What is the FIFO method for managing a company car park?
The FIFO (First In, First Out) method is a management principle often used in logistics, stock management and accounting.
Applied to the company car park management, it follows the same reasoning : the order of arrival determines access to parking spaces.
In concrete terms, the first employees to arrive in the morning are the first to get a space in the car park. Once all the spaces are occupied, the next group of employees must either wait or look for another parking solution, outside the company car park.
The main advantages of this system are that it’s simple & there’s no favouritism – it’s the order of arrival that counts. What’s more, it doesn’t necessarily require complex management, such as reservations.
What are the disadvantages of the FIFO method?
Although simple to implement, the FIFO method has several disadvantages when applied to the management of a company car park.
First of all, it only favours employees who arrive early, which can penalise those whose working hours are staggered or flexible, as well as those subject to personal constraints (dropping children off at school, early morning leisure activities, etc).
What’s more, it can generate stress for some employees, as they have no guarantee of having a seat when they arrive. All the more so if there are not enough parking spaces for the number of vehicles.
This situation can also lead to inequalities and a spirit of competition between colleagues, with everyone trying to arrive earlier to be sure of a space, sometimes to the detriment of their comfort, their pace of life and their safety (hurried driving, rushed schedules).
Finally, the FIFO method does not guarantee optimal space management, particularly in the event of absences or early departures: a space vacated during the day cannot always be easily reallocated.
As a result, the lack of planning can make car park management less fluid, and can lead to dissatisfaction if some people are regularly deprived of a space despite being punctual with their working hours.
What alternatives are there to the FIFO method for company car park management?
The FIFO method, while effective in its simplicity, can now be replaced by more modern and fairer solutions for managing a company car park.
These include reservation applications such as Sharvy, which offer an appropriate response to new needs.
They allow employees to reserve a parking space in advance, sometimes several weeks in advance, while relying on an algorithm that allocates spaces fairly. The system takes a number of criteria into account, including:
- Frequency of use of the car park,
- Distance between home and work,
- Car-pooling,
- Personal constraints (disability, dependent children, etc.
What’s more, one of the major advantages of this management method is that it reduces the anxiety associated with the uncertainty of finding a space and avoids the morning rush between colleagues to arrive as early as possible.
In the event of absence or unforeseen circumstances, users can vacate their space, which will automatically be made available again, ensuring optimum occupancy of the car park.
Another alternative is based on a system of credits and penalties. Each user has a certain number of weekly or monthly credits, which they can use to reserve spaces. Depending on the company’s culture, these penalties can be more severe to prevent selfish & disorganised behaviour.
As a result, this model is based on a logic of accountability, which is better adapted to the realities of a hybrid professional environment, where presence at the office varies according to day & profile.