CHELMSFORD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2007--In the spirit of knowing that you can't manage what you don't measure, Kronos(R) Incorporated (Nasdaq: KRON) has announced a new key performance indicator (KPI) that allows manufacturers to measure the effectiveness of their workforce. This new KPI, Overall Labor Effectiveness(TM) (OLE), measures the utilization, performance, and quality of the workforce and its impact on productive output. With its industry-specific solutions, Kronos for Manufacturing is uniquely positioned to help organizations reach operational excellence through the measurement of OLE.
Kronos for Manufacturing is a comprehensive offering of software and services designed to improve business productivity and profitability, increase resource utilization, and improve compliance. This comprehensive, integrated suite addresses the challenges of managing the workforce in manufacturing with solutions for time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, analytics, labor tracking, and shop-floor data collection. The solution is supported by a focused team of manufacturing experts who deliver deep domain knowledge and industry best practices, which are critical to the successful implementation of continuous improvement projects such as Lean and Six Sigma.
"Labor is the next critical manufacturing element to optimize in today's demand-driven world. Savvy managers have realized that their workforce can be the engine that drives supply chains and manufacturing in the quest to move to the next level of performance," said Dave Caruso, principal at David Caruso and Associates, Inc. "Kronos is leading the innovation in this area by enabling manufacturers to reach operational excellence by optimizing their workforce. Introduction of OLE is a testament to Kronos' innovative approach to managing the workforce."
Similar to Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), OLE measures availability, performance, and quality. A manufacturer can improve shop floor productivity, and therefore the level of profitability, by understanding the interdependency and trade-off of these factors and managing them in real time.
-- Availability -- There are many factors that influence
workforce availability and therefore the potential output of
equipment and the plant. OLE goes beyond simple coverage to
help manufacturers ensure they have the person with the right
skills available at the right time. OLE also accounts for
labor utilization. Understanding where downtime losses are
coming from and the impact they have on production can reveal
root causes, which can include machine downtime, material
delays, or absenteeism that delays a line startup.
-- Performance -- When employees cannot perform their work within
standard times, performance suffers. Effective training can
increase performance by improving the skills that directly
impact the quality of output. A skilled operator knows how to
measure work, understands the impacts of variability, and
knows to stop production for corrective actions when quality
falls below specified limits. Accurately measuring this metric
can pinpoint performance improvement opportunities down to the
individual level.
-- Quality -- A number of drivers contribute to quality, but too
often the effort to improve quality can result in a lowering
of labor performance. When making the correlation between the
workforce and quality it is important to take certain factors
into consideration including the training and skills of
employees, if they have access to the right tools to follow
procedures, and their understanding of how their roles drive
and impact quality.
"While almost every manufacturing organization measures availability, performance, and quality, very few are measuring the interdependencies between them. OLE, supported by Kronos for Manufacturing, allows organizations to reach the next frontier in overall manufacturing performance," said Gregg Gordon, global practice leader for manufacturing at Kronos. "OLE can show how assets and employees come together to drive great performance. It also provides actionable insight at all levels of the organization. The true power of OLE is its ability to demonstrate how investment in the workforce can impact overall performance, and most importantly, profitability."
Kronos Incorporated empowers organizations around the world to effectively manage their workforce. At Kronos, we are experts who are solely focused on delivering software and services that enable organizations to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve employee satisfaction, and ultimately enhance the level of service they provide. Kronos serves customers in more than 50 countries through its network of offices, subsidiaries, and distributors. Widely recognized as a market and thought leader in managing the workforce, Kronos has unrivaled reach with more than 30 million people using a Kronos solution every day. Learn more about Kronos at www.kronos.com.
(C) 2007 Kronos Incorporated. Kronos and the Kronos logo are registered trademarks and Overall Labor Effectiveness is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other product and company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
CONTACT: Kronos Incorporated
Michele Glorie, 978-947-2855mglorie[at]kronos.com