Verme WFM Line Personnel Planning Automation

Verme line-up

As of July 2020, Verme's solution includes five products:

• Verme WFM is a Workforce management solution for planning and calculating line personnel schedules.
• Terminal is a platform with automated timesheets and a biometric terminal for recording working time using a person.
• Verme Substitution Fund is a platform for the prompt withdrawal of replacements at the expense of its own staff from neighboring stores and outsourcing.
• Verme Headcount Calculator - a solution for modeling the headcount of all company personnel.
• Verme Lean is a complex of services for optimizing processes in retail, warehouses and production.

2020

Verme WFM Data Analysis Capabilities

According to information for September 2020, the Verme WFM solution collects and analyzes a whole array of company data: from the dynamics and structure of sales to the work schedules of employees. Based on the information collected, personnel work schedules are calculated, which take into account the load due to an increase in the purchasing flow during certain hours, the specifics of demand, the location of sales points and the wishes of employees.

Verme estimates that the approach increases productivity, reduces PHY costs by up to 15%, and improves customer experience by reducing queues and providing high-quality customer service during peak hours.

Creating a Product Ecosystem

In 2020, Verme supplemented its solutions with a'Headcount Calculator' and a 'Verme Lean'. In the compartment, this creates a full-fledged HR-tech platform - a single ecosystem for working with mass personnel.

According to the developer, when using all Verme products, the client takes away a significant part of the manual work and can focus on strategic tasks. Verme analyzes the data of the past period and, in particular, using the "Number Calculator" predicts the staff based on business indicators. This makes it possible to increase efficiency and optimize the number of personnel.

Start projects

In 2020, Verme changed the usual approach to the implementation of projects and divided it into 2 blocks. According to General Director Dmitry Shekhodanov, this spring the business woke up in a new reality, where the usual approaches no longer work. Many companies have changed their request from increasing various indicators towards obtaining results in the shortest possible time for business survival. In such conditions, it is necessary to quickly adapt to needs, modify products and show the result.

Verme - first of all the result

The new segments, where Verme had not previously operated, are running a pilot project at 3 sites over several months. During the pilot, it is monitored how much the indicators of pilot objects differ from those of analogues. In industries with a large number of projects, Verme immediately goes into a replication project: it is enough for customers to get references and understand how other companies work live. Usually the payback of the solution is 2-3 months, a maximum of six months. According to Dmitry Shekhodanov, customers choose Verme because it is a profitable investment.

Verme Functionality and Capabilities

Verme is a block of solutions for optimizing and automating human resources operations. Verme products are used by companies with a large share of line personnel. For 2020, Verme's solution has proven its effectiveness in large trading companies, logistics and in production: M.Video, Eldorado, Hoff, Spar, Econica, Ascona, 5 Element and others).

Verme WFM:

• savings in PHY for maintenance
• increased revenue in advisory sales
• Automated Flexible Scheduling and Employee Time Accounting System

Vermenal:

• automatic filling of timesheet
• monitoring of delays and workovers
• accounting for actually worked time
• fighting "dead souls"

Verme Substitution Fund:

• prompt closing of shifts by own employees
• reduction of re-workings
• addressing staffing levels
• automation of outsourcing output

Verme Lean:

• survey of business processes and identification of losses
• creation of a map of initiatives
• determination of readiness for change and formation of a transition plan

Verme Headcount Calculator:

• generating a forecast of personnel requirements
• tool for optimal planning of the number of employees
• increase in labor productivity due to labor intensity

2019: Internal Human Resources and Outsourcing Management Solution

In addition to flexible scheduling and shift management, many retailers are facing the challenges of rapidly withdrawing replacements and staffing. So, in 2019, the product "Substitution Fund" appeared, which combines all internal staff and outsourcers.

The principle of working with internal personnel: an employee of a retail chain goes on shifts on a stable schedule, and on weekends he can earn extra money in short shifts of 2-4 hours in neighboring stores. So-called part-timers help stores with a shortage of their own staff to close short needs and optimally cover traffic. The whole process takes place on one portal, where the store director publishes free shifts, and employees from other stores book them.

The other side of the solution is operational replacement. When an employee does not leave for a shift, the facial biometrics of the Terminal notifies the store director and sends an application for a shift to the base of employees living near the outlet. Next, any employee who sees the request can leave and close the shift within a short period of time (1-2 hours). Thus, the store will optimally close its need and fulfill the daily sales plan, and the employee will receive additional earnings.

2018: Development of the Vermenal biometric terminal

In 2018, the Vermenal facial biometrics of the same name were created. Usually in stores, employees were marked at the entrance and exit using cards. This solution has many disadvantages - frequent errors, exchange of cards between employees, losses, etc.

The only solution to avoid fraud was facial biometrics. The technology of biometrics consists of a touch screen device and software integrated with the retailer's IT system. When arriving or leaving work, the employee needs to approach the device and choose one of the actions: "Arrival" or "Departure." The infrared camera recognizes a person's face, makes sure that it is not a paper or digital photo, and records the start and end times of the shift. This data is then automatically compared to the planned schedule and forms a time sheet.

2017: Further development and growth of projects

Verme WFM - more than flexible graphics

'In creating Verme, we relied on the following hypothesis: if you understand how many people, what qualifications and at what particular hour you need, then your sales will grow and your costs will fall. This hypothesis is close to the axiom, and so far no one has argued with it, "recalls Verme CEO Dmitry Shekhodanov.

To implement the hypothesis, it is not enough to simply implement mathematical algorithms for calculating graphs. First of all, the company should have a process of performance management and metrics for its tracking. The main metric - coverage - shows how effectively client flow personnel provide for specific shifts, that is, whether the workload is correctly calculated.

To calculate the workload, normalization of operations is used:

• It is determined how much time the employee spends to take a certain category of goods from the warehouse, take them to the trading floor, put them on the shelf;
• it is calculated how much time is spent on the calculation of each unit of products (or on servicing one client, say, in a shoe salon);
• customer turnover and sales in a particular store on a particular day and hour are predicted.

Applying the norms to these forecasts, the workload is obtained: how many people of a specific position at a specific hour are needed at a specific outlet. Knowing this, employee preferences and their characteristics are taken into account. For example, Ivan can work as a seller and loader, and Maria can work at the checkout, but only until 18:00 to have time to pick up the child from kindergarten.

Verme WFM is a service for effective human resources management, demand forecasting, automatic scheduling and improvement of the overall service level.

Many domestic IT companies are introducing Western solutions that do not correlate with the specifics of Russian retail. The Verme system is adapted to domestic realities, legislation (in particular, it stores personal data on Russian servers). In addition, the planning cycle in Western solutions is a week, and Verme is focused on a monthly cycle, according to which most Russian companies work. "In SAP, the probability of making a forecast is 70-80%, in our country it is 90-95%," says Verme founder Visgalov Evgeny, explaining the result "by using multilayer neural networks in prediction algorithms."

2016: Development of the first domestic WFM system

In 2016, Verme developed the first Russian WFM-class solution for forecasting demand and planning line staff schedules in retail. The company's first customer is the Olivier grocery chain (now owned by Billa).