Efficiency among the treetops: how Fun Forest saves time thanks to Nostradamus

KimRoeseler
Customer story
6 min. reading time
Fun Forest x Nostradamus- Personeelsplanning voor de recreatiebranche- Efficiëntie tussen de boomtoppen: hoe Fun Forest tijd wint dankzij Nostradamus

With four climbing forests and a play park spread across the Netherlands (Almere, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Venlo), Fun Forest offers a unique experience for families, schools, and companies. But behind the ropes, zip lines, and team games lies a deeper mission: Fun Forest creates opportunities for young people who are distanced from the labor market and makes nature experiences accessible to everyone. Since 2007, they have been combining impact with action, focusing daily on inclusion, education, and outdoor fun.

Since its founding in 2007, Fun Forest has grown into an organization where flexibility and seasonal peaks are part of daily reality. “The majority of our guests are families, schools, and company outings. Our schedule changes every week depending on bookings, the weather, and group compositions,” says Daan Bosman, IT Coordinator. This dynamic environment requires a reliable and user-friendly solution for workforce scheduling: and that’s exactly where Nostradamus comes in.

 

“The step wasn’t a big one, yet at the same time it was huge. It worked smoothly and felt right from the start.”

 

Seasonal challenge

The leisure industry, and especially a seasonal company like Fun Forest, faces unique challenges when it comes to workforce scheduling. Working hours vary greatly by season, and group bookings outside of regular opening hours cause schedules to shift weekly. On top of that, unexpected bad weather can lead to last-minute changes. Fun Forest also relies heavily on flexible workers, including many students and interns from outdoor sports programs.

Where Fun Forest thought they had found the right solution with another scheduling tool, it turned out to be disappointing: “The speed was terrible, loading the schedule was a real bottleneck,” says Daan. “We thought we could save a lot of time using templates, but ended up spending just as long scheduling because the system was so slow.” Instead of providing relief, it brought more frustration. “We didn’t feel like we were gaining anything, even though there was so much to gain and now, luckily, we are.”

Earlier this year, Fun Forest made the switch to Nostradamus. One of the managers had previously worked with the system and brought it to the team’s attention. “The step wasn’t a big one, yet at the same time it was huge. It worked smoothly and felt right from the start.”

Fun Forest x Nostradamus- Personeelsplanning voor de recreatiebranche- Efficiëntie tussen de boomtoppen: hoe Fun Forest tijd wint dankzij Nostradamus

 

“The Nmbrs integration works really well, actually seamlessly: something we had a lot of issues with when working with our previous provider,”

From chaos to clarity

Despite being in the middle of a busy period, the implementation was experienced as smooth and pleasant. “While we were transitioning to Nostradamus, we were also switching to a different booking system. It was a hectic time, so it was a relief that the implementation with Nostradamus went so well.” The rollout was efficient, thanks in part to strong support from the Nostradamus team. Although the system was originally developed for the hospitality industry, it has been tailored to meet the specific needs of Fun Forest, including the setup of departments and teams. The biggest advantage for Fun Forest? Speed.

According to Daan, the Fun Forest team is also very happy with Nostradamus. The Employee App is actively used for setting availability, requesting leave, and correcting hours. The integration with Nmbrs plays a big role in this. Daan explains that previously, staff had to switch between different systems to check their leave balances or request time off, but now, thanks to the link between Nostradamus and Nmbrs, everything is accessible directly in the Nostradamus Staff App. “The Nmbrs integration works really well, actually seamlessly: something we had a lot of issues with when working with our previous provider,” Daan says. In the past, syncing issues often popped up around the first of the month. “With Nostradamus, we haven’t had a single issue since day one.”

Fun Forest x Nostradamus- Personeelsplanning voor de recreatiebranche- Efficiëntie tussen de boomtoppen: hoe Fun Forest tijd wint dankzij Nostradamus

 

“Nostradamus already is the total package for us. The software can basically do everything our previous system could, but better, faster, and with more features.”

Control and overview

Although Fun Forest is already using the Management App, they’re still in the process of fully integrating revenue data and targets. Their goal is to steer more proactively on labor costs in the future. “We’ve simply been too busy to take Nostradamus to the next level otherwise, we would’ve done it much sooner.”

Still, the results so far are promising. According to Daan, the biggest wins are in time savings and clarity. “The control you gain over each other’s input, through approvals and the status of time entries, is incredibly valuable.” Manual checks have also been significantly reduced thanks to the system’s reliable administration. “Nostradamus already is the total package for us. The software can basically do everything our previous system could, but better, faster, and with more features,” Daan concludes.

 

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