Bifold (Rotork) Engineering
“I love the flexibility of Addtime Enterprise. And if it can’t do something we need, Addtime will always find a way to make sure that, very quickly, it can.”
Sandra Humphreys, HR and Health & Safety Manager, Bifold Group
Bifold Group manufacture hydraulic and pneumatic valves and accessories for hazardous, corrosive and subsea environments. They’ve been Addtime customers for years, originally using our punch cards and clocking systems to manage their time, attendance and payroll. Things have changed a bit since then.
“We used to manually add up the times on the cards, then manually carry everything over to payroll,” explains HR and Health & Safety Manager Sandra Humphreys. “We’d never do that now – it just wouldn’t work. It took forever then, and that was when we had 40 or 50 staff. Now we’ve got 190 people in Manchester and 60 at our Taunton office so we need a workforce management system that’s rather more sophisticated.”
Addtime Enterprise is that “rather more sophisticated” system and Sandra is using its capabilities in a range of ways.
“We’re using it for clocking so we can get the wages paid,” she says. The company uses hand scanners at its Taunton site and swipe cards in Manchester. “Both work well, but the swipe cards are particularly good when you’ve got lots of factory workers all coming in and out at the same time. It’s just so fast.”
“We also use the system to monitor lates and absence. And we’ve placed all our disciplinary records on Addtime Enterprise. It can store an unlimited amount of information so we know we’ve got all our records in one place.
“We’re always generating and exporting reports using the system too. We use the data to do things like monitor labour costs vs sales and productivity.”
Eliminating human error from payroll
“Being able to export information straight to Sage payroll has been a godsend because it means you just don’t get the same errors,” says Sandra, enthusiastically. “There are no entries in wrong sections and no double keying. It’s eliminated human error from our payroll at a stroke.”
Programs for people
“We have a lot of different shifts and shift patterns here,” Sandra explains. “I find it really easy to write programs that fit our people and the shifts they work. That’s so much better than trying to match people to set programs.”
Moving with Addtime
“Bifold Group had Addtime Enterprise installed at its previous premises, and when the company moved so did the system. “Addtime came out, helped us move and resolved a few cabling issues. And if you ever have a query they’ll always help you.”
Would you recommend Addtime?
“Yes. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to use it however you want. I love its flexibility. And if it can’t do something we need, Addtime will always find a way to make sure that, very quickly, it can.”
Redwood TTM
“Every month I get a day and a half back that I would once have lost to processing time and attendance.”
Janet Newell, Accounts & Payroll, Redwood TTM
Chances are, you’ve slept on a bed that has benefitted from fabrics developed by Redwood TTM. Since 1994 the company has led the way in developing new fabric technologies for health and retail markets.
Today, the company operates from its Skelmersdale site, and every day its 150 staff clock in for work using Addtime Enterprise workforce management system.
Saving hours every week on time and attendance
Janet Newell is in charge of collating Redwood TTM’s weekly time and attendance data to ensure staff get paid. “Around 90% of our people are paid by the hour so it’s really important that we keep a tight control of time worked,” she explains.
“Before we had the Addtime system we used clock cards and clocking machines and each week I’d just get a list of clocking in and out times. It was my job to work out the hours and it took ages. Now, the time and attendance system calculates all the time worked, and factors in breaks and appointments. Then I can just print it all off. It makes a big difference.
“I’d say it’s saving me 3 hours a week – so every month I get a day and a half back that I would once have lost to processing time and attendance.”
Making the switch to biometrics
Redwood TTM uses biometric hand scanners to scan its people in and out of work. It’s a swift, secure system – although there was one issue that needed overcoming before everyone felt comfortable with it…
“Our staff were used to clock cards, so when we said we were planning to change to hand scanners I think there were a few people who felt ‘we don’t want our fingerprints being stored in any system,’” says Janet.
Janet and Redwood’s team leaders explained to the staff that biometric scanners store data (ie numbers) not images of fingerprints, and that it’s impossible to reconstitute a fingerprint from the data. The explanation alleviated any concerns.
“Since we explained how it really worked everyone’s been fine with it and it’s worked well.”
Making absence management easier
For the first time, the Addtime Enterprise system has given Janet and Redwood TTM’s management a clear view of leave within the business. “I put all the holidays on the Addtime system,” explains Janet. “It’s made life easier because I now get a running total of the leave everybody’s had and how much they’ve got left.
“Once I’ve put approved leave on the system our team leaders are able to use the information to decide whether to approve further leave requests.”
So is Janet happy with the difference Addtime Enterprise have made to Redwood TTM? “Definitely. I’d recommend Addtime – it’s saved us a lot of time.”
Talk to us about better ways to manage your workforce. Get in touch here.
Russel IPM
“It’s saved a lot of time!”
Adele Davies, Accounts Assistant, Russell IPM
“We used to clock everyone in using clock cards,” Russel IPM’s Adele Davies tells us. “It was a real pain.”
Not anymore. Today, the company’s 50(ish) staff clock in for work by waving their key fobs at a proximity scanner. If clock cards took seconds to process, proximity scanners take a fraction of that, so everyone gets into work – manufacturing Russel IPM’s innovative pest management products – that bit quicker.
But the real difference for Adele came with data processing. “It’s saved a lot of time,” she enthuses. “If everything’s ok with the data and we’ve no missed clockings to investigate, I can have the payroll all done within an hour.
“Under the old system it used to take a good few hours because I’d have to go through everything manually and add it all up. Now, we go through the time and attendance on a daily basis and monitor any exceptions, then we’ll do weekly and monthly runs for payroll. Every week, we export the reports to our payroll section and they use it to process payments.”
Absence management
In addition to turbo-boosting Russel IPM’s time and attendance and payroll processing, the Addtime Enterprise system is helping to change the way the company looks at its absences.
“I’ll go through the system every Friday to look for any absences during the week and then we’ll log those on a separate [legacy] system. Once we’ve trained everyone who needs to use it, we’ll be using the full absence management system on Addtime Enterprise.”
Nevertheless, even with the current process, Addtime Enterprise’s absence management module is helping to give Russell IPM’s managers a better understanding of the state of absence in the business, and they are able to pass that information on to team leaders for action.
Getting to grips with workforce management
It can be something of a change, switching from simple clocking machines to a full workforce management system. How did Russell IPM find it?
“It went fine,” confirms Adele. “We kept the clock machines until everyone was set up on the proximity system but the installation process was simple and it’s since become second nature to us.
“If you want to cut the time and cost of time and attendance processing, I’d definitely recommend Addtime.”
Talk to us about better ways to manage your workforce. Get in touch here.
C-Tec
“Addtime? They’re good, helpful people.”
Martin Lynch, C-TEC
For 35 years, C-TEC has been a leading manufacturer of electronic life safety equipment. The fire alarms and detectors, disabled refuge systems and nurse call systems found in organisations across the country start here, at C-TEC’s manufacturing site in Wigan.
75-80 people work at the company’s main site. Clocking in and out used to be via a card based system and was, as C-TEC’s Martin Lynch explains, “Very, very old.” But that wasn’t the only problem:
“It was really inefficient,” he continues. “The interface was terrible. You could only print a handful of reports on a dot matrix printer. So looking for a new system was long overdue really.”
Swipe cards or hand scanner?
C-TEC made the switch to Addtime’s Enterprise, a whole workforce management system that would be used primarily for time and attendance. Initially C-TEC used a new generation of swipe cards with the system, but then realised a change of premises presented a fresh opportunity.
“When we moved into our new facility we wanted clocking in terminals that were a little more cutting edge,” explains Martin. “Also, swipe cards eventually need replacing and they can get lost – and you don’t get any of that with biometrics, so we switched to a clocking handscanner.
“It took the staff a little bit of getting used to. They used to swipe in in a fraction of a second and suddenly they were having to position their hand correctly on a handscanner. So for a couple of weeks things took just a little longer, but they quickly got the hang of it and now it works really well.
“The biometric handscanner means you get fewer clocking errors. You don’t have to keep and pay for a store of cards. And it’s more reliable.
“Those clockings feed into the Addtime Enterprise time and attendance system which has made it easier to spot discrepancies, late and missed clockings etc. We now have a better handle on who’s working what and when. The reporting is so much clearer too – so much more comprehensive.”
Beyond time and attendance
C-TEC installed Addtime Enterprise purely for its time and attendance capabilities, but as they have realised its capabilities, there are plans to expand the system’s role.
“We’re planning to integrate it with payroll next,” Martin reveals. “At the minute payroll involves running off the timesheets, correcting them and approving them, then collating them for payroll, approving overtime etc. All of that takes processing time we could put to better use – so if the Addtime Enterprise system is going to save us time and money it’s worth investigating to my mind.
“We’re also looking at using the rostering module for our shift patterns in the future too.”
Working with Addtime
“Addtime have always been great with us, from the first installation to the support we’ve had since,” says Martin. They’re only 4 or 5 miles away from us and it’s handy to have someone so close to help with any issues.
“They were also good at explaining exactly what was involved in switching to biometric handscanners. I think some of our people originally thought the system stored fingerprints, but Addtime took the time to explain that it matches points on a hand, not the whole hand, and that it stores information as 1s and 0s, so it can’t be used to recreate a person’s hand or fingerprints. Once that was explained everyone was fine with it.
“They’re good, helpful people.”
Talk to us about better ways to manage your workforce. Get in touch here.
WE Dowds Ltd
“Addtime support are a credit to your company”
Julie Boycott, Finance Manager
W.E Dowds (Shipping) Ltd are a private family owned business founded in 1960. They handle general cargoes: fertiliser, animal feed, timber, aluminium and steel from its North Dock at Newport. Currently they employ 95 people and previously used a combination of old time and attendance software and paper based systems and decided to look for a solution that would support both Human Resource and Payroll functions to streamline procedures and could integrate with their current handscanner. Julie Boycott Finance Manager explained:
“We looked at several possible solutions but chose Addtime Enterprise because we felt that it would not only suit our present needs but going forward would enable us to be more efficient in our HR and payroll functions”.
Julie also felt that Addtime Enterprise was the most ‘user friendly’ software enabling managers to have access to information they may need and be able to keep up to date with holidays, working hours, sickness absence etc. Julie also explained one of our biggest problems was trying to solve employee’s clock-in issues once a week but these are now addressed on a daily basis by the Operation Team enabling payroll to be more efficient. We also particularly liked the ‘To Do’ List’ giving managers information of what needed authorising or correcting etc. The ability for employees to book holidays via the ESS system also appealed to us as it is much more efficient than our old booking system.
Current Features
W E Dowds use the software for all HR and payroll functions including personnel records, absence management, medical and appraisal records etc. They have a workforce who use clocking-in so all hours etc. are logged and anomalies are authorised daily. They are currently using Addtime Enterprise for all training records and like the fact that training due to expire appears on the ‘To Do List’. They are logging all disciplinary and accident notes onto individual employee’s records and use the ESS holiday booking system with relevant managers to authorise holidays.
Future Features
Going forward the company will strive to become more efficient using the system. Payroll will eventually export working hours straight into Sage Payroll and they aim to become more proficient with the reports function and are keen to see how the Asset Management function can work be utilised. Bespoke work may involve using the ESS more for raising queries as part of the HR /Payroll function.
Addtime Service
Julie told us that from the first time we had our demonstration of the system the support we have had from Addtime has been excellent. They came down for the initial installation and although we experienced issues with one clocking terminal, it was replaced immediately. With 8 managers currently using the system Addtime support have worked closely with not only myself but IT, Payroll and HR solving queries and issues that have arisen. They have throughout the past 6 months of using the system been very supportive, helping us come to grips with everyday issues guiding us through its various functions and are a “credit to your company”.
Charles Dowds Chairman also echoed Julie’s comments about service and support but also added;
“What stood out for me was that other software we considered had a dated feel, whereas what impressed me was Addtime’s more up to date approach. I also liked the to-do list and favourite reports meaning managers can access information quickly and easily”
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Clearway Drainage Ltd
Background:
Payroll time was taking too long using traditional clock card machines at separate sites. The business was looking for a better time management solution and wanted to discuss options for moving from clock cards to a software based solution.
The Issues:
Payroll processing was too often tying up valuable management time and resources meaning other equally important tasks in the business were suffering as a result.
There were 3 sites across the UK, so clock cards from each had to be gathered and collated monthly at Head Office.
Admin staff had to then manually enter all of the attendance data onto a separate spreadsheet, together with any overtime or bonuses and include any absence and sickness before manually inputting all of this onto their payroll system.
This whole process from start to finish was talking up to 1.5 weeks per month.
Pains
The HR/Payroll Manager were feeling under increasing pressure every month to complete the payroll quickly and accurately at the expense of other equally important tasks.
Need to monitor attendance more closely (lateness, missed clocking’s, late lunches, finishing early etc)
Reducing the number of processes involved to improve speed and accuracy and reduce errors.
Reduce the calculation time per employee timesheet.
Solution
Addtime Enterprise payroll integration module linking attendance and payroll together to collate all of the information automatically as well as helping reduce costs in other areas too.
- Biometric attendance terminals to eliminate time clock fraud networked together between sites send all attendance data to Head Office daily or weekly and missed clocking’s identified quickly reconciling timesheets
- Create an export that collates all of the time and attendance data together in one place, automatically so all that is required is verification of the data before it is imported into your payroll system.
- Create shift patterns and real time alerts to identify lateness, missed clocking’s , absence and any other anomalies like leaving early or arriving late after lunch.
- Add pay rates to carry out all complex payments and deductions for sick maternity pay
- Integrate bonuses involving additional pay rates into your payroll calculation easily and accurately.
The Result:
Once implemented Addtime Enterprise provided a simple, effective solution for Clearway’s payroll processing issues saving them both time and money.
The payroll process that originally took 1.5 weeks per month from multiple sites now takes only a matter of hours.
The HR & Payroll Managers time is now freed up for equally important tasks and relieved considerable pressure in the office around payroll time.
Introducing Addtime Enterprise made substantial cost savings across the whole of the business in terms of attendance and payroll before taking into account how it helped automate the holiday and absence process.
It reduced the time to process payroll by up to 50% meaning valuable resources were freed up in the business and a happier workforce.
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