Minimani, a Finnish hypermarket chain offering grocery and convenience goods, will extend their partnership with RELEX Solutions, provider of unified retail planning solutions, to automate and optimize shift planning with RELEX’s workforce optimization solution.
Since 2016, Minimani has used RELEX for forecasting and replenishment. By also implementing RELEX’s workforce optimization solution, Minimani is taking steps to unify its key retail planning processes. As a result, the retailer will be able to more accurately forecast workload, create shifts that match that workload forecast, comply with complex local legislation and contracts, and improve employee engagement and satisfaction.
Prior to RELEX, Minimani’s system required a great deal of manual input to process work shifts and ensure they complied with collective labor agreements. Their processes weren’t optimized to match staff availability with predicted workload, and shift planning was based only on previous sales and planner experience rather than on accurate, data-driven forecasts.
To optimize their workforce planning, Minimani sought a powerful modern solution that could automate time-consuming manual work, centralize workforce planning processes, and help them meet customer demand with more predictable workloads and balanced work shifts. Another key focus was moving away from printed work shifts that neither match workforce needs nor allow for communication between store staff and planners toward a modern, mobile tool that improves collaboration between the two functions.
“By expanding our partnership with RELEX to include workforce optimization, we can make scheduling decisions based on RELEX’s accurate forecasts. This allows us to ensure we have enough staff available to manage the projected workload at any time of year,” says Jussi Nummelin, CEO at Minimani. “RELEX’s mobile platform also allows our employees to easily send requests regarding their shifts or apply for extra shifts, then quickly review and manage their schedules taking their own availability and preferences into account. This ensures our employees can rotate between different workstations to have more versatile tasks. Ultimately, the solution improves efficiency, increases employee wellbeing, and ensures stores can provide high-quality customer service to our shoppers.”
“We are excited about extending our partnership with Minimani,” says Emma Aidanpää-Salmi, Vice President, Customer Success, at RELEX Solutions. “They have already seen the benefits of using RELEX in their forecasting and replenishment. By unifying their retail planning processes to include workforce optimization, they will now further benefit from balanced workloads and well-planned work schedules that increase efficiency, lower costs, and improve both sales and employee satisfaction.”