheduling conflicts.?
Social Media Posting:
According to Facebook, automating your social media posts and workflow is like setting up a bright, self-operating calendar for your posts. This is important for users or businesses taking a break or who do not have the bandwidth to monitor and actively engage in their posts daily. Most automated schedulers allow a page or profile to remain active, even when the administrator and staff are offline or unavailable.?
For businesses, social media management tools like Buffer and Hootsuite allow users to schedule posts in advance across multiple platforms. This saves a ton of time and allows for customization that comes in handy during the holidays and special events. Social media automation saves time and ensures a consistent posting schedule, even outside regular working hours. It's a MUST.?
Transportation and Logistics:
The transportation and logistics industry needs streamlining to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and meet the increasing demands of global trade. Because the need is so great, automation is a must. It's complex, though; rule-based, event-based, scheduling-based, and more are at play. While real-time event triggers optimize route planning and delivery schedules, scheduling automation optimizes routes for delivery trucks, buses, and other vehicles.?
These systems consider traffic patterns, delivery windows, and vehicle capacity to minimize travel time and maximize efficiency.
Transformative Potential?
In conclusion, scheduling automation has immense potential for transformative change in reshaping workflows and fostering organizational success. Scheduling automation is pivotal in organizational innovation, fueling efficiency and productivity across various industries. By leveraging real-time events and robust rule-based frameworks, businesses can achieve heightened agility and responsiveness in today's dynamic landscape. Through ongoing exploration and refinement of scheduling automation solutions, we pave the path toward a future marked by streamlined processes and enriched user experiences.
Absolutely, Alanna! ?? Scheduling automation frees us to focus on creativity and innovation. Remember, as Aristotle said - excellence is a habit, not an act. Let's embrace tech to craft our best selves! ??