Disclaimer: I am an IE Guy.
When planning an operation why would you consistently not run the plan (in terms of staffing)? You know that if something goes wrong, upper management is going to ask what the plan was and why you chose to deviate from the plan. Whats the advantage of going in to the operation without a working plan?
I should have clarified more, this was directed toward hub/preload operations, where the work is a lot more simplified. I don't know package well enough to speak on it.
OK, I'm guessing you are a relatively new IE person that is working in the hub, possibly a new Package planner dealing with the preload. You have a good question. I think the problem comes down that the operations manager has to run a great day to have his service metrics in line along with his production elements. When it comes to service if you don't have enough people you really hurt service since you can run the risk of missing max pulls (assuming a twi or night sort with max pulls). So you may plan to go up another setup in the unload. (There's two additional people). Usually this isn't an issue since if you can cut the sort span down by a few minutes earlier then plan you make up for the extra setup (unloader\loader). But if feeders comes in with a late load, there's only so many people you can cut and still process work. There's a lot of other factors that come into play. The problem with sitting in an office in IE is that the calculator\excel spreadsheet\PKG\Hubtools doesn't show you those variables. Also, In the hub you will need hundreds of people. For the PT employees the amount of absenteeism is very high. Heck with 100 people a 2% swing in absenteeism is two people different in your operation. Once a person comes in and punches in they are guaranteed their 3.5 hrs. Granted, some people will leave if asked, but many once they start, want to work their hours.
Don't get me wrong... I had your job (a long time ago). The one thing I think that was different way back when I was in IE, is that I was a sorter while going to college and got promoted to a PT IE Supv in the Hub. Then I went driving and came back and was a FT Hub IE supv, also went out and did FT Hub Coordinator and came back. With operational experience you realize it's not black and white. There's still not a lot you can do with the plans you are forced to come up with. But at least it lets you understand the shades of grey.
The biggest problem that I see, is we are so worried about PPH, that we sometimes spend a lot more money then we need to by trying to get a better PPH.
Take the Preload as an example of what I mean. A PT Preloader makes peanuts compared to a driver. While there are some preloaders who do a great job and load stop for stop, there are many that don't. We are in a rush to get these people off the clock to hit Preload PPH. Well, if we had them stay 15 - 20 minutes (5 min for each car they load). This will probably reduce the driver day by the same amount 5 minutes per driver. But we are paying a Preload at his\her wage vs a driver at their wage (and almost assuredly at an OT rate). Why we don't do that, I don't understand.