Well thought-out absence planning in the construction industry ensures that personnel and machines are available at the right time. This avoids project delays and unnecessary costs.
Planning holidays and absences
Why is absence planning important in the construction industry?
Construction sites are complex projects where the availability of personnel and machinery is crucial to success. Absence planning ensures that all resources are available at the planned times. If absences are not recorded in good time, this can lead to bottlenecks in the company, delaying projects and causing additional costs.
Capacity planning and absence planning
Capacity planning and absence planning are closely linked. Incomplete planning means that resources are either overloaded or remain unutilised, which significantly reduces efficiency. Early recording and management of absences in construction planning is therefore essential.
Plannable absences for personnel resources
Plannable absences are those that are known in advance and can be recorded relatively easily in the absence plan. These include
Holidays: Planning holiday periods in good time helps to avoid bottlenecks, as replacement staff can be organised.
Military service: In Switzerland in particular, many employees have to serve in the military for several weeks, which must be planned for well in advance.
Training and further education: Employees need to undergo regular training to keep up to date. These absences can often be planned for the long term.
Public holidays: National or regional public holidays often affect the entire team and must therefore be taken into account in capacity planning.
Unforeseeable absences: React quickly and flexibly
In addition to plannable absences, there are also unforeseen absences that usually occur at short notice. Flexibility is required here:
Illness: Sudden illnesses can lead to staff absences that need to be compensated for quickly.
Accidents: Accidents can occur on construction sites, causing short-term staff shortages. In such cases, deployment planning must be adjusted quickly.
In Vanillaplan, these short-term absences are entered directly in the resource planning so that they can be quickly integrated into the overall planning so as not to disrupt the construction process.
Absences of inventory resources: machines and equipment
Not only personnel, but also inventory resources such as machines, vehicles and other construction equipment need to be scheduled. The most common reasons for machine absences include
Maintenance and repairs: Regular maintenance work is necessary to keep machines operational and should be integrated into the absence calendar well in advance.
Defects: Unplanned downtime due to defects or damage can affect the availability of machines and must be incorporated into planning immediately.
Avoiding scheduling conflicts
One of the biggest challenges in absence planning in the company is avoiding scheduling conflicts. It must not happen that a resource - be it personnel or a machine - is scheduled twice. This is why Vanillaplan automatically checks whether a resource has already been scheduled at a certain time. This allows conflicts to be recognised and resolved at an early stage.
FAQs
What absences need to be taken into account in construction planning?
Plannable absences include holidays, military service, public holidays and training courses. Machine maintenance and repairs are also included. Unforeseeable absences such as illness or accidents require flexible adjustments to planning.
How does absence planning prevent scheduling conflicts on construction sites?
Vanillaplan uses automatic scheduling collision checks to ensure that each resource - whether personnel or machine - is only scheduled once at the same time. This keeps construction planning efficient and avoids bottlenecks.
How does good absence planning help to increase efficiency?
Efficient absence planning minimises idle times and overloading of resources, as availability can be optimally utilised. This makes a significant contribution to productivity and cost efficiency on construction sites.