We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Change Me
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » BlueCrew adds labor management features to warehouse staffing app
newsworthy

BlueCrew adds labor management features to warehouse staffing app

March 11, 2016
Ben Ames
No Comments

BlueCrew Inc., a startup whose software enables warehouse managers to quickly ramp up warehouse staffing to meet surges in demand, said it has added labor management features to its platform.

The upgrade will help managers measure and track their workers' on-time records, number of shifts worked, and their location, thanks to a GPS timecard that automatically clocks employees in and out of the job using their own smartphones, the San Francisco-based company said.

BlueCrew's core model uses an algorithm that sorts through a database of registered workers to determine their experience, qualifications, and past performance reviews, BlueCrew CEO Gino Rooney said in a phone interview. When a customer needs temporary staffing, BlueCrew contacts the most qualified laborers through its mobile smartphone app and schedules them for work as forklift operators, warehouse staff, drivers, movers, data entry personnel, or customer service representatives.

BlueCrew currently operates only in the Bay area, but is planning to expand to southern California later in 2016. The company is funded by a number of venture capital firms. Its approach is comparable to that of New York-based Forrge, another web-based staffing platform designed to accelerate hiring in the "gig" economy. Forrge is focused on the retail-trade and food-and-beverage sectors. However, both companies use mobile apps to match part-time hourly workers with seasonal or temporary positions.

The on-demand model is particularly well suited to the light industrial sector that includes the material handling and transportation markets, as well as warehousing, production, and commercial moving, Rooney said. When demand fluctuates quickly in warehouse work, managers often struggle to find temporary employees with experience on complex equipment like standup forklifts, sit-down forklifts, or specific kinds of pallet jacks, he said.

Noticing that temporary agencies could take several days to screen, phone, and schedule workers for these slots, Rooney and a partner at Stanford University launched BlueCrew in April 2015.

"We saw inefficiencies in the way that recruiters and staffing agencies were filling jobs," Rooney said.

The speed of placement can be critical when companies like UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp. hire tens of thousands of extra workers to handle the holiday shipping rush every winter season.

"We work with Bay Area e-commerce facilities and logistics companies to handle the boom in the holiday season by supplying a curated workforce when they scale up in September and October," he said.

One client is Zephyr Express, a Benicia, Calif. overnight wine and spirits delivery firm that serves commercial customers such as restaurants, grocery stores, and distribution centers. The firm signed up with BlueCrew when it suddenly needed extra workers to make deliveries to clients in San Francisco during the busy Super Bowl week in February.

Facing blocked streets and restricted delivery hours, the company used BlueCrew to find temporary employees to ride with the truck drivers and assist with unloading freight, staging orders, and moving trucks out of loading zones, said Dan Lucht, general manager at Zephyr Express. The company also uses BlueCrew to find extra workers for the night-shift picking crew in its 125,000-square-foot warehouse, filling orders and loading trucks, Lucht said.

"Sometimes workers get sick or have a family emergency, but we're up against the clock; if the team is down, we need that backup to keep the second shift running," Lucht said.

"In the past, we've used staffing firms, but an agency can take a day or two to find job candidates, so the latency in the system makes it hard to respond," he said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify the nature of the software upgrade and function.

Technology Labor Management
KEYWORDS BlueCrew FedEx Forrge UPS Zephyr Express
  • Related Articles

    Convey adds case-management features to shipping portal

    enVista Announces Addition of Service, Labor Management Gap Assessment, to Labor Management Practice

    ProTrack Warehouse Labor Management System

Benames
Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.

Recent Articles by Ben Ames

Project44 acquires German ocean freight tracking firm

Amazon licenses walk-through store technology to retailers

Conveyor company fought time and weather to open new factory

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • IBM survey says digitalization trends will sweep trucking industry by 2030

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • Truck driver hiring pool tightens to lowest point in three years, ACT says

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

  • Growing up … and up and up: interview with Sam Bertram

Now Playing on DCV-TV

D92f0dd1 a98c 434a 9e17 30b63ee72c90

Automated Pack-out and Print-Apply System for thredUP

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
SilMan Industries designed and implemented a mixed polybag-carton system, including automated print and apply, in a new regional Fulfillment Center for thredUP, one of the world’s largest online resale platforms for women’s and kids’ apparel, shoes, and accessories.The Situation Secondhand clothing and online...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Using innovation to manage peak seasonal demand

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing