Capacity Planning Software - A Few Tips

For capacity planning software to run smoothly, a company needs to have the right team. Changes can be hard in any workplace, but they can be especially challenging for a production company’s team who may be concerned about the difficulty of their job after new planning and scheduling software system comes into play.

However, illustrating to your team that new software is not a nuisance and is ultimately there to assist in the daily aspects of company life will help them have better faith in the software switch.

Here are some simple steps you can take to get your team on board for capacity planning software:

Offer live demonstrations

A lot of the time, employee apprehension towards new software in general lies in misunderstanding of technology. Allow your employees to get a feel for it pre-implementation by providing live software demonstrations. Exhibit the software’s abilities and walk them through step by step, showing them how the software will make their work lives less complicated.

Set realistic expectations

Heighten your employees’ faith in your new advanced planning system by primarily setting smaller goals, then gradually working your way towards bigger ones. Having your employees see the small-scale successes of your new software will boost their morale and allow them to feel more in support of the change.

Focus on joining system and employee

No employee wants to feel like a piece of technology dominates the workplace. Avoid this by coming up with a game plan for how your employees and your new software can work hand-in-hand. Develop some type of balance between your capacity planning system’s ability to iron out production errors and your employee’s ability to provide creative solutions to common production problems.

Divvy up work to account for implementation periods

In the immediate phases of advanced planning software integration, your employees may feel overwhelmed by the change in workload. In addition to their daily tasks, they will have to account for learning the ropes of a new system while inputting the proper data to get it up and running. However, strategically divvying up the workload will allow all members of the team to feel less stress over the change. Consider having interns or other temporary employees focus on data input, while the more permanent fixtures of your team learn the complex processes your software offers.

Involve your staff in schedule creation

Allowing your team to be involved in the creation of a production schedule will give both you and your employees peace of mind. By bringing them into the mix, you can work together to establish realistic production goals. When you have realistic production goals, there will be little to no reason for stressing over production deadlines.

The best way to get your team on board for a capacity planning software switch is through thorough introduction and hands-on experience. Involve your team wherever possible in the software’s pre-integration phases so they can feel comfortable when it comes time for them to take the wheel.

Would you like to read more articles on capacity planning software integration? Click here for our recent article on Easy APS Software Integration.

Image via SAP.com