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Big Data is not a “Johnny-come-lately” tool, it is in fact, it comprises of massive amounts of information that we use every day – in other words, it encompasses, vast zetabytes of data flowing from our computers, mobile devices, and machine sensors. With the right Big Data tools, your organization can store, manage, and analyze this data – and gain valuable insights that were previously unimaginable.

3 Tips On To Use Big Data Effectively

Below are 3 tips on how to use Big Data effectively from an article, by Jordan Kasteler for Inc called: Supply and Demand: The Effect of Big Data. It reads, in part:

 

“1. Let data make decisions for you

Before we had data at our disposal, decisions were made based on emotions or gut feelings. As a result, the rationale for each choice might now look murky in hindsight.

Nowadays, nearly every decision can be backed up with hard numbers. Managers are able to make educated judgments, and they can justify their moves with proven results–past or present.

  1. Put your expenses under the microscope

Every organization has some form of “spend data” to analyze. “Spend” refers to operational costs across business functions such as planning and budgeting, inventory management, product development, and compliance.

For large, global enterprises, this data can run into millions of transactions. Analyzing it can help procurement managers identify spend patterns by category, vendor, region, and more. It can uncover opportunities to drive bottom-line savings and more value from their procurement spend. Data analytics can help managers analyze extremely large volumes of spend data much more efficiently and accurately.

  1. Love your vendors, but don’t woo them

The “Age of the Customer” is here and booming. Many consumers now expect businesses to seamlessly meet every aspect of every need without hesitation.

When incorporating big data, both suppliers and procurement clientele stand to benefit. For instance, suppliers can glean valuable, data-driven insights to allocate resources more accurately and better formulate logistical strategies.”

Today’s companies are acutely aware of the potential big data can provide them. And, when they see the enormous ROI their competitors get by using big data, they make every effort to ensure the solutions that they deploy, includes Big Data.

ATS Time and Attendance has built-in, feature-rich Big Data analytics to provide deep insight across a company’s workforce management solutions requirements. The solution is embedded within ATS core solutions and can power reporting, analytics and a wide range of  features, can help transform decision making and your business.

To download a brochure about ATS Time and Attendance Big Data Workforce Analytics go to our website. To reach ATS by phone call; 866.294.2467.

Every company wants to maintain its competitive edge by making sure its payroll costs is not too high while always looking for ways to increase its profits. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done. For example, a drastic cut to a company’s workforce or outsourcing of a department, might lead to decrease customer satisfaction and low employee morale. In other words, while it’s not impossible to achieve both objectives, it is sometimes easier on paper than in reality.

If your company is using a cloud-based business management software, the possibilities are endless. Today’s workforce is different from yesteryear and successful companies regardless of size or industry, know only too well, that in order to keep their position at the top they must find ways to improve productivity and streamline payroll costs. And, with the right cloud-based time and attendance solution, companies can do a whole lot more.

Want To Remain Nimble And Increase Profits? Cloud Is The Way To Go

Here are 3 ways companies can remain nimble and increase productivity and profits:

24/7 365 Days A Year-Availability:
In today’s every increasing competitive business landscape, not having access to data whenever you need it, equals lost decreased productivity and profits. The right cloud computing application is available no matter where your finance, payroll and HR managers are. As long as their device is connected to the Internet, they can gain access to data in real-time, respond to employee vacation and other leave management requests.

Adhere to compliance needs:
Changes in compliance and other workforce regulations continues to shift and companies need to ensure they are using a software application that is update all the time and meet the complexity of these changes as they occur. In a world of Big Data, cloud computing, using an application like ATS TimeWork OnDemand you get immediate compliance updates that’s pushed out automatically to the entire organization- as soon as they’re available. In short, this simplifies the process of keeping your time and attendance solution up-to-date and it also ensures that all users has access to the most current information and tools to do their jobs effectively.

The Cloud Propels Productivity:
When IT resources are focused on maintaining and fixing old Servers with existing antiquated solutions, they are essentially always playing defense. By deploying ATS cloud-based time and attendance your IT resource can focus on spending their time on other important initiatives.

In closing, when compared to on-premise solutions, cloud computing applications like ATS TimeWork OnDemand will help to grow your business profitably, and will provide your compare with more reliable information all in -real-time, drive faster decision-making, and thus, enabling you to quickly meet changing market demands to stay ahead of all your competitors.

To learn about ATS TimeWork OnDemand, go to our website. You can also register for a bi-weekly webinar or download a demonstration.

Ready or not, the digital era is here to stay. And, that include; robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to name a few. Many organizations have taken an early lead by adopting applications like ATS TimeWork OnDemand and the complementary features like big data that comes with it- to better understand their company’s financial performance and improve decision making.

The rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and everything digital has literally upended the traditional way of deploying software applications. For example, organizations had to deploy the solution on a Server, and multiple desktops, go through multiple tests phases and after several months finally go-live. Today’s digital transformation era means there is no software to install or the requirement of an army of IT professionals to manage the application. Instead, companies can expect the deployment of a time and attendance solution to be up and running in a third of the time it would take to deploy a traditional software application.

Digital Era Is Here To Stay, You Can Either Adapt Or Get Run Over

In the early years of cloud computing companies could afford to wait to see if it would take off. This is no longer an option because, in reality, the digital era and everything that encompasses it, has not only taken off-it has left many doubters in its dust.

ATS TimeWork OnDemand, is a dream come true for business executives. It provides business leaders with access to the most critical time and attendance business information from any device, with real-time analytic reporting and 21st century dashboard functionality, to proactively identify and act on problems, and stay on track.

Today’s generation of workers are impatient and will snub their nose at any application that does not provide a clear path for data integration or is rooted in a dos-based era. In short, they have embraced the digital era and have no desire to look back or cling onto off-the shelf and outdated applications that restrict business growth.

To learn about ATS TimeWork OnDemand, contact a representative at 866.294.2467. And, to participate in one of our webinars or to download a demonstration, go to our website.

Depending on who you talk to, manufacturing has been on the decline for the last 15 years and counting and there is no end in sight. But despite the doom and gloom, The Institute for Supply Management’s report, which is highlighted by Industry Week, begs to differ. And, many of today’s manufacturing companies, especially the ones who came out of the 2009 recession, albeit leaner, in terms of workforce and production process are likely breathing a sigh of relief at this piece of news. Michelle Jamrisko article for Bloomberg on state of manufacturing, states in part;

“Manufacturing expanded in December at the fastest pace in two years, reflecting firmer output and the biggest pickup in orders growth since August 2009. The Institute for Supply Management said Tuesday that its index increased to 54.7, the fourth straight advance, from 53.2 a month earlier. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey called for 53.8. Readings above 50 indicate growth. The ISM’s measure of orders surged 7.2 points, while its gauge of prices paid for materials climbed to the highest level since June 2011.”

Is The Demise Of Manufacturing A Reality Or Overblown Rhetoric

The world of manufacturing is constantly evolving as it has had to keep pace with stiffer competitor and tighter margins. And, so in order to increase profits, many of today’s successful manufacturers have had to embraced cloud computing, robotics and business intelligence thus enabling them, to streamline production flows – and ultimately reduce their costs.

So, as the manufacturing sector continues to evolve here are three trends that will continue to dominate that industry in 2017:

Cloud Computing
Major new technologies especially ones built on the cloud will be take precedence over on premise applications by manufacturers. Deploying a cloud-based solution provides a rapid return on investment, and streamlines payroll costs across an entire supply chain.

Predictive Analytics for Real-Time Decision-Making
Today, unlike several years ago, manufacturers have access to a wide array of analytic and Big Data tools at the push of a button– that can be hugely valuable for business decision-making and process enhancements when used correctly. From budgeting and forecasting to employee production scheduling and benefit accruals – these tools, allow manufacturers to harness data properly and with ease and efficiency.

New Technology and Innovation
Traditional, version-based time and attendance solutions prohibited organizations and their users from sharing freely and collaborating, because the data always resided on a Server and it was incapable of integrating to other applications-thus, creating nightmares for users. Workforce management software built for the cloud is the network of the future. Open-mind manufacturers will continue to move away from Server-based software solutions and instead opt for cloud computing solutions—which is the future of software deployment.

ATS Workforce Management for Manufacturing is industry-built and helps drive business outcomes by engaging your employees, streamlining payroll costs, increasing productivity, and minimizing compliance risk. With ATS Workforce Management for Manufacturing, your business has access to a proven cloud platform that is secure, scalable, and mobile — allowing you to do business when or where you choose to access its power.

To learn about ATS Workforce Management for Manufacturing, go to our website, you can also download a demonstration and see why many of today’s fortune 500 companies choose ATS.

You’ve just about had it with that antiquated time and attendance solution that’s producing unreliable reports and driving everyone, from: the HR manager, CFO and CEO up the walls. So, what’s the solution? Move to something else. Using a software solution that’s not working for your company, can detrimental to its financial health. The selection of a new system also comes with its own set of challenge which will include: the Internet search, selecting an internal project lead, the demos… and the list goes on.

So how should you go about selecting a new time and attendance solution? Here are 5 tips:

1) Document your business requirements
Before scouring the Internet and evaluating prospective vendors, you should identify your requirements and underline potential “showstoppers”. It’s very easy to get enamored with fancy software features and lose sight of your requirements. For example, how easy is the product going to be for users? Can the solution interface to your current ERP, HR and Payroll software? Is the solution robust and flexible enough to grow with your business? Make a comprehensive list and divided them into categories to include; functionality, vendor experience, deployment timelines, age of product, yearly updates etc. And, don’t forget to choose a time and attendance solution, that has employee self-service capabilities. After all, who wants to manage employee vacation and other personal time off (PTO) requests with spreadsheets?

5 Tips For Selecting The Right Time And Attendance Partner

2) Adaptability to regulatory rules in your jurisdiction
Workforce compliance and regulations differs depending on the jurisdiction in which your company operates, and so, your time and attendance solution should readily adapt. If you are in manufacturing, healthcare or transportation industry, you may have compliance requirements that are specific to your industry. And, since your company has to adhere to those requirements, so should your time and attendance.

3) Embrace the world of analytics
Analytics and Big Data should be included in your list of requirements. Translation, your time and attendance system has to be in lockstep with the realities of the way in which today’s businesses operate and should-encompass, The Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing and real-time analytic reporting. These types of capabilities have become critical business components that 21st century time and attendance solutions must possess.

4) Forget what the ‘Jones’ are using
It is very easy to assume that what your competitors are using will work for your organization because you want to keep up with them. Your focus should be on your company’s business requirements, instead of installing the same features as your competitors. How do you know they are happy with the flashy “bells and whistles” they paid for? When deciding to make a change, do it for the benefit of your organization.

5) Don’t rush the implementation and invest in training
When implemented properly and, if updates are maintained on a yearly basis the shelf life of a good time and attendance should exceed 7 years. So, why not take time to make sure it is implemented properly. Unrealistic expectations can leave everyone frustrated. For example, if your project is conservatively slated to be completed in seven weeks, add an additional 2-3 weeks to it. Some companies will overlook the importance of training in enabling the success of implementation. Training should be delivered in stages. At first, project leaders (HR, Payroll and Finance) should be trained during different stages of the implementation. It should follow a methodical approach which maps the company’s way of doing business, using your data. The second and third phase (if applicable) of training should be rolled out and populated to the rest of the users ahead of the system “going live.”

Finally, when it comes to comparing time and attendance options, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If you only focus on the price and not the actual functionality, you will likely get what you pay for. Also keep in mind the cost of doing nothing can also be detrimental to your business operations as well.

In conclusion, growing companies like yours need a robust time and attendance solution that works, well. Your workforce management solution needs to be user-friendly, flexible, and powerful. As you grow, your business demands a wider range of capabilities—without adding unnecessary maintenance, deployment time, and cost.

ATS provides a variety of implementation and business process improvement services. Our business and consulting arm employs highly skilled and tenured employees, with unmatched experience in the world of workforce management that spans every vertical industry.

To learn more, go to our website, where you can download pre-recorded demonstrations or register for one of our monthly webinars.

 

We at ATS continually espouse the benefits of an automated time and attendance, but we have also stressed that it does not have to be a complicated process. And, while it’s true that an organization with multiple locations, different collective bargaining agreements, and its adherence to regional and federal work rules can increase the complexity and amount of time it takes to install such a system, sticking starting with the basics can make a world of difference.

removing-the-complications-out-of-employee-time-tracking

Here three simple rules to follow once you have decided to deploy a time and attendance:

Reports
Find out which reports are most important to you. For example, if you need a report that shows which or how many hours employees worked on a; daily, weekly and monthly basis, this should suffice as a starting point. Other simple reports may include; exceptions, overtime, daily time in and out and, a few payroll reports to ensure you have the proper information before exporting employee hours to your payroll, CRM, ERP, HR or talent management software. This, however, is not to suggest, you should not explore the full library of reports within a time and attendance system, or look for a solution that has the capability to provide analytics and Big Data tools to support your organizational growth.

Employee Time Clock
When deciding which time clock to use, think about your organizational philosophy and, more importantly, your actual work environment. Would biometric face recognition be better suited or would or a proximity or magnetic time clock avail itself as the better option? These are considerations that should be given once you decide which time and attendance to deploy.

Project Manager
Traditionally this role has fallen to the IT manager or consultant. But, in actuality, HR and/or the payroll practitioner and to some extent, finance personnel are responsible for the management of employee time tracking. So, would it not make sense that such a project be headed by one of these individuals? That’s not to say the role of IT is less important, it just means that the very people who manage the daily tracking of employee hours would know more, than anyone else, about your company’s time and attendance requirements. And, so, it stands to reason, that their role when choosing a solution should be elevated- in short, they are the ones that should be your project managers, with the understanding that they seek assistance and/or guidance from other departments including; IT and other operational managers.

Whether you are moving from paper time sheets to an automated time and attendance solution or merely upgrading to a new solution, removing the complications will help the deployment go a bit smoother.

To learn more about ATS Time and Attendance solutions, go to our website. And to register for one of our weekly webinars, contact us.

Ask this question to executives in the manufacturing sector and you are bound to get several different answers, albeit there will be similarities in those answers. It’s no secret that the manufacturing industry has had to adapt and evolve to the rapid changes around them in order, to survive-while dealing with some naysayers who had left them for dead after one of this century’s worst financial crisis.

But who would know the inner workers of the manufacturing industry and its resilience and ability to adapt than anyone else?  How about the President and Chief Executive Officer, Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation who penned a poignant article titled “Three Megatrends Transforming Manufacturing”. We tool the liberty of extrapolating some of paragraphs (in no particular order) which reads in part;

“We’re entering a new industrial age driven by digitalization, customization, and miniaturization that is transforming the nature of work in manufacturing. Since the turn of the millennium, the sector has evolved faster and more thoroughly than at any other time in history.”

The rise of the digital era has impacted all industries especially manufacturing. The article states that “The ability to collect and analyze large volumes of data in economic transactions has revolutionized customer care in the retail and finance sectors. In manufacturing, Big Data will accelerate the integration of IT, manufacturing and operational systems on the shop floor and lead to better forecasting and understanding of plant performance. Caterpillar is taking this a step farther, tracking the performance of its products in the field after purchase and offering maintenance and repair services based on real-time assessments.”

What’s Fueling The Growth In Today’s Manufacturing?

If you are still wondering whether the industry can adapt here is a final paragraph from the article; “Of course, manufacturers’ labor needs are changing as well: companies now rely on more automation and require fewer employees, and those they hire must demonstrate higher science, technological and math skills. Fortunately, the millennial generation—as large as the baby boomer generation—is more technologically sophisticated. And, as the manufacturing workforce has diversified over time, manufacturers are working to continually foster more inclusive environments.”

The title of this blog asked?  “What’s Fuelling The Growth In Today’s Manufacturing”? The answer is simple-it’s the ability of the industry to adapt and evolve with the times.  Many of today’s manufacturers face constant pressure to produce a top quality product on time, every time. And, the economic fluctuations, shortage of skilled labor and market governance, and adherence to workforce compliance mandates adds to the complexities that manufacturers face every day. To meet these challenges many of these manufacturing companies have adopted Workforce Management Solutions to help them keep pace with the digital era, streamline costs and improve productivity at all levels of their operations.

To download a free demonstration of ATS Workforce Management for Manufacturing, go to our website. And, to attend one of our monthly webinars, you can register online.

Charged with the responsibility of calculating the attendance and pay records of thousands of employees, ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance helps to streamline payroll expenses, increase productivity and — process and, positively transforms the way people work.

If you are currently using ATS TimeWork unified workforce management solution chances are, your company is reaping the benefits of a robust, time keeping system that uses— the power of the cloud to help you better schedule, track and measure your workforce strategic activities.

Cloud and Big Data Drives Today’s Advance Time and Attendance Solution

Benefits of ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance include:

  • Increase business agility with Big Data- Achieve more, faster, while using less resources. With ATS TimeWork you can access the cloud to see up-to-the-minute attendance, missed punches, absenteeism, broad-based activities, the power of the cloud, and big data, while transforming your business for the future.
  • Employee Self-Service –Engage your employees with a user-friendly self-service module. With ATS self-service module, employees get access and the ability to request time-off, see changes anytime, from a Web browser or Smartphone.
  • Time Tracking – Using your business rules and policies ATS TimeWork responds to and will automatically calculate breaks, statutory holidays and hours paid.
  • Management Exception – Define rotation plans based on shifts and work plans. Define which employees can charge to which organizations in your company. ATS TimeWork identifies exceptions that requires action, and provides a list of each employee based on selected rule and/or exception information.
  • Well Constructed Calculation Engine – ATS TimeWork will accurately calculate unpaid, paid and specialty wages. TimeWork calculation engine is robust and uses rule-based time and attendance configurations.
  • Job Costing and Labour Tracking– ATS TimeWork job tracking capabilities gives you broad flexibility to track employee time and projects in different departments. This, all while working within the same system and, maintaining visibility of your jobs and business on a moment-by-moment basis.
  • Time and Attendance Benefit Accruals– ATS TimeWork accommodates a wide variety of methods for accruing leave time, as well as the many complex rules. ATS TimeWork benefit accrual module, can generate benefit time earned, as well as deduct time taken, maintaining an accurate, editable record of all your employees benefit time.

To learn more go to our website or contact us by phone for a demonstration.

 

Cloud and Big Data Drives Today’s Advance Time and Attendance Solution

 

The advantages of a cloud-based time and attendance and cloud computing on the whole, is rapidly becoming a moot point. Some companies, in various industries, who were previously hesitant to embrace the power of the cloud and technology to improve business processes are quickly realizing the enormous advantages and cost savings.

In an article written by Dr. Michael Woody and adapted from The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) “Top Ten Workplace Trends for 2105,” here are the top 3 trends, in no particular order from that survey. It’s important to note, that these trends lend themselves to the importance of technology in this new era:

“Going Mobile – The world is very rapidly going mobile. There is no doubt about it. More and more people are using their smart phones to access the web, conduct transactions, apply for jobs, and even find dates. If it can be done online, it likely can now be done on your smartphone. Following this trend the folks at SIOP believe that companies will be looking to mobile technology for evaluating “selection, performance management, and training” so as to make the hiring and development of employees faster and more accessible.”

Continued Use of HR Analytics and Big Data-SIOP points out that “I-O psychologists have long recognized the value of science and data analysis for improving business and HR decisions.” They go on to explain that “with the automation of data collection and storage, more advanced hardware and software, and larger databases, empirically-based Big Data predictions will become increasingly fundamental to workplace decisions.”

Doing More with Less -With declining budgets over the past few years and stakeholders calling for better management and performance of organizations resource optimization has become core to many organization’s business strategies. psychologists are working to help organizations identify innovations that allow them to reduce costs, increase organizational efficiency, and generally do more with less.”

Bottom-line; there is no denying that the right technology will improve business processes, streamline costs and improve productivity- and while some organizations might be slow to adapt these solutions, several of their competitors are jumping onboard and seeing their profits increase.

To learn more about ATS time and attendance solution go to our website. You can also register online for our live webinar on Friday, February 13th, 2015 at 1:00pm eastern.

The Future of Technology in the Working World

Sometimes it’s not easy to convince senior management of the benefits of a time and attendance solution. Imagines of an old fashion time clock on the wall that requires employees to punch in and out of their shifts does not exactly inspire excitement in most business executives. However, getting your CFO involved at the early stage of the project is crucial-especially, if the discussion delves into accurate reporting. CFOs are responsible for the forecasting, budgeting and overall financial health of an organization and, so it stands to reason that they will want a system that will provide them with the most accurate and up to date metrics.

ATS Time and Attendance Business Software advantages include:

Mobile Timesheets- If your employees work outside of the office  you can grant them access the to cloud-based mobile timesheets features with features that include, the ability to punch in and out of a shifts, reviewing their overtime, requesting specific days off through the leave management module. The ATS Time and Attendance application can be used on a Blackberry, Android or an iOS device.

Streamlining Time-Consuming Processes– With ATS you can effectively manage your workforce and ensure and policies are in place to avoid lost time and productivity. ATS workforce management solutions provides CFOs with the tools to forecast labor, define and assign workforce schedules to meet business demands, collect hours worked, attendance, job costing and productivity gains, all while adhering to local labor laws and pay policies.

Big Data Analytics– ATS Time and Attendance is robust and comprehensive and helps to empower every aspect of your business. You gain the visibility through the various data-points to increase efficiencies — and to transform them into competitive advantage. Through a variety of unprecedented key performance indicators (KPIs) you have instant access into your business, with real-time view ensuring consistent, compliant management across the organization, locally and globally.

ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance  provides innovations that is second to none and provides an immediate cost estimate for a cost-effective deployment-that delivers the flexibility to adapt as your needs change. Best of all, ATS Time and Attendance  solution is affordable and is a safe long-term investment.

To learn more download a demonstration, or go to our website.

Want To Rev Up The Engine Of Your CFO? Tell Them You Have Access To Accurate Data