Breaks account for between 10% and 15% of the paid time for employees in security checkpoint operations. Through active break planning and subsequent execution on the day of operation, the timing of and duration of breaks can be optimized delivering more staff at the checkpoint at the right time.
In most airports we meet, break planning takes place in the workforce management solution (WFM), rarely related directly to the demand for open lanes. Instead, a given sum of breaks is allocated across the day for the dispatcher to use for executing breaks on the day of operation. The dispatcher does not have any system support on the day of action but executes breaks based on experience. The lack of interaction between the WFM and the planning of demand for lanes leads to drawbacks:
- Distribution of breaks on the day is not optimized resulting in a higher than required peak of the request for staff
- Tracking of how many employees are entitled to a break in given break windows is difficult – potentially leading to inaccurate break planning
By addressing these drawbacks, peak demand for staff is reduced leading to a higher performance at a lower cost.
In Better Security, our innovative solution for security checkpoint planning, we have included a break-planning feature. Breaks are typically tied to a shift and must be given within a set window, for instance, 3 to 5 hours into a shift. Better Security comes with a built-in break optimization feature, which places breaks in optimized slots to decrease the overall peak demand for staff. The approach is exemplified below.
The break periods can quickly be exported to Excel and could thus serve as an input to the daily task allocation. The output from Better Security would govern the total number of breaks to be planned in a given interval to secure the lowest possible demand for staff.
We are happy to demonstrate our solution at your security checkpoint.
If you are interested, get in touch with Copenhagen Optimization:
Co-founder and CEO, Kasper Hounsgaard
hounsgaard@copopt.com
+45 51 34 10 69
