Flink uses Quinyx to plan more efficiently and quickly – to the benefit of the head office, managers and employees at the hub.
A success story told from four perspectives.
Since 2021, Flink has been using the Quinyx workforce management solution for its five-digit number of employees in Germany, the Netherlands and France.
Flink is a German delivery service that delivers everyday items directly to consumers on demand. Three different types of employees work together: the riders, the pickers and the operations associates. The operations associates (Ops Associates) fill the shelves in the hub, whereupon the pickers take the groceries off the shelves for the orders and then hand them over to the riders, who deliver the orders.
“I think our pink riders have become an iconic part of the cityscape.”
– Julian Dames, Co-Founder and Managing Director
Julian Dames, one of the three founders of Flink, together with Oskar Haase (Manager Last Mile Operations Germany), Vanesa Regrutova (Hub Manager) and Dev Valecha (Picker), talk about the advantages of employee-centered scheduling with Quinyx.
Focusing on efficiency
Julian Dames explains that the personnel costs of the riders, pickers and operations associates who fill the shelves are the largest cost item for Flink after the cost of goods: “That's why it was very important from the beginning that we make shift planning as efficient as possible. Quinyx basically offered us a customized solution for our use cases. Quinyx has a great depth of expertise when it comes to contract types and has helped us enormously to be very flexible, taking advantage of a gig economy while at the same time employing our staff on a permanent basis.”
Manual processes replaced by AI-supported scheduling
Oskar Haase, Manager Last Mile Operations Germany, reflects: “At the beginning of Flink, we did a lot of manual planning.” The effort involved in scheduling was very high for the company due to the work involved in using lists in Excel, Google Sheets and phone calls. Oskar continues: “With Quinyx, we were able to centralize and also automate the entire planning process, which made our lives a lot easier. It's a huge time saver. What used to take us a week is now done in a day.” This amounts to a time savings of approximately 80% for a 6-day week.
Flink is one of the many companies that uses Quinyx's AI-powered schedule optimization feature to automatically assign shifts. Oskar talks about how the company has learned to appreciate the feature, despite initial fears that it would lack control: “Oh no, I would never press the button to have my people assigned to me automatically. Nowadays, hardly anyone can imagine life without this help. The fact is that you just check everything is OK and tick the box. So it's quite clear that working with Quinyx has been made easier.”
A better overview and communication
For Vanesa Regrutova, Hub Manager, the overview of all relevant KPIs in her hub is the most important factor - with Quinyx, she can particularly benefit from the clear overview of all leave requests. “When I see that there are absences, I refill the shifts and can then fulfill all other KPIs more easily and quickly. The biggest advantage for me is that I have a really good overview with clear graphics, which is very helpful when planning, and I can see all absences and delays."
For Vanesa, communicating via Quinyx using Qmail is a great way to share new information, updates or news. ”The employees receive a notification, read it and are informed.”
More flexibility and freedom for employees
Dev Valecha, picker at Flink, uses the Quinyx app to enter his availability, check the shift plan and request vacation and sick days. For him, the focus is on user-friendliness and flexibility. He says: “I can book unassigned and open shifts whenever I have time. It also helps me to balance my studies with my job.”
Julian Dames' summary conclusion:
“Quinyx is an extremely flexible partner for us, helping us to adapt their solution to our needs. This has enabled us to expand extremely quickly. I believe that Quinyx' expertise, particularly in internationalization, is unique in this market.”
Find out more about how Quinyx is used by delivery services or take a tour and see how Quinyx AI helps you create optimal schedules.