Light Industrial: How a VMS can Transform your Contingent Workforce

Partnering with staffing vendors and employing contingent workers is crucial for the success of any light industrial business's workforce strategy. This article highlights how innovative technology tailored for the mid-market can transform the management of contingent workers in the light industrial sector.

Collaborating with staffing agencies can enable businesses in the light industrial sector to tap into top talent, but it may also lead to increased costs and suboptimal hiring choices.

This issue, however, is not inherently due to working with staffing agencies. It often stems from inadequate vendor management and non-employee workforce management processes, which result in poor supplier performance, limited visibility into your workforce, and ultimately, financial waste.

To enhance the management of your contingent workforce, your organization must first understand the intricate nature of contingent workforce management and why manual processes are insufficient.

A temporary workforce can be complex - manual management processes simply won’t do!

The temporary workers you recruit, engage, and oversee, along with the vendors you collaborate with to hire them, generate a vast amount of data that your company must effectively manage to maintain full visibility and control over your non-employee workforce.

Lacking visibility into your temporary workers and failing to consolidate your vendors into a single centralized system will lead to inefficient processes, wasted time, excessive vendor payments, and poor hiring decisions, all of which negatively affect your bottom line.

This is why manual processes are inadequate for managing your non-employee workforce.

Nevertheless, most light industrial businesses continue to rely on manual and time-consuming spreadsheets, in-house databases, or SharePoint sites to manage their temporary workers and staffing agencies. This approach leaves your organization without a reliable method to manage its vendors, resulting in hiring decisions based solely on opinion rather than data.

Why your business needs a VMS to manage its temp employees

Instead, it’s essential for your light industrial business to adopt an automated technology solution like a vendor management system (VMS). This will provide you with full visibility and control over your staffing vendors and temporary workers.

A VMS is a cloud-based software platform that streamlines and centralizes the management of your entire non-employee workforce and staffing vendors. It automates the entire process, from engaging with staffing vendors, evaluating vendor performance, sourcing talent, to paying temporary workers, and more.

By using a vendor management system to automate this process, your light industrial business will realize many benefits such as:

Improved workforce visibility.
Saved money and better workforce hiring decisions.
Complete workforce automation for improved efficiencies.
Consolidation of your vendors in one centralized location for better performance metrics.
In-depth reporting and analytics on the performance of your entire non-employee workforce management program, allowing you to base future decisions on fact and not opinion.
And much more.

Is it possible to find a VMS that works for your specific needs?

Historically, light industrial businesses lacked access to a vendor management system that met their requirements. The costs were exorbitant, and the features were designed for large commercial enterprises, not mid-market firms.

However, this has evolved in recent years, with VMS solutions tailored specifically for mid-market businesses. Conexis VMS is the pioneering vendor management system crafted specifically to assist mid-market organizations in automating and enhancing the entire process of managing contingent workers and staffing vendors.

Why Conexis VMS is the Right Choice for Manufacturing & Logistics

Conexis VMS is purpose-built for companies with complex, shift-based operations. More than 60% of users are in manufacturing and light industrial roles, meaning Conexis VMS understands your operational needs.

Key Advantages:

Ease of Configuration: Conexis VMS adapts to your existing workflows, shift models, and supplier network - without long or complex implementations.
Real-Time Visibility: Every facility, every role, every worker - all visible in one dashboard.
Automation Built for Scale: From requisition to invoicing, Conexis VMS removes manual steps, freeing your team to focus on strategic workforce planning.
Secure, Compliant, and Auditable: Built-in compliance tools, automated credential tracking, and identity verification ensure every worker meets your standards.
Advanced AI Driven Forecasting: AI-driven analytics help anticipate demand, ensuring the right number of qualified workers are available when and where you need them.
Designed for Manufacturing and Logistics: Conexis VMS supports shift-based work, variable pay structures, and multi-site coordination - critical for fast-moving, high-volume environments.

Getting Started: How to Choose the Right VMS

Before implementing a system, understand your organization’s unique labor challenges. Download our Free VMS Buyer’s Guide to learn how to evaluate, compare, and choose the right solution for your operations.

Discover the Power of Conexis VMS

Conexis is an award-winning Vendor Management System built for companies that want the power of enterprise software without the complexity or cost.

Leveraging the latest technology, Conexis delivers the expertise, reliability and security of enterprise systems, while offering the flexibility, user friendliness and tailored, personal service you require. Learn more about our Company and why organizations Choose Conexis VMS.