Definition: What does shift handover mean?

Shift handover is an essential process in which the outgoing shift passes on information and responsibilities to the following shift. This can take the form of a shift summary, a shift report, a shift log or a shift book. The shift handover is an important part of every shift operation.

How does the handover work?

During a shift change, the shift supervisors hand over general information about the shift and safety-related topics. This information may include

• time, date, employees and lines
• unresolved problems
• machine status and information on equipment changes or conversions
• open tasks and production targets

By handing over this information, the new shift supervisor is enabled to continue work without restriction at the point where the outgoing shift supervisor left off.

What are the advantages of a shift handover?

Shift handover is intended to prevent work from being duplicated. In addition, the shift manager taking over should not have to gather relevant information themselves.

This increases productivity and also ensures that any problems that arise can be tracked more efficiently. Safety-related issues are passed from one shift to the next, which in turn ensures safety across all shifts.

If you work with digital checklists or shift handover protocols, you ensure that no information is lost and also open up the possibility of later evaluations and optimizations.

What types of shift handover are there?

The classic shift handover

The classic layer handover uses - you may have guessed it - classic, non-digital methods to transfer information from one layer to the next.

This can be done verbally, for example. The outgoing shift explains to the incoming shift what the status quo is, what to look out for, etc. Verbal shift handover costs little and is easy to implement, but it has significant weaknesses. For example, it requires the conversation partners to listen actively and take in all the information correctly. Implicit knowledge can easily be lost during verbal handover and information may only be passed on incompletely. There is also no documentation of the topics discussed. And last but not least, it is not difficult to stray from the topic and “talk off-topic” during a verbal handover.

An alternative is the handover by pen and paper. This method also costs little and is easy to implement. But here, too, there is a risk of incomplete or lost information. And it cannot be ruled out that the new shift simply cannot read the notes or misinterprets what has been written down.

The digital shift handover

The modern alternative to the classic shift handover can be found in digital systems with corresponding functionalities. The advantages are obvious:

• A digital shift handover works entirely without error-prone paper and, depending on the system, can also be mobile.
• Digital systems record and save the data, thus reducing the time and effort required for documentation.
• The stored information is permanently available for later review and optimization.
• A digital handover enables standardized handover processes and significantly more structured communication.
• Real-time communication is possible thanks to improved data exchange.
• Task management also benefits noticeably from a digital handover.

What is the goal of a shift handover?

The aim of a shift handover is clearly to ensure a smooth and efficient transition between successive work shifts. All you have to do is decide whether you want to do the whole thing with pen and paper or whether you would prefer to use a modern digital system without errors.

With our worker guidance system weasl, the handover from one shift to the next runs smoothly. Your employees can simply hand over unfinished orders to their successor. Thanks to end-to-end digital documentation, nothing is lost.

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