Best-in-Class Workforce Management Software from Industry Experts
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With all the hustle and bustle around here, we have not had the chance to let our customers and prospects know that Apex Time Solutions has updated its website!

Our blog page is also new and allows us to share updates about our software and other business intelligence with everyone. We intend to add more functionality to the site with the help of our creative team in the next several months.

The new ATS website contains user friendly content, and provides a better experience for our visitors. It is also easier to get information about our workforce management software and select solutions that match your requirements.

With the new design, we placed an emphasis on specific areas such as, the “contact us” page. We want prospects to be able to reach us quickly, and once they have completed their review of our labour analytics and absence management products.

ATS integrated time and attendance suite saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with a company’s goals. Companies of all sizes are increasingly implementing employee time tracking solutions. It helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance. The result is enhanced productivity and more informed decision-making.

So on behalf of all of us at Apex Time Solutions, we wish you a belated welcome to our new website. Stay tuned!

You have finally decided to replace your manual time sheet and equip your company with a 21st century time and attendance solution. Of course, you want to get the best bang for your buck! Before we continue, it is important to note, that the cheapest is not always the best. As the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. At the same time we are not suggesting that you “give away the farm” but that you get a system that will meet your requirements.

Once you have compiled a list of requirements you are ready to start!

Do some research: Start by trying to find a solution that matches the requirements on your list. Ask your work associates and other companies within and outside your vertical, what system they are using.

Keep it simple: Over the years, time and attendance has grown to include HRMS, Overtime Equalization, Employee Self-Service, Job Costing, Labour Forecasting and a range of other modules. If you are deploying a time and attendance system for the first time, the basics will likely do. If you are switching vendors, it’s likely you are familiar with some core features as well as other workforce management modules. If that’s the case, a more comprehensive system may be needed and that will also depend on the size of your organization and work rule policies.

Data Integration: The Payroll, ERP or HRMS interface. Many of today’s applications have import files. Some vendors are still stuck with a 1980s mentality and they will tell customers that their payroll software cannot integrate to any other product unless it is certified by them or a partner of theirs. If companies are still selling software (Payroll, ERP and/or HRMS) that cannot be integrated with other applications, you should steer clear of them.

Timelines: If you think you have found the product and company, ask for timelines. Most experienced companies will be able to give you an approximate timeline.

Support: The length of time a company has been in business and the number of awards it has on its walls has no bearing on the quality of service it renders to its customers. Providing quality service is a corporate philosophy that’s either ingrained within an organization’s DNA or it’s not. When choosing a system that meets your needs, focus on this important aspect.

For example:

  • How long does it take to get a response when you call support?
  • What happens to sales person after you purchase the product?
  •  If you require additional training and/or configuration of your software, (several months after the implementation) will you be redirected to watch online videos?

There are a number of inherent factors that can contribute to cost savings of an automated Time and Attendance Solution. Some of these factors include: reducing payroll processing errors, eliminating manual data entry, and lost time or from long lunches and breaks, tardiness and early departures.

To determine how much your company can save with an ATS Time and Attendance Solution, go to our website. Download a copy of our white paper on “Finding the Right Time and Attendance for your Organization”.

Economists and financial experts are tripping over themselves on the state of the economy and thus far, many are unable or unwilling to predict whether we are headed for another global recession. Some are pointing fingers at countries loaded with debt and are asking if it’s going to flow in their back yards. At the same time, governments in many countries are telling citizens to watch their spending, while others are implementing austerity measures to curb a freefall in their economies.

Business executives do not like uncertainty in the market-place so when the economy slows, job loss tends to follow. There are many things that keep executives up at the night regardless of the health of the economy. Labour is the highest expense for most companies and the ability to trim that cost during an economic downturn is foremost on the minds of many businesses. One of the most effective tools for managing labour costs is a time and attendance system.

If one or more of the reasons below applies to your company, you need a time and attendance solution to help curb your payroll expenses.

Payroll:  If hours are manually keyed into your payroll software at the end of each pay period, chances are errors will occur. The ATS data integration is a seamless process and best of all, it saves time and money.

Reporting:   Your employees work on different projects during the course of a shift and you would like to know how many hours are spent on these projects. Using Excel spreadsheets and multiple hand written time sheets is a slow and frustrating process for supervisors and the payroll department. Instead of relying on employees to keep track of the jobs they worked why not switch to an automated time management solution? Our system creates precise records based on the hours that were actually worked.

Buddy Punching:   This is when an employee punches a time card for a friend of theirs. When this practice goes unnoticed it can costs a company thousands of dollars a year. The implementation of a biometric time and attendance solution is the answer.

Overtime: In addition to automatic tracking of overtime, an automated time and attendance solution will track: premiums, statutory holidays, multijurisdictional pay policies, vacation and personal time off.   

The large amount of evidence gleaned from years of studies, shows that companies who implement an employee time tracking solution receive an immediate cost savings on their annual payroll expense.

To learn more visit us online to view a demo of our time and attendance software.

We all know that time is not static and so, metaphorically speaking, sticking your head in the sand will not stop change. In today’s rapidly changing world almost every process is automated. In fact, most businesses would be hard pressed if they had to resort to paper and pen for all of their daily operations. It is still surprising to find a significant number of companies using paper based time sheets to track employee hours. Today’s technological advancements allow business executives, HR managers and financial controllers to be more productive and efficient. In a recent conversation with a business executive, he confessed that to change from the punch clock system, to an automated time and attendance solution would be a cultural shock to his entire organization. Change, in this instance, was just too painful to bear, despite the fact, the cost of tracking employees hours manually were insurmountable to their bottom line.

Managing your workforce’s labour should be the least of your worries. ATS Time and Attendance Canada offers industry-leading software solutions that provide the knowledge, tools and support needed to optimize the deployment of your workforce.

If your business is still using paper-based time sheets, chances are you have not been introduced to the advantages of an automated time management system.

Cost savings and benefits of an ATS time and attendance solution include:

Track and Manage Labour Costs
ATS web hosted time and attendance, measures labour ratios and reduces unnecessary costs.

Vacation/Personal Time Off
Personal Time Off with our TimeWork software synchronizes requests and approvals and ensures adequate coverage.

ERP, Payroll and HRIS Data Integration
ATS hosted time and attendance seamlessly integrates to any ERP, Payroll and HR system.

Data Synchronization
Employee time clock synchronizes in real time, with the ATS workforce management software. No more adding up of employee hours using a calculator.

Stop Employee Time Theft
Using paper-based time sheets or an antiquated punch clock can cost a company thousands of dollars a year in productivity and human error.

Notifications
Alert notifications trigger in real time to alert managers of issues requiring immediate attention.

Human Resources Information
TimeWork can be used to track employee information such as: certifications, uniforms, asset tracking, training and next of kin contact information.

ATS integrated workforce management software saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with your operational business goals.

The ATS time management solution automates and integrates ERP, payroll, HR, scheduling, forecasting and labour analytics. Even the most cost-conscience organization can find ways to use their workforce more efficiently. Our time and attendance system helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance on one single platform. The result is enhanced productivity, and better, more informed decision-making.

Here is what one of our many customers had to say:
“Once again I must commend the work and dedication of your support department. Jackie was waiting at 8:00 am today to help fix the problem in the system. She worked for a good 2 hours to get everything back on track and had me test it to make sure from my end. I do not know what I would do without her. I assume you must have other clients that feel the same. Please add my name to that list for anyone who is interested in discussing ATS commitment to servicing its clients”.
Sheila P, Director of Payroll Operations- L Building Supplies

To read more about our time and attendance and workforce management software go to our website. To join our weekly user group session register online.

You don’t have to look very far to be inundated with back to school items that are on sale (We are not sure what large screen 46” TVs have to do with back to school but that’s for another blog) during the summer and through the fall.  To understand how big the back to school bonanza has become, just turn on your TV, radio or mobile device.  For example, the Yorkdale Mall has a column completely devoted to back to school items that are on sale. Cynthia Nellis, of About.com has a great article titled “Back to School Blog” in which she touches on the media hype that surrounds us on this very topic.

It should also be noted that many parents (some of whom are decision makers in their companies) returning to work are confronted with their own set of business challenges. These challenges include finding ways to increase profits and productivity while streamlining labour costs. There are many factors that drive business executives to consider maximizing their business efficiency with software like the product offerings from Apex Time Solutions. The benefits offered by our time and attendance system are many: streamlined business processes, increased profits, efficiency across the organization, and the elimination of double data entry are just a few that springs to mind.

ATS time and attendance solutions enable you to reduce labour costs and manage your workforce more effectively. Our biometric time clocks offer an effective means of addressing the buddy-punching dilemma by directly linking an individual worker to a personal labour record. ATS software solutions streamline your payroll process and helps companies raise efficiency and reduce costs.

If you are a prospective customer, we invite you to take a tour of our website and read more about this powerful time and attendance tracking software.

When bidding on projects many companies seek for better control over how their labour dollars and hours are allocated to those projects.  The ATS job costing module was designed to collect and analyze labour distribution and job allocation information.

The ATS job costing module provides an integrated and seamless method to collect, process and report on job costing data in addition to the standard time and attendance information. Job costing data collection is performed in the same manner as time and attendance data collection. The employee presses the desired function key, scans their badge and then scans the job number and project being worked on.

Functionality and benefits of Apex Time Solutions job costing module include:

The real-time visibility saves money through more efficient monitoring and administration, but also allows supervisors to anticipate and eliminate production bottlenecks.

Our system calculates the hours and costs of payroll in environments with complex business rules, including incentive pay policies. It is extremely configurable and is affectivity date-driven. When policies change, the software is flexible enough accommodate these changes.

Job Tracking Terminals uses input devices such as barcode and laser scanners for on-floor data collection. The job costing report allows sorting on all grouping levels, producing thousands of possible report combinations.

Job transfers can be tracked to many different levels. This job module can be set to several different configurations, allowing for single and/or multiple jobs at any period.

Time and Attendance reports can be combined with job costing reports. Writer module available for user defined reports.

 The ATS job costing module is great for tracking specific jobs for billing purposes, or when employees are paid for working in different departments or locations within an organization.

You can go online and read more about the ATS Job costing and Labour Distribution module.

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Although the terms Workforce Management Solutions and Workforce Management Software are relatively new, they came about when the integration of software with the time clock became a reality. Companies with a hundreds and in some case, thousands of employees could now access their employee’s time and attendance through an automated fashion.

The words, punch clock, employee time tracking, time keeping and time management solution can sometimes all refer to the same thing. Here is fascinating piece from Wikipedia on the evolution of the Time Clock or Time and Attendance as it is referred to, when it’s combined with software that calculates the time of employees.

“A time clock, sometimes known as a clock card machine or punch clock or time recorder, is a mechanical (or electronic) timepiece used to assist in tracking the hours an employee of a company worked. In regards to mechanical time clocks this was accomplished by inserting a heavy paper card, called a timesheet, into a slot on the time clock. When the time card hit a contact at the rear of the slot, the machine would print day and time information on the card. This allowed a timekeeper to have an official record of the hours an employee worked to calculate and pay an employee.”

Today’s choices in time clocks include: magnetic strip cards, proximity cards, key fobs, RFID tags, barcode time clocks and biometrics. In our previous blogs, we discussed the importance of taking time to discuss your environment with a vendor before deciding on a time clock. Some time clocks may not be suited for certain environments, so it’s important to understand the dynamics of your company and its corporate culture, before deploying a time and attendance system.

The advent of biometrics has evolved in the 21st century. Biometric technology recognizes a specific feature on an individual to confirm the person’s identity. These features can range from an individual’s facescan, to fingerprint or the image of their hand. The technology is most often used for security purposes and can be found at most airports in the world. Using an automated, biometric system to track employee time and attendance is beneficial to organizations in a number of ways.

Here is another article from Wikipedia on the use of biometrics in the world of time and attendance:

“Biometric time clocks are a feature of more advanced time and attendance systems. Rather then using a key, code or chip to identify the user, they rely on a unique attribute of the user, such as a hand print, finger print or retina. The user will have their attribute scanned into the system. Biometric readers are often used in conjunction with a access control system, granting the user access to a building, and at the same time clocking them in recording the time and date. These systems also attempt to cut down on fraud such a buddy punching. When combined with an access control system they can help prevent other types of fraud such as ghost employees where employees are actually at work to clock in but then leave for the day only to return after their shift to clock out.”

One of the pioneers of the practical time clock was Edward G. Watkins who went on to create Simplex Time Recording Company, one of the largest time clock companies of its time.  

It’s clear that the time clock has a long and storied history. Companies who deploy a time and attendance system can effectively control labour costs, maximize productivity and gain a competitive advantage over their counterparts.

 To obtain a white paper on “The advantages of using a Time and Attendance System” click here  or go to our website.