Workforce scheduling 4.0– Knorr-Bremse

Knorr-Bremse has pursued a dedicated mission for over 110 years: making mobility and freight transportation safe, sustainable and environmentally friendly. Today, the Munich-based group is the global market leader for braking systems and other systems for rail and commercial vehicles. The group employs some 29,000 staff at over 100 locations around the globe. At its flagship plant in Aldersbach, where disc brakes for trucks are the key product, the focus is on efficiency and digitalization at all levels – including workforce management. That is why the plant’s management team opted for the ATOSS Manufacturing Solution to plan and steer the 800 members of staff working at the location. Via the ATOSS Connector, the solution is linked seamlessly to SAP HCM PT, the company’s existing HR system. The solution provides up to the minute time and employee data for planning and scheduling at all times – including intraday management. The integrated capacity and personnel requirement planning allows the plant to focus rigorously on flexible shift operation and fast response times.

Production orders are scheduled in SAP APO and transferred to ATOSS to calculate the personnel required. The result is a demand-driven workforce schedule that is fine-tuned in an iterative dialog between the two systems. If, for instance, not enough staff are available at the planned time, the order volumes are adjusted accordingly in SAP APO and a new, demand-optimized schedule is generated based on the modified order. Our solution has also proven its worth during the coronavirus pandemic: The protection and hygiene regulations prompted Knorr-Bremse to switch to a decoupled duty scheduling to maintain ongoing operations and keep the workforce safe. Employees are actively involved in organizing their working time via the intuitive Staff Center and can access their working time account whenever they like, creating greater transparency and boosting satisfaction on the shop floor. Leveraging the potential of digital workforce management, this innovative plant is getting its HR processes fit for the future.

Source: ATOSS CUSTOMER KNORR-BREMSE/ ATOSS Annual Report 2020