Managing 331 officer positions at a single prison is a logistical hurdle; coordinating schedules across nine separate facilities statewide is a different beast entirely. Facing a system that could no longer keep pace with the complex rotations of correctional life, the Minnesota Department of Corrections (MN DOC) has officially transitioned its scheduling operations to Aladtec, a move that has slashed administrative workloads from days to minutes.
Outgrowing the Old Guard
At MCF-Faribault, one of the state’s largest facilities, Scheduling Lieutenant Anthony Sunde saw firsthand how the previous platform failed to meet the realities of the job. The rigid nature of the old system forced schedulers into hours of manual workarounds or, in some cases, led them to abandon the software altogether.
“The ability to make schedules in our previous system was a challenge department-wide,” Sunde said. “Some facilities have fixed-day schedules. Others use complex rotations. Our old system couldn’t keep up — and in some cases, it couldn’t build the schedule at all.”
The inefficiencies were stark. Processing vacation requests took up to three hours weekly, and running “autofill” for staffing gaps was an overnight process. Sunde recalls starting the program before leaving for the day just to ensure the results would be ready by the following morning.
A Faster, More Flexible Shift
The MN DOC required a solution that could flex across various staffing models without the “bloat” of unnecessary features. Aladtec, a specialized scheduling tool by TCP Software, emerged as the clear choice. During implementation, the TCP team worked with MN DOC to fine-tune configurations based on direct staff feedback.
“The support and production staff were very helpful throughout the process. They listened to our needs and made changes before we fully rolled it out,” Sunde noted.
The impact on daily operations was immediate:
- Schedule Creation: Reduced from multiple days to just 30–60 minutes.
- Vacation Approvals: Cut from a three-hour weekly chore to under 30 minutes.
- Autofill: Formerly an overnight task, it now finishes in under five minutes.
“Aladtec has heavily cut down on man-hours. Creating a pay period schedule used to take multiple days, now it’s 30 to 60 minutes total,” said Sunde.
Boosting Officer Morale and Transparency
Beyond administrative speed, the transition has improved life for the officers on the ground. The mobile-friendly interface allows staff to trade shifts or request time off with a few clicks, providing instant visibility into their work-life balance.
“For staff, the ability to just look at their schedule, see a shift, and click on it to request a trade or vacation, it was received very positively,” Sunde said.
The system also provides a unified language for the department, which is crucial during staff transfers or onboarding new hires. As the MN DOC continues to modernize its infrastructure, the partnership with Aladtec appears set for the long haul.
“It’s a scheduling system that allows us to manage a large number of employees and maintain their records, vacation requests, and trade requests with speed and accuracy,” Sunde concluded. “User friendliness, speed, accuracy, adaptability, that’s what makes Aladtec stand out.”
