SEM And WFM Integration Drives Labor Savings

September 2012 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Bob Johns, associate editor

Store execution management (SEM), along with workforce management (WFM), has become an opportunity for retailers to increase productivity and reduce costs.

Labor management has become an area of concern for retailers as they struggle to maintain service levels and reduce costs. Here, Bob Clements, senior VP of Axsium Group, discusses how integrated SEM and WFM solutions benefit retailers’ bottom lines.

With all of the technology advancements in SEM, which have been the most significant, especially when it comes to integration with WFM solutions?

Clements: Today, the primary point of integration between SEM and WFM is with scheduling. With this integration, tasks created in the SEM system are sent to the WFM system. The WFM system finds the best time to do the task, given customer-related demand, and assigns it to the bestqualified available associate to get the task done.