Explore Philips’ journey with SAP
Responding quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare company Philips relied on SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management to increase its visibility across its entire workforce, enabling managers to make challenging staffing decisions with agility.
In yearly contingent workforce spend managed with one solution.
Contingent workforce managed across 25 countries System.
its production lines to continuous 24-hour uptime for rapid pandemic response.
Our driving purpose at Philips is to make lives better, so when the pandemic hit, we wanted to do everything we could to increase production of the monitors and ventilators that were in such high demand. Visibility into our highly skilled external workforce allowed us to shift and redeploy resources quickly to do that and keep our people safe.
Martin Thomas
Head of Total Workforce Management, Koninklijke Philips N. V.
Ramping up production of critical healthcare equipment in a crisis
Most businesses have heard the old adage: “Expect the unexpected.” But in a global pandemic, healthcare companies must respond rapidly and run on emergency mode – lives are depending on it.
When the pandemic hit, Philips, a leading healthcare technology company, answered the urgent call for help. With monitors and ventilators in short supply, the company needed to ramp-up their production lines quickly, increasing the number of skilled workers to support global operations. The crisis demanded that Philips be prepared to make fast data-driven decisions and deploy resources, while also keeping their workforce and work environment safe.
Turning to its innovative contingent workforce strategy with SAP Fieldglass
Philips implemented SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management in 25 countries, covering 97% of its contingent workforce. With increased visibility across its entire workforce, Philips’ managers could make challenging staffing decisions swiftly during the pandemic. First, it enabled the company to protect all worker types by knowing who they were, where they were, and what buildings they could access. Second, it enabled the company to quickly ramp its production of monitors and ventilators, deploying its flexible workforce in new ways to meet the increased demand for critical equipment.
Supported by the combination of SAP Fieldglass solutions and Randstad Sourceright, HR and procurement leaders at Philips could draw on internal and external staffing resources quickly, and decision-makers could rapidly identify the most effective resourcing channels for each task.
To meet a surge in demand for our health monitors and ventilators, we went from one to three production lines and moved from one shift a day to 24-hour uptime. Thanks to SAP Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management, we were able to quickly locate workers with the right skills so we could speed the ramp up of our activities.
Martin Thomas
Head of Total Workforce Management, Koninklijke Philips N. V.
Delivering a rapid, resilient response
With the help of SAP Fieldglass solutions, Philips successfully leveraged its holistic view of the external workforce with immediate and impactful results. The company was able to scale its workforce quickly, tripling its production lines – increasing from one production line to continuous 24-hour uptime. In addition, Philips was able to redeploy resources from one manufacturing site to another, hire new skilled workers and supply chain professionals, and then track and monitor their remote workers to effectively manage staffing needs and fluctuations.
Most importantly, Philips could ensure the timely production and delivery of critical healthcare equipment to hospitals in need.
Keeping agile in times of uncertainty
Philips’ digital transformation and adoption of SAP Fieldglass solutions continue to drive positive outcomes, including agility during these uncertain times to get the work done on time, at the highest quality, at the right cost.
Philips’ ability to react to changing conditions during the crisis has clearly demonstrated the value of its total workforce management approach. “In times of rapid change, we need the visibility to assess risk and pivot quickly to address new requirements” concludes Thomas. “Based on SAP Fieldglass solutions, our robust resourcing strategy gives us the ability to manage our talent flexibly to withstand market disruption.”