Original Date: 06/26/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Dayton Parts, Inc. (DPI) needed additional plant capacity on critical manufacturing processes. Already operating at almost full capacity, DPI would have to add more workers to weekend shifts. Rather than hiring part-time employees to staff the plant on weekends or working full-time employees overtime, the company used a creative employee scheduling technique similar to one used by hospitals to staff nurses on weekends.

Under this plan, full-time employees work a 12-hour shift on Saturday, a 12-hour shift on Sunday and two, eight- hour shifts on flexible weekdays. As an incentive to work this non-traditional work schedule, employees are paid for 45 hours per week while actually working 40.

DPI currently has five employees on this schedule, and both the employees and the company have realized many benefits, some of which were not envisioned when the program was established. Employees now have three days off from work each week, and the non-weekend days are flexible. This flexibility allows management to give employees off days to suit individual needs. In other weeks, these employees work certain days to cover for other workers on vacation. The weekend workers are cross-trained to operate many different machines in the plant and have become competent at maintaining and repairing the equipment they use since the maintenance staff does not normally work weekends. This allows the weekend workers to produce whatever parts are most needed to meet production schedules.

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