Toot’n Totum & Pak-A-Sak Make Staffing More Efficient

TEMPLE, Texas — Two convenience store chains, Toot’n Totum Food Stores and Pak-A-Sak, have completed rollouts of PDI/Labor Scheduler 2.0 at their stores, the supplier announced. 

PDI/Labor Scheduler 2.0, a second-generation labor scheduling software, uses market basket transaction data to predict customer traffic and recommend appropriate staffing levels. This results in more efficient staffing by scheduling managers without sacrificing customer service at the store, according to PDI. 

Pak-A-Sak has already seen a 13-percent reduction in overtime since it began using the software.

“It’s incredibly important to have the right number of people for the right amount of business,” said Gary McKee, chief information officer for Pak-A-Sak. “With hourly market basket data integrated directly into PDI/Labor Scheduler, we can formulate a more precise schedule to maximize profits.”

Rodger Hudson, chief financial officer for Toot’n Totum, added that while his company has previous experience with transaction-based labor scheduling software, the use of the near real-time market basket data will be valuable.

“PDI/Labor Scheduler 2.0 enables us to make labor schedules based on current hourly information rather than historical hourly information that may no longer be valid,” Hudson said. “That’s hugely beneficial to our customers by ensuring proper staffing levels, and to us from a financial perspective.”

The software also provides suggested staffing levels based on site-level labor budgets, which allows managers to allocate budgeted hours by site, role and effective date, according to PDI.

“PDI/Labor Scheduler’s rules-driven approach automatically adapts to each site’s traffic patterns, making it much easier to create schedules that optimize labor budgets while still complying with minimum staffing requirements and keeping supervisors aware of any exceptions,” explained Jim Wade, vice president of product development for PDI.

PDI/Labor Scheduler 2.0 went into general release in July. Temple-based PDI provides software, hardware and professional services to convenience retailers and wholesale petroleum marketers.