Industries

Shift work and safety for food and drink producers

We work with cheesemakers, bakeries, fresh produce growers, shellfish processors and household-name manufacturers. RotaOne runs the shifts and hours behind every production line, and Musterd accounts for everyone on the factory floor when you evacuate.

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24/7
production shifts and patterns: Biometric
clocking at the factory door: Roll call
who is on the floor, in real time

Why Thinking Software

From farm and dairy to factory and bakery

Food and drink producers make up a long list of our customers. It includes Princes, with its global household brands, Macduff Shellfish, which processes more wild shellfish than anyone else in Europe, Levantine in its BRC AA certified nut and seed factory near Heathrow, and family firms such as Alvis Brothers, The Welsh Pantry and Tofu King.

BM Foods and Freshpeel Products are case studies
Early, late and night shifts, with temporary labour at peaks
Rotas that keep up with tight retailer deadlines

Trusted in this sector by organisations including

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The challenges

The pressures on a food production workforce

Food production runs around the clock with perishable stock and little slack. Labour is hard to find, the work is physical, and a factory full of machinery, chillers and changing shift crews has to be cleared quickly when something goes wrong.

01
Night shifts and working time
Night and rotating shifts keep lines running, but the Working Time Regulations 1998 limit night workers to an average of eight hours in 24 and require 11 hours’ daily rest and a weekly day off. Overtime at peak times makes those limits easy to breach.
02
Persistent labour shortages
The Food and Drink Federation has reported vacancy rates above the manufacturing and national averages, with machine and line operatives among the hard roles to fill. Peaks are often covered with agency and seasonal labour.
03
Licensed labour and clear records
Labour providers supplying workers for food processing and packaging generally need a licence from the GLAA. With permanent, agency and seasonal staff on the same line, you need a clear record of every hour against the right shift and department.
04
Clearing a busy factory floor
HSE lists machinery, workplace transport and slips among the main hazards in food manufacturing, and ammonia leaks from refrigeration plant have forced factory evacuations. Changing crews and agency staff make a paper headcount slow and unreliable.

RotaOne for production shifts and agency labour

Plan rotating and fixed shifts across lines and departments, capture every clocking at the door, and turn the hours straight into payroll exports. You can see labour cost against budget for each department before the week is out.

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Shift patterns that run themselves
Create regular shift patterns once and automate them for the weeks ahead, then add ad-hoc shifts for extra orders. Minimum staffing levels keep key people, such as line leaders and engineers, on every shift, with alerts when cover falls short.
Clocking built for the factory door
Choose facial recognition, fingerprint or RFID devices for your staff entrances. They are cloud-connected and simple to install, and the same devices that record hours for RotaOne also feed Musterd roll calls.
Labour cost by line and department
Set departmental budgets and compare planned against actual hours and costs for individuals, departments or the whole site. Forecast labour cost for seasonal peaks and see overtime building before it reaches payroll.
Skills, absence and incidents on record
Record skills and qualifications, from food hygiene to forklift training, with expiry dates so renewals are visible in good time. Spot sickness trends early, and let line managers record incidents and accidents securely.

The RotaOne features that matter most

Musterd for factories, chillers and packhouses

When the alarm sounds mid-shift, Musterd shows in real time who is safe, who is unsafe and who is off site, using the clockings you already capture. Fire marshals work from a phone or tablet instead of a printed list.

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A headcount that includes agency staff
Everyone who clocked in, permanent or temporary, appears on the roll call. Marshals mark people safe at the muster point, and instant UNSAFE alerts show who is still missing, so you can give the fire service a clear answer.
Zones for lines, stores and yards
Divide your site into zones on interactive site maps, from production halls to cold stores and loading bays, and see each person’s last known location. Musterd works in the dark, so a power cut does not stop the count.
One view across every plant
Run evacuations across several factories with separate muster point teams, oversee them remotely on a map, and keep a post-event compliance report of every drill and incident for your records and audits.

The Musterd features that matter most

Customer success stories

Case studies

How organisations like yours run their workforce, and keep it safe, with Thinking Software.

View all case studies

Food & Drink
Freshpeel Products
Manufactures and supplies fresh, ready-to-use peeled and prepared root vegetables
People employed
45
Entertainment & Leisure
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a world-famous, multi-venue arts centre in London, with a dynamic year-round festivals programme and an inclusive ethos.
Hosts
200+
Shifts a year
30,000
Reduced admin workload and enhanced accuracy of staff timekeeping and attendance data
Health and Social Care
Somerset Care
The Somerset Care Group are one of the major care providers in Southern England and one of the largest not-for-profit care companies in the UK.
Employees
4,500
Staff at each site
70-80
Payroll processing reduced from several hours to less than 2 hours weekly
Hospitality & Events
Malmaison & Hotel du Vin
Whether it’s for their prime locations, their unique style or their memorable individuality, the Malmaison & Hotel du Vin brands are well-known.
Staff across both brands
3,000
Hotels
29
“Huge increase in payroll efficiency, from breaks right through to managing start and end times”

Testimonials

What our customers say about RotaOne and Musterd

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“We’ve been using Thinking Software for several years now, and it’s been a game-changer for our business.”

TinaHR Manager, Olympus GlobalRotaOne

Accreditations

Hosted on Microsoft Azure, certified to ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus, and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Trusted by organisations worldwide

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Reporting showcase
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Shift work and safety for food and drink producers

From farm and dairy to factory and bakery

The pressures on a food production workforce

Night shifts and working time

Persistent labour shortages

Licensed labour and clear records

Clearing a busy factory floor

RotaOne for production shifts and agency labour

Shift patterns that run themselves

Clocking built for the factory door

Labour cost by line and department

Skills, absence and incidents on record

The RotaOne features that matter most

Musterd for factories, chillers and packhouses

A headcount that includes agency staff

Zones for lines, stores and yards

One view across every plant

The Musterd features that matter most

Case studies

Freshpeel Products

Southbank Centre

Somerset Care

Malmaison & Hotel du Vin

What our customers say about RotaOne and Musterd

Time and Attendance for Every Sector

Accreditations

Trusted by organisations worldwide

Which product would you like to see?

See RotaOne in action

Live 60-minute session

Real-time dashboard

Reporting showcase

Automation in practice

Expert guidance