Rsmart: Saving headcount by optimising rosters

In a climate where time is money and resources are low it’s good to have the right tools at your disposal to make every penny count ‒ and one tool in demand, in particular, is optimum resource planning.

As one German union recently put it, the ground handling services industry is still facing a catastrophic shortage of workers so it’s critical now more than ever for airlines and ground handlers to know how to achieve high quality operations with less headcount.

And one of the ways they can start doing this is through optimising rosters above and below the wing for passenger and ramp staff.

For the past decade that’s exactly what software products and services company, Rsmart, has been offering airlines and ground handlers, and has more than 30,000 staff using their resource management solution (RMS) across three continents.

“We have never implemented our roster management solution without making significant headcount and cost-savings,” said Keith Purdom, Head of Business Development.

“Typically we find 8% plus in labour cost-savings. But it doesn’t stop there – for one client we eliminated the need for overtime and produced rosters with less staff needed.”

This is an ideal solution in high-cost markets such as  Europe and North America where currently wage costs are rising and recruitment is more difficult than ever before.

“It’s probably the hardest time to be a ground handler as everyone is looking at their bottom line and is caught in the race to the bottom. There is a significant loss of experience especially on the ramp which mitigates against high quality and high safety operations. But we can save headcount, which is critical now in many markets,” said Purdom.

Not only does optimising rosters reduce headcount it ensures the right ramp agent is deployed at the right time and right place as well as with the right skillset. This in turn supports reduction of OTP penalties and supports SLA targets. Ramp agents with expertise in weight and balance shouldn’t be spending most of their shift loading baggage likewise the same people shouldn’t always be asked to work overtime at stations due to poor staff planning.

Rsmart’s expert team of developers helps to identify all these types of nuances to fine-tune and create an automated roster that is pleasing for everyone.
“We give people the tools to manage their business in the best way they want,” said Purdom.

How it works?
The resource management solution is mobile/cloud-enabled and is ideal for handlers and airlines with complex roster patterns and for cargo ramp movement and warehouse staff management. It takes the flight information data and feeds that into the day to day resource planning management. It comes as a standalone module but other services can be added such as  leave allowance, taking into account annualised hours and fairness when it comes to allocating time off for religious holidays.

The configuration process considers the country laws, union agreements, training and custom and practice for each station as well as the different airport layouts and SLA agreements and so on.

“We found one customer had their favourites when they organised the roster and was handing out easier shifts to people,” explained Purdom.

“Another customer had their staff doing 12-hour shifts, four days  on and four days  off. When we inquired whether they had any quiet periods, they said, ‘yes, they sit smoking in the staff room’. We then suggested that they might want to keep their 12 hour shifts but to consider adding eight-hour shifts so that the staff started earlier, and suggested if their part-time workers were doing four hours, and the law and ethos allowed, then they could do four hours in the evening.

"I explained I once carried out a project in SE Asia  where it was common where the women were on check-in, then went home and cooked their husband’s lunch then came back to work – everybody was happy.”

Trying to tackle overtime was a vicious circle in today’s climate because there were not enough ramp workers available in some markets, said Purdom.

“But some people are beginning to decline overtime as they don’t want to work weekends. In other markets, however, with overseas workers it’s a different scenario as they may want to work overtime in order to send money back home,” he said.

Full product range
Rsmart, which has offices in Mumbai and Helsinki, not only offers a roster management solution but a range of other services from GSE maintenance and planning forecasts to aircraft turnaround management as well as contract and billing management. It also provides a PRM application, which is live in six airports in India carrying in excess of 35,000  services every year.

The company’s business model is subscription based, meaning there is no license to buy or  need to pay upfront capex costs. And being cloud operated no servers are required on customer premises.  

“We are currently working with a ground handler in Europe who has already told us our system is exceeding their expectations and another client in Mauritius who is delighted at our customisation process – flexibility is our key selling point.”