The Opening and Closing Problem
The two ends of the day have fixed work, low demand and awkward economics. They are where most of the avoidable cost sits.
The first and last hours of an operating day follow different rules from the middle, and applying the demand curve to them produces the wrong answer.
The practical lesson in “The Opening and Closing Problem” is to connect every record to a named decision. Organisations exploring more information for attendance point system can add structured workforce context, provided the use is disclosed and the interpretation is reviewed with the people affected.
What makes them different
Fixed work regardless of demand: opening up, setting up, counting, closing down, securing.
For an independent reference related to “The Opening and Closing Problem”, consult the NIOSH work-hours and fatigue training; it provides a useful external check on scheduling, working-time and workforce-planning assumptions.
Demand that is usually at its lowest.
Often a capability requirement: a key holder, a supervisor, somebody authorised.
Which means the minimum is set by the task, not by the customers.
The common mistakes
Staffing the open to the demand curve, so the setup is rushed and the first busy hour starts behind.
Staffing the close to the demand curve, so the closing work spills into unpaid or overtime minutes.
Both look efficient on the schedule and cost more than they save.
The spill problem
Closing work that takes forty minutes, scheduled for twenty.
Which becomes either a rushed close, unrecorded extra time, or overtime.
Unrecorded extra time is the most common and the most damaging: it is unpaid work, it is a legal exposure, and it hides the real requirement from everybody.
Measuring the real requirement
Time the opening and closing tasks, honestly, over a week.
Not the ideal time — the real time, with interruptions.
Most operations find the figure is meaningfully higher than the schedule allows, and the gap has been absorbed by people for years.
The lone-working question
Opening and closing are frequently done by one person.
Which raises safety and security considerations that are a different subject with its own treatment.
Worth knowing that a one-person open or close is a decision with consequences beyond staffing.
Where the savings actually are
Moving deferrable work into the quiet opening hour rather than the peak.
Overlapping the close with the last trading hour where the work allows.
And checking whether the operating hours themselves are right — an hour open with almost no demand is the largest available saving and is rarely questioned.
The opening-hours question
Count demand in the first and last operating hour.
If it does not cover the loaded cost plus the fixed open or close work, the hour is losing money.
Changing hours is a bigger decision than a schedule and is sometimes the correct one, and it never gets raised because the schedule is what is under discussion.
What to check
How long does closing actually take, timed?
Is that what the schedule allows?
Does anybody stay unpaid to finish?
And what does your first operating hour earn against what it costs?