Efficiency
Frontline Supervisors Need More Empowerment
Companies need to lean on the unique vantage point of frontline supervisors before they make frontline operational decisions.
How Much is Your Lack of Frontline Automation Costing Your Business?
Let's run the numbers for both our frontline employees and our frontline employee managers.
Jeff Fiala
Jul 25, 2025
Technology is coming for every workplace. Some teams are quick to adopt technologies that can make work faster, easier, and cheaper. But what about the teams (or people) that are slow to change? We can build a model using real numbers that can help us understand the impact of delaying the inevitable.
Building A Model: Time Wasted Without UnDesked
Assumptions
Based on observed patterns in manufacturing, logistics, food production, retail, hospitality, and other deskless environments:
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Task assignments, follow-ups, reminders, and reporting are handled manually (paper, whiteboards, radio, in-person).
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Employees and managers lack centralized visibility and must rely on memory or repeated check-ins.
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Common friction includes: missed tasks, duplicated work, waiting for instructions, manual reporting, and unclear ownership.
Time Wasted: Frontline Employee
| Activity | Time Wasted Per Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Waiting for task instructions or clarification | 15–30 min | Start of shift delays, unclear task ownership |
| Searching for tools, forms, or information | 10–20 min | Especially in shared spaces or with paper-based systems |
| Redundant or duplicated work | 5–10 min | Tasks completed multiple times or by multiple people |
| Manual logging or reporting of completed work | 5–15 min | Filling out forms, updating boards, texting supervisors |
| Walking to/from central location for updates or check-ins | 10–20 min | For whiteboard or supervisor updates |
| Total per day | 45–95 min | 0.75–1.6 hours/day |
| Total per week (5 days) | 3.75–8 hours |
Conservative average: ~6 hours/week wasted per frontline worker
Time Wasted: Frontline Manager or Supervisor
| Activity | Time Wasted Per Day | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Repeating instructions or clarifying assignments | 20–30 min | Due to unclear task lists or missing handoffs |
| Chasing incomplete tasks or missed responsibilities | 15–25 min | Verbal check-ins, physical walkthroughs |
| Manual follow-ups or reminders | 10–15 min | Phone, text, or in-person nudges to keep work moving |
| Updating status boards, logs, or spreadsheets | 15–30 min | For task tracking or compliance visibility |
| Handling escalations caused by lack of visibility | 10–20 min | Reactively addressing preventable issues |
| Total per day | 70–120 min | 1.2–2 hours/day |
| Total per week (5 days) | 6–10 hours |
Conservative average: ~8 hours/week wasted per frontline manager
Summary Table
| Role | Hours Wasted/Week (Conservative) | Hours Wasted/Week (High Estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| Frontline Employee | 6 hours | 8 hours |
| Frontline Manager | 8 hours | 10 hours |
This model captures only direct time lost. It excludes indirect costs like errors, rework, safety risks, burnout, or employee disengagement—each of which compounds further inefficiency.
Time Wasted Without UnDesked: Cost in Dollars
Assumptions
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Frontline Employee Average Wage: $22/hour
(Manufacturing, logistics, and production workers. Source: BLS and industry benchmarks.) -
Frontline Manager/Supervisor Average Wage: $35/hour
(First-line supervisors of production/operations workers. Source: BLS and industry benchmarks.)
Cost of Wasted Time: Weekly per Employee
| Role | Hours Wasted/Week | Hourly Wage | Weekly Cost of Wasted Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontline Employee | 6 hours | $22 | $132 |
| Frontline Manager | 8 hours | $35 | $280 |
Cost of Wasted Time: Annual per Employee (50 Weeks/Year)
| Role | Weekly Waste Cost | Annual Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Frontline Employee | $132 | $6,600 |
| Frontline Manager | $280 | $14,000 |
Team-Level Example: 50 Frontline Workers, 5 Managers
| Role | Headcount | Annual Waste per Person | Total Annual Waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontline Employees | 50 | $6,600 | $330,000 |
| Frontline Managers | 5 | $14,000 | $70,000 |
| Total | — | — | $400,000/year |
This represents the hard-dollar value of lost time alone. It excludes downstream costs from delays, errors, missed compliance, and disengagement, all of which UnDesked helps reduce. That means this model only captures a fraction of total time waste. Will technology recapture the entire annual waste? Of course not, but even a modest impact can save hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars annually.