Every visit becomes demand signal: who came, for what service, how long it took. Door counters see traffic. Frontlion projects service demand by hour, weeks ahead, built from your own locations rather than industry averages.
The Demand Curve
Intelligence
Staffing Intelligence
Frontlion Staffing Intelligence forecasts service demand by hour and shapes the schedule before it is published. Coverage lands where customers arrive, without adding headcount.
Staffing recommendation
Week of August 3
Additional staffing required Thursday, 3 to 5 PM.
Forecast visits96
Scheduled capacity72
Associates short2
Confidence: High
Capacity planning
Capacity gap identified Thursday, 3 to 5 PM.
Frontlion Custom AI Cockpit
Compare every location, then act on what the numbers show.
The Cockpit ranks locations on the same measures, names the cause behind a gap, and recommends the action with its projected effect. A manager approves it. Nothing changes on its own.
Comparing performance, identifying the opportunity, recommending the action
Early Warning
Capacity gaps surface in the planning cycle, not on the day.
Frontlion flags the shortfall while the schedule can still change. Reassign a shift or add two hours of coverage before the week is published.
Staffing plan
Draft
Staffing shortage detected Thursday, 3 to 5 PM
Forecast visits, 3 to 5 PM96
Scheduled capacity72
Associates short2
Available to cover: Dana M. four hours, Alex R. two hours. Both trained on consultations.
Adjustment window closes Tuesday, August 4 at 6:00 PM
Workforce Optimization
Schedules built around the way customers actually arrive.
Match staffing to customer demand and reduce unnecessary labor hours. Same headcount, same weekly hours, placed where the demand is.
One week, three ways to staff it
Option 1. Static staffing schedule
Five associates every day, from a fixed template. Demand is not consulted.
Associates scheduled per day
Scheduled coverage, fixed template
Shortfall
Excess coverage
OutcomeThursday is short two associates while Monday and Wednesday are over-covered. Overtime pays for the mismatch.
Option 2. Staffed by day, to the forecast
The same 200 labor hours, redistributed across the week to its forecast demand, day by day.
Associates scheduled per day, against forecast visits
Scheduled coverage
Forecast demand, visits per day
OutcomeThursday is covered and the weekly hours do not change. Inside each day, the afternoon peak is still staffed like the morning.
Option 3. Staffed by hour, to the demand curve
The same 200 labor hours again, shaped hour by hour to the demand curve.
Associates on the floor by part of day: open, midday, afternoon, close
Coverage by hour
Peak hours covered
Demand by hour
OutcomeCoverage tracks demand hour by hour. No shortfall, no idle coverage, and the weekly hours are unchanged.
On the Floor
Matched coverage keeps the floor in balance.
The right associates at the right hours. Workload stays even across the team, and every arriving customer has someone ready.
Live floor
Updating
4
In service now
6
Waiting
22
Arriving this hour
118
Served today
Team coverage
Maria G. Consultations
With customer
14 served, 9 min average
Dana M. Consultations
Available
9 served, 8 min average
Sam C. Fitting room
With customer
12 served, 11 min average
Priya N. Service desk
Break, back 2:45 PM
10 served, 7 min average
Alex R. Online pickup
With customer
11 served, 5 min average
Arrivals by hour, and where the plan put people
Customers arriving per hour. Seven associates cover 3 to 5 PM.
Next assignment
Jordan T., consultation, waiting 4 minutes. Recommended to Dana M.
Staff to peak demand, not to the average.
When the schedule matches demand, waits shorten and abandoned visits fall. The same service-time data shows operations leaders where to coach.
“We can see how long each counselor takes with clients and help them improve.”
Every Role
One demand forecast, every planning decision.
Workforce planning runs weeks ahead, not on the morning of the shift. Frontlion feeds the same forecast into every stage of the cycle.
Planning horizon
12 weeks out
Demand forecast by week and by service, per location.
6 weeks out
Labor budget and headcount set against forecast demand.
3 weeks out
Schedule drafted to the demand curve, then published.
In the week
Live conditions reshape coverage day by day, inside the week itself.
Schedulers
Forecasts arrive weeks ahead, so the draft starts from demand rather than last year's template.
Store managers
Capacity gaps land days early, with the coverage fix attached.
Operations
Coverage against forecast demand, across every location.
Finance
Labor budget built on forecast demand, not on averages.
Associates
Peaks are staffed, and the schedule is published weeks in advance.
Staffing works better connected.
Next step
See next week's demand before you publish the schedule.
Bring one week of schedules. We will overlay real demand.