Improving Logistics Workforce Efficiency Through Digitalization

In recent years, logistics industry has experienced rapid growth alongside increasingly diverse forms of work. In particular, the share of ‘non-standard workers’ such as delivery drivers, parcel sorting workers, and warehouse loading and unloading personnel has grown quickly.

Most of these workers perform off-site or field-based work, with irregular working hours and assignments spread across multiple locations. These work arrangements have exposed the limitations of conventional time clocks and manual attendance management methods, which can make it difficult to maintain accurate and consistent records.

Today, we will examine the practical challenges involved in managing non-standard workers in the logistics industry and the role automated systems can play in addressing these challenges more efficiently.

The logistics industry's work environment can be described by two key characteristics: ‘variability’ and ‘dispersion.’ Shipment volumes can change significantly depending on the season, day of the week, and time of day, causing working hours and staffing levels to fluctuate accordingly.

Workers may also move between multiple locations in a single day or work alongside personnel from partner companies. This structure adds complexity to core workforce management tasks such as calculating working hours, verifying attendance, and managing overtime.

• Discrepancies in working hours: Delivery drivers and sorting personnel may begin work at different times each day or move between worksites, which can cause manually recorded clock-in and clock-out times to differ from actual working hours. This may result in errors when aggregating working hours or situations in which overtime is not properly reflected.

• Limitations in managing multiple locations and partner companies: Logistics companies often operate through multi-layered structures that include headquarters, multiple logistics centers, subcontractors, and partner company personnel. If each site uses different management standards and recording methods, headquarters HR teams may find it difficult to gain an accurate view of workforce data across the organization.

• Compliance risks related to statutory working hours: Night and weekend work are common in the logistics industry. Without systematic management, companies may face a higher risk of failing to comply with requirements such as the 52-hour workweek or mandatory rest periods. Accumulated working hours beyond statutory limits can lead to legal and financial burdens for the company.

• Fairness concerns arising from mixed employment arrangements: In workplaces where full-time employees, contract workers, contracted drivers, and employees of partner companies work together, different management methods may be applied even when workers perform similar duties. This can create fairness concerns among workers and may ultimately affect trust within the organization.

The logistics industry requires the ability to respond quickly to operational changes. When unexpected order volumes surge or deliveries are delayed, companies may need to reallocate workers immediately, which can create discrepancies between planned schedules and actual working hours. In this environment, it can be difficult for managers to manually reflect every change or calculate working hours accurately.

Mobile-based clock-in and clock-out can address these issues at their source. When workers record their attendance directly at the worksite, location-based authentication can automatically capture the start and end of work. Even when schedules change or additional delivery assignments are added, the system can reflect those changes in real time, enabling more accurate calculation of actual working hours. Automatic break deductions can also reduce the amount of manual work required from HR teams.

As a result, key workforce management items such as working hours, break times, and overtime can be organized automatically, while discrepancies in data between field managers and headquarters HR teams can be minimized. This type of automation provides a foundation for a more transparent and equitable work environment for both workers and companies.

Automating working time and workforce management goes beyond administrative efficiency and can become an important factor in strengthening the overall competitiveness of logistics operations.

• Improved accuracy: Actual working hours and schedule changes are reflected automatically, significantly reducing errors and omissions in workforce data. More reliable clock-in and clock-out records can improve the accuracy of payroll calculations and overtime settlements.

• Greater operational efficiency: Workforce allocation can be adjusted quickly based on real-time work status, enabling more flexible responses to sudden increases in shipment volume or employee absences. Reduced verification and reporting work also allows managers to focus more on core responsibilities.

• Stronger compliance and risk prevention: When statutory working standards such as the 52-hour workweek and mandatory rest periods are reflected automatically in the system, companies can reduce the risk of excessive working hours or missed breaks before they become operational issues.

• Higher worker satisfaction: A transparent and equitable working time management framework can strengthen trust among field workers. Clearly recorded clock-in and clock-out times, break periods, and overtime can help reduce unnecessary misunderstandings and dissatisfaction.

• Support for data-driven decision-making: Automated attendance data can provide insight into work patterns, staffing efficiency, and workforce requirements during peak periods. Analyzing this information can help companies develop more objective workforce operating strategies.

Workforce operations in the logistics industry are significantly more complex than in a typical office-based environment. Off-site work, night work, and short-term assignments often occur together, while staffing can change frequently by workplace and vehicle assignment.

When adopting a system, companies should therefore look beyond basic attendance management features and carefully assess whether it provides an integrated workforce management environment with automation capabilities suited to logistics operations.

Because logistics work takes place across many different locations, a reliable attendance authentication framework is particularly important. When workers record clock-in and clock-out times at designated workplaces or delivery hubs, location-based authentication should make it possible to verify work start and end times.

Support for additional authentication methods, such as Wi-Fi authentication and multiple workplace settings, can also help companies apply consistent attendance standards across logistics centers, delivery sites, and partner company locations. This can help prevent proxy clock-ins or inaccurate work reports while improving the reliability of working time data.

Logistics personnel may work across multiple areas in a single day, making support for off-site and vehicle-based work important. When delivery schedules change or urgent assignments arise, the system should allow work schedules to be updated so that planned schedules and actual working hours can be compared and reflected automatically.

This enables managers to understand field conditions in real time and adjust workforce allocation more flexibly. When dispatch schedules and working time data are connected, companies can also calculate actual working hours more accurately without overlooking overtime or break periods.

Most logistics companies operate multiple organizations and workplaces simultaneously, including headquarters, regional logistics centers, and partner companies. A key requirement is therefore the ability to manage this multi-layered workforce structure within a single system. Ideally, access permissions can be differentiated by location so headquarters can view organization-wide data while managers at each location manage only their assigned workforce.

Partner company personnel should also be managed according to consistent standards. If clock-in and clock-out records, working hour calculations, and break deductions are processed according to the same logic regardless of employment type or affiliation, companies can improve both data consistency and fairness.

Accurate and transparent calculation is at the core of working time management. Automated calculation features should classify clock-in and clock-out records, break times, overtime, night work, and holiday work and calculate actual working hours accordingly. To support the 52-hour workweek, it is also important for the system to provide advance notifications during schedule planning when working hour limits may be exceeded.

The system should also be able to automatically generate detailed reports by work type, organization, and location, helping HR teams visually review locations with frequent overtime, periods of excessive staffing, or instances where rest periods were not properly reflected. This information can provide an effective basis for improving working time management policies.

Because workforce management systems handle both personal information and work-related data, security standards are a key criterion when choosing a system. Companies should confirm whether the solution has obtained internationally recognized information security certifications such as ISO 27001 and whether it provides AES-256 data encryption and DDoS protection.

When location-based authentication is used, it is also important to confirm whether the system collects only one-time location information with the worker's consent and immediately discards it afterward. This is a key requirement for balancing privacy protection and data reliability.

In complex workforce environments characterized by fluctuating working hours, multiple locations, and field-based work, maintaining efficient operations through manual management alone can be difficult. In these environments, it is advisable to adopt an integrated workforce management system with logistics-specific capabilities such as automated working time calculation, convenient clock-in and clock-out recording and management, automatic break-time reflection, and real-time dispatch schedule management.

Shiftee is an integrated workforce management solution designed to address these needs, helping companies systematically manage diverse work arrangements from headquarters to field operations within a single system. Delivery drivers and other off-site workers can record clock-in and clock-out times using location and Wi-Fi-based authentication, while working time and break-time calculation features can be used together to establish a workforce management environment that takes regulatory compliance into account.

Shiftee also provides features for configuring and managing multiple locations, enabling organizations with distributed workforces, such as logistics companies, to establish a more integrated operating framework.

Make logistics workforce management smarter and more systematic with Shiftee.