Latest Business Intelligence News
Toshiba Europe Streamlines Product Planning with MicroStrategy
Enterprise-wide Supply Chain Reporting Solution Improves Accuracy of Product Planning
McLean, Va., (September 30, 2009) –
MicroStrategy® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR), a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence (BI) software, today announced that Toshiba Europe GmbH, based in Neuss, Germany, has chosen the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform to support its supply chain management application. Toshiba Europe GmbH in Neuss is Toshiba’s European headquarters for computer systems, projectors, storage media, and consumer electronics.
Toshiba Europe plans to implement an enterprise-wide supply chain reporting application to simplify product management and planning, which has been based on Excel spreadsheets. The new MicroStrategy-based system will be used as a product management tool for all European countries, and will monitor several thousand different products each month. Employees from the quality control, product management, and sales departments will use the reports and dashboards to identify and analyze product trends. The user-friendly Web interface will enable employees in the branch offices to autonomously generate additional reports and perform ad hoc analyses down to the individual item level. Additionally, the business intelligence system enables analyses that contain historical milestones, including product changes or sales territory reorganizations.
“Following an extensive selection process, we chose MicroStrategy because it allows us to build on a scalable BI platform from the beginning, and will support the work in our multiple international branches,” explains Dr. Jörg Floel, Head of Supply Chain Management at Toshiba Europe. “The ability to see consistent key indicators across the product data will simplify quality control processes.”
“Toshiba Europe GmbH is an established player in the IT market, and we are pleased that we were able to demonstrate our technical leadership during the selection process,” said Sanju Bansal, MicroStrategy COO. “MicroStrategy 9 is well-suited for enterprises in rapidly changing markets that require scalable and flexible reporting capabilities.”
About Toshiba Europe GmbH
Toshiba Europe GmbH, located in Neuss, Germany, is part of the global Toshiba Corporation and the European headquarters for products from computer systems, storage devices and digital consumer products. Toshiba is a world leader and innovator in pioneering high technology, a diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products spanning information & communications systems; digital consumer products; electronic devices and components; power systems, including nuclear energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 730 companies, with 199,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing US$67 billion. Visit Toshiba’s web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm
About MicroStrategy
Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy is a global leader in business intelligence (BI) technology. MicroStrategy provides integrated reporting, analysis, and monitoring software that helps leading organizations worldwide make better business decisions every day. Companies choose MicroStrategy for its advanced technical capabilities, sophisticated analytics, and superior data and user scalability. More information about MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) is available at www.microstrategy.com.
MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform, MicroStrategy 9 are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Wende Cover
MicroStrategy, Incorporated
1-703-770-1646
wcover@microstrategy.com
Source: MicroStrategy
Retailers Achieve Fast Payback with Kronos
CHICAGO (September 30, 2009) – From ensuring an optimally scheduled store to selecting the best-fit associates, retailers must make effective workforce decisions. Retailers are increasingly turning to Kronos® Incorporated to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and grow revenue. And they are increasingly citing fast payback as a result.
News Facts
* Kronos helps retailers automate workforce management business processes such as time and attendance, budgeting, forecasting and scheduling, absence management, human resources and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics.
* Automation of these processes can result in immediate payback and ROI by minimizing payroll inaccuracies, increasing conversion rates and sales, reducing unnecessary overtime, and decreasing employee turnover.
* According to a recent study by AMR Research, retailers reported 3.8 percent of lost sales due to non-optimized labor scheduling, and 3.5 percent decrease in payroll costs as a result of implementing a workforce management solution.
* Using Kronos, a mid-size grocery retailer cut overtime expenses to half, saving $95,000 in one year.
* Using Kronos, a large consumer electronics retailer with more than 1,000 locations and more than 90,000 employees reduced hourly staff churn by 30 percent and reported ROI of $2.5 million in less than 12 months.
* The AMR Research study also notes that the average fine that retailers paid for noncompliance lawsuits in the last 12 months was $250,000. Kronos helps retailers easily comply with federal, state, and union labor regulations through automated and centralized policy administration, local policy application, and detailed audit tracking.
* Kronos works with retailers around the world including Best Buy, Finish Line, and Jamba Juice.
Supporting Quotes
* Robert Notte, vice president of IT, Jamba Juice
“We were looking for efficiencies and savings in labor scheduling. After reviewing our options, we chose Kronos. In less than a year, the workforce management system was rolled out to Jamba’s company locations and we immediately realized improvements in controlling expenses and optimizing processes.”
* Adrian Peace, head of simplification and productivity, Somerfield UK
“With Kronos now holding all employee information including hours worked, availability for work, and skills, we now have complete visibility into the workforce. We rely less on overtime now that absence levels have reduced and can identify when working additional hours will take a colleague into premium overtime payments. Our premium overtime bill has decreased by £2.3 million per year.”
* Nicholas Hess, senior vice president, operations, Dunn-Edwards Paint Stores
“Kronos helps us optimize our most important asset and largest controllable expense – labor. With Kronos, we are able to optimize store scheduling, leverage historical sales, customer traffic, and store profile data to derive accurate weekly sales and labor plans. No other workforce management vendor has such a comprehensive suite to enable enterprise visibility and control of store productivity.”
* Kara Barker, director of retail industry marketing, Kronos
“Retailers that continue to think strategically about labor through the downturn will be better prepared to profitably handle the influx of customers once the economy improves. Based on our knowledge of hundreds of successful retail implementations, we are committed to helping our retail customers improve hiring practices, enhance customer satisfaction, and boost employee productivity to ultimately sprint – not limp – out of the recession.”
Supporting Resources
* Kronos is exhibiting in booth 350 at the HR Technology Conference & Exposition, being held this week in Chicago.
Source: Kronos
Walsworth Publishing Reduces Costs for Competitive Edge With Information Builders
Walsworth Teams Up With Information Builders to Deliver Targeted Information to Customers and Staff Members
NEW YORK, NY (September 29, 2009) –
Information Builders, the leader in business intelligence (BI) solutions, was tapped to build a unique information system and create internal dashboards and reports for sales, manufacturing, and finance personnel at Walsworth Publishing, a printing industry leader that specializes in school yearbooks. Walsworth helps students preserve memories via a Web-based BI system that tracks and organizes pages submitted electronically throughout the year. Thanks to Information Builders, data such as the status of printing jobs, proofs, and deadlines can now be accessed electronically, enabling students to monitor page submissions, streamline administration, reduce printing costs, and review page proofs.
Walsworth Publishing has been producing yearbooks and other print materials of exceptional quality for nearly 80 years. With roughly 3,700 schools as customers, it’s one of only four major yearbook printers in the industry. As its business grew, Walsworth decided to replace a hodge-podge of reporting and data management tools with a unified BI environment built using Information Builders’ WebFOCUS platform.
“Our reporting systems weren’t scalable, they weren’t flexible, and they couldn’t keep up with our growth,” said Sherri Pickman, finance and cost accounting manager at Walsworth. “We purchased WebFOCUS to stabilize our reporting environment. We needed a strong and flexible business intelligence system, and we were confident that WebFOCUS could easily reach into different types of data and create a common platform for reporting.”
In addition to creating the customer-facing BI system, Walsworth used WebFOCUS Developer Studio to develop a sales dashboard for about 170 yearbook salespeople and managers. Previously, these employees had to manually combine information from multiple systems. None of this information was interactive, parameterized, or updated more than once per week. Now, WebFOCUS synthesizes relevant information into one continuously updated dashboard that displays key financial and production metrics to authorized users. Salespeople have parameterized reports that allow them to segment the customer base and create targeted promotions. For example, they can look at all schools with yearbooks in a certain pricing program, then automatically export the data to an Excel spreadsheet to identify the best revenue opportunities.
Walsworth plans to update the sales dashboards with forecasting reports that will help sales managers and executives devise more accurate revenue projections. In addition, Walsworth is using WebFOCUS to create finance reports for about 200 people charged with tracking monthly expense budgets along with key performance indicators and dashboards for executives in finance, human resources, information technology, yearbook sales, and commercial sales.
“Walsworth publishing is on the cusp of an emerging trend in information management, commonly known as self-service reporting,” said Gerald D. Cohen, president and CEO of Information Builders. “Instead of reacting to events based on limited insight, they are helping customers and staff gain self-sufficiency by locating and analyzing the information they need, boosting productivity, reducing costs, and creating a more competitive organization.”
About Walsworth Publishing
Walsworth Publishing Company strives to produce the highest quality product while providing exemplary service to our customers. We do this by employing a knowledgeable and courteous staff that uses the latest technology and production methods to assure that we accomplish our goals and deliver a superior product to our customer.
About Information Builders
Information Builders’ award-winning combination of business intelligence and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world’s most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical, and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users. Information Builders’ iWay Software suite provides state of the art, multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data and information management requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading software platform providers. Information Builders also offers solutions in the performance management, business activity monitoring, and enterprise search markets. The company’s comprehensive enterprise product offerings give Information Builders’ customers the ability to grow and innovate according to their needs.
Information Builders’ customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business partners.
Source: Information Builders
Kronos
Kronos® Incorporated customer Russ Kahn, director of operations at PUMA North America, along with Kronos CEO Aron Ain, will present a strategic session “PUMA Runs Faster with Workforce Management” at the HR Technology Conference
USA (September 28, 2009) –
What:
Kronos® Incorporated customer Russ Kahn, director of operations at PUMA North America, along with Kronos CEO Aron Ain, will present a strategic session “PUMA Runs Faster with Workforce Management” at the HR Technology Conference. The session will provide attendees with an overview on how automating previously manual processes dramatically improved efficiencies and cost savings through the application of optimized scheduling. Ain will introduce the concept of workforce management and Kahn will discuss the specific steps that PUMA took to achieve labor cost savings.
When:
Thursday, Oct. 1, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m. CDT
Where:
HR Technology Conference and Exposition
McCormick Place, Chicago
Kronos is exhibiting in booth #350
Why:
Based in Germany, PUMA AG designs, manufactures, and distributes footwear, apparel, and accessories across the world. In the U.S., PUMA North America operates stores across the country, making it imperative that the stores are staffed properly and efficiently, while providing superior customer service to customers. Kronos provides PUMA with workforce management applications that help PUMA control costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity across its U.S. stores.
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
About PUMA
PUMA is one of the world’s leading Sportlifestyle companies that designs and develops footwear, apparel, and accessories. It is committed to working in ways that contribute to the world by supporting Peace, Creativity, and SAFE Sustainability, and by staying true to the values of being Fair, Honest, Positive, and Creative in decisions made and actions taken. PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. Its Sport Performance and Lifestyle labels include categories such as Football, Running, Motorsports, Golf, and Sailing. The Black label features collaborations with renowned designers such as Alexander McQueen, Yasuhiro Mihara, and Sergio Rossi. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Tretorn, and Hussein Chalayan. The company, which was founded in 1948, distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs more than 9,000 people worldwide, and has headquarters in Herzogenaurach/Germany, Boston, London, and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit www.puma.com
© 2009 Kronos Incorporated. Kronos is a registered trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Source: Kronos
iDashboards Lifts Business Intelligence Dashboards to the Cloud
iDashboards In Cloud enables users to harness their Excel spreadsheets to create interactive dashboards at significantly reduced costs
Troy, MI (September 28, 2009) –
-iDashboards, the leader in Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard software, today announced the availability of iDashboards In Cloud, a Software as a Service (SaaS) based application. Housed on the Amazon Elastic Cloud (EC2) platform, iDashboards In Cloud enables users to capitalize on the functionality and benefits of traditional BI driven dashboards – at a fraction of the cost.
Specifically tailored to meet the needs of business users with limited IT resources, iDashboards In Cloud (SaaS) allows users to quickly, easily and securely upload Excel spreadsheets online to create fully customizable dashboards. The web-based dashboards are driven by the same powerful real-time analytics of iDashboards Enterprise Edition, allowing users to identify trends at a glance, drill down into data sets to view more detailed information and make quick, well informed decisions.
“There is a large number of business users using Excel as their data source. They are overwhelmed with spreadsheets and need a user-friendly, cost effective solution that provides them with better insight into their data,” said Shadan Malik, president and CEO, iDashboards. “iDashboards In Cloud (SaaS) provides a solution to this challenge, allowing all business users to manage and make sense of data overloaded spreadsheets through the use of business intelligence dashboards. iDashboards In Cloud (SaaS) is truly bringing BI to the masses.”
iDashboards In Cloud (SaaS) allows users to create multiple user groups, each with its own access privileges. Users can be assigned to a role of viewer, business user or power user.
A 12-month contract and a minimum of five users is the standard service requirement for iDashboards In Cloud (SaaS). For additional details, including pricing information, please visit: http://idashboards.com/Products/iDashboardsInCloudSaaS.aspx
###
About iDashboards
Through its award-winning engineering and patented software, iDashboards helps companies leverage information assets through visually rich, real-time and personalized business intelligence dashboards to analyze, track, and drill-down through a wealth of information. iDashboards’ global customer base consists of organizations ranging from large, fortune 500 companies to small and medium-sized businesses, all of which are making quicker, well-informed business decisions with the help of iDashboards. The company is privately held and headquartered in Troy, Michigan. To find out more about iDashboards’ solutions, please call (248) 952-0840 or visit www.idashboards.com.
Press Contacts:
Lauren Grassetti
LEWIS PR
617.226.8843
idashboards@lewispr.com
Source: iDashboards
Kronos
Kronos® Incorporated today announced significant momentum in Mexico and Latin America, with 200 percent year-over-year growth in revenue
CHELMSFORD, Mass., (September 21, 2009) –
Kronos® Incorporated today announced significant momentum in Mexico and Latin America, with 200 percent year-over-year growth in revenue. Kronos also announced that it has hired industry veteran Gabriel Alvarado to manage and expand its Mexico operations.
News Facts
* Gabriel Alvarado comes to Kronos with more than 20 years of experience building and driving sales in the high-tech industry. Most recently, he served as SAP’s vice president for the small- and mid-size enterprise market in Mexico and Central America. Prior to SAP, he spent 13 years at Symantec leading operations in Mexico and Latin America.
* Kronos has nearly 200 customers in Mexico including Casa Ley, Chedraui, and Volkswagen.
* Kronos entered the Mexican market in 1995 and now operates an office in Mexico City with more than 30 employees.
* Increasingly, many Kronos customers have been eager to expand their operations into Mexico because of the strong manufacturing environment and attractive cost structure. Kronos’ more than 10 years of experience in the region, combined with a strong, satisfied customer base and talented employees, have enabled the company to capitalize on this customer demand.
Supporting Quotes
* Mick Adamson, vice president, international operations, Kronos
“We see a tremendous opportunity for growth in Mexico and Latin America as organizations expand operations and seek to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. With Gabriel’s leadership, we are poised to seize this opportunity for growth.”
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
© 2009 Kronos Incorporated.Kronos is a registered trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Source: Kronos
Plus Relocation Services Provides Information Builders’ Unique Business Intelligence Services to Global Customer Base
Custom Dashboard Environment Is the First of Its Kind for Relocation Management Industry
NEW YORK, NY (September 21, 2009) –
Information Builders, an independent leader in business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Plus Relocation Services has deployed Information Builders WebFOCUS BI platform as the foundation for a customer-facing dashboard environment called InformAgility. As a global leader in the full-service relocation management and consulting industry, Plus Relocation created the BI environment to help clients create better relocation packages, keep track of expenses, and stay on budget throughout the year. Plus Relocation also used WebFOCUS to create an operational reporting system that helps employees communicate more effectively with customers about the costs and potential issues associated with relocation activities. Nearly 180 customers rely on InformAgility with more than 80 internal users depending on WebFOCUS for reporting and analysis functions.
According to Mick Lee, chairman and CEO at Plus Relocation Services, they selected Information Builders based on its proven success in Web-based reporting and performance management, coupled with its mature data visualization software. “Our new dashboards give us reporting capabilities that our competitors simply don’t have,” said Mr. Lee. “Through WebFOCUS, our clients are able to generate a variety of online, standard, and ad hoc reports in the areas of relocation activity, expenses, home sales, and invoice history.”
InformAgility makes this information easily accessible in a variety of formats such as graphs, PDF, HTML, Excel, and Active Reports. It includes an interactive cost calculator, online authorization forms, real-time status updates, customized financial reports, up-to-the-minute transferee survey results, and a document library for policies and reports. For example, if an employee moves from San Francisco to Singapore, the employer can estimate how much that relocation will cost and then use InformAgility to track expenses against that estimate. In addition, employers who purchase and resell their employees’ former homes can track appraisals, listing amounts and offers for each property. They can also drop in different pricing structures to perform “what-if” scenarios – a valuable capability in today’s volatile housing market.
Information Builders Professional Services helped Plus Relocation build a variety of operational reporting capabilities for internal use. Once these basic reports were in place, Plus Relocation used WebFOCUS Flex Enable to generate reports, graphs, and other visual representations of the data, including graphical drill-down capabilities that let users filter and manipulate information as they see fit. Plus Relocation is also using WebFOCUS Flex Enable to integrate graphics into its proposals, including interactive reports, drop-down menus, and dashboards. In the near future, the company plans to deploy WebFOCUS Performance Management Framework to complement an existing balanced scorecard initiative.
“At a time when many relocation services companies are struggling to stay afloat, Plus Relocation Services has proven how the right mix of reporting and performance management capabilities can offer the competitive edge necessary to acquire and retain new clients,” said Gerald D. Cohen, president and CEO at Information Builders. “Technology-savvy organizations enjoy having the flexibility to generate their own reports, collaborate online, and continually monitor activities and costs. Plus Relocation is at the forefront of an emerging trend to offer custom BI capabilities to customers.”
About Plus Relocation Services, Inc.
Founded in 1968, Plus Relocation Services, Inc. is recognized as a global leader in the design and implementation of employee relocation and assignment management programs. The company has earned rave reviews for “delivering delight” through their expertise, personalized services, innovative programs, and cutting-edge technology. Headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, PLUS has offices in the United States, Client Program Managers in the EMEA and APAC Regions, and the best on-the-ground service partners throughout the world. For additional information about PLUS and our services, please visit our Web site at www.plusrelocation.com.
About Information Builders
Information Builders’ award-winning combination of business intelligence and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world’s most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical, and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users. Information Builders’ iWay Software suite provides state of the art, multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data and information management requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading software platform providers. Information Builders also offers solutions in the performance management, business activity monitoring, and enterprise search markets. The company’s comprehensive enterprise product offerings give Information Builders’ customers the ability to grow and innovate according to their needs.
Information Builders’ customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business partners.
Source: Information Builders
MicroStrategy Selected by LHS Aktiengesellschaft, Part of the Ericsson Group, to Support its Management Information System
Global Reporting with Key Performance Indicators Provides Valuable Insights into Business Performance
McLean, Va., (September 16, 2009) –
MicroStrategy® Incorporated (Nasdaq: MSTR), a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence (BI) software, today announced that LHS Aktiengesellschaft selected the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform to support its management information system. LHS, part of the Ericsson Group with 17 subsidiaries in 11 countries, is a leading independent software vendor (ISV) of billing and customer care systems in the telecom industry.
LHS plans to replace its internal Excel-based reports and ad hoc analyses with an integrated and scalable MicroStrategy BI solution. LHS management and the finance department will use MicroStrategy-based dashboards and reports to gain easier and more reliable access to financial and performance data. In addition to providing an overview of business performance, the dashboards and reports will track individual project figures. These figures will be consolidated and managed in a set of worldwide Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which will provide a consistent set of data across the business using MicroStrategy’s central metadata architecture. MicroStrategy’s intuitive Web-based interface will provide flexibility for LHS users on four continents worldwide to create their own reports and analyses, and help them identify issues in their local business areas.
“After performing an extensive vendor analysis, we are confident that we have selected a BI platform that will provide us with a strong basis for our reporting,” stated Axel Barta, CFO of LHS Aktiengesellschaft. “Reducing the large number of sources for our KPI system will allow us to make quicker and more strategic decisions. MicroStrategy offers clear value with its straightforward, self-service interface. Reports can be created by the users, which reduces the overall costs of the BI system.”
“We are pleased that LHS Aktiengesellschaft selected MicroStrategy’s integrated BI platform to support its global reporting requirements,” said Sanju Bansal, MicroStrategy COO. “MicroStrategy’s highly visual dashboards and reports provide vital information that can help companies manage performance in today’s highly competitive business environment.”
About LHS
LHS Aktiengesellschaft, part of the Ericsson Group (NASDAQ:ERIC), is a leading independent software vendor (ISV) of billing and customer care systems in the telecom industry. The company’s award-winning solutions are used by the world’s leading network and virtual operators, to generate and manage consistent revenue streams. LHS Business Support Systems offer full convergence on various levels, supporting the complete range of business models both across the mix of fixed and mobile services, as well as prepaid and postpaid services. LHS builds innovative systems that enable our customers to introduce new services fast, helping drive revenues up, while keeping operational costs to a minimum. LHS’ headquarters are located in Frankfurt, Germany, with main offices in Brazil, France, Malaysia, and the UAE. LHS Aktiengesellschaft as the Group’s Holding company is a public company listed on the Frankfurter Stock Exchange (LHS400).For more information, please visit www.lhsgroup.com
About MicroStrategy
Founded in 1989, MicroStrategy is a global leader in business intelligence (BI) technology. MicroStrategy provides integrated reporting, analysis, and monitoring software that helps leading organizations worldwide make better business decisions every day. Companies choose MicroStrategy for its advanced technical capabilities, sophisticated analytics, and superior data and user scalability. More information about MicroStrategy (Nasdaq: MSTR) is available at www.microstrategy.com.
MicroStrategy, MicroStrategy Business Intelligence Platform are either trademarks or registered trademarks of MicroStrategy Incorporated in the United States and certain other countries. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Wende Cover
MicroStrategy, Incorporated
1-703-770-1646
wcover@microstrategy.com
Source: MicroStrategy
Essex County Correctional Facility Goes Live with Kronos
Workforce management solutions deployed to help save public safety jobs and meet budget goals
CHELMSFORD, Mass. (September 15, 2009) –
A long-standing user of the time and attendance solution from Kronos® Incorporated, the Essex County Correctional Facility in Massachusetts recently went live with Kronos employee scheduling and HR and payroll solutions, and achieved an immediate, 90-percent reduction in overtime-related costs. The organization projects $1 million savings over 12 months with Kronos by accurately tracking, scheduling, and managing its workforce.
News Facts
* Faced with a $1.2 million state budget reduction in the middle of the fiscal year, the Essex County Correctional Facility needed to automate critical workforce business processes to control costs and subsequently save public safety jobs.
* Kronos configured the solutions, trained employees, provided support, and helped the correctional facility achieve the 90-percent reduction in overtime-related cost savings within one month of implementation of the new solutions. The facility paid $13,000 in overtime fees in March 2009 compared to $95,000 in February 2008. The increased visibility and control over data has delivered increased savings each month. In June 2009, the overtime expense was only $7,000 compared to $102,000 in June 2008.
* The Kronos solution generates a daily absenteeism and overtime report, which enables the sheriff to track overtime by the hour and make adjustments to avoid the added expense of overtime.
* Using the Kronos 4500 Touch ID(TM) biometric terminal, the facility has also eliminated buddy punching (the costly act of employees punching in for one another).
* The correctional facility implemented a new five-and-two workweek (five work days in a row with two days off) for the officers, replacing its older four-and-two workweek. The new workweek schedule supported by Kronos is adding thousands of additional shifts per year to eliminate overtime, resulting in cost savings of $500,000 from this schedule change alone for the remainder of the fiscal year.
* Kronos solutions are supporting changes implemented by the management team to meet the revised budget goals including unpaid days for senior staff, reduced workweeks for some employees, and a workweek schedule change for correctional officers.
Supporting Quotes
* Frank Cousins, Jr., Essex County Sheriff
“With 80 percent of our budget consisting of salaries and benefits, we had to take serious measures to save public safety jobs when faced with a significant budget reduction in February 2009. By utilizing Kronos to effectively and efficiently implement our new five-and-two schedule, our department has seen a 90-percent savings in overtime costs compared to last year. Which government entity wouldn’t want such results?”
* Christine Carmichael, director of government industry marketing, Kronos
“We are proud to be part of the Essex County Correctional Facility’s initiative to help save public safety jobs. The senior management’s vision and innovative approach to put the needs of its public and employees first are truly remarkable. Our configurable solutions are easy to implement, own, and maintain, and have enabled quick adjustments to adapt to the budget cut.”
Supporting Resources
* About The Essex County Correctional Facility
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
© 2009 Kronos Incorporated. Kronos is a registered trademark and Kronos 4500 Touch ID is a trademark of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Source: Kronos
Kronos
K-12 schools, colleges, and universities are turning to Kronos® Incorporated to fill time and attendance gaps left by their ERP systems. Kronos automates, centralizes, and integrates critical workforce business processes to help control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce p
CHELMSFORD, Mass., (September 14, 2009) –
K-12 schools, colleges, and universities are turning to Kronos® Incorporated to fill time and attendance gaps left by their ERP systems. Kronos automates, centralizes, and integrates critical workforce business processes to help control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity for educational institutions.
News Facts
* Time and attendance products offered by ERP vendors are unable to meet the budgetary requirements of educational institutions. These solutions take longer and are more expensive to implement and maintain as they often rely on custom code and scripting languages. Also, they don’t offer the tools to gain real-time control over payroll data and overall labor costs including overtime, absenteeism, and scheduling problems.
* Rudimentary time and attendance solutions from ERPs can leak hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars each year as they don’t detect labor-related problems for days.
* Considering that labor costs represent one of the largest expenses for schools and higher education institutions, often exceeding 70 percent of operational budget, time and attendance data collection is a great place to look for quick payback.
* Educational institutions including Broward County Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Cornell University, and Yale University use Kronos time and attendance solutions to extend the value of their ERP investment.
Supporting Quotes
* Jerome Goudelock, acting chief HR operations officer, Chicago Public Schools
“Managing staff overtime and maximizing operational efficiencies can make the difference between meeting or exceeding budget. But you can’t control what you don’t see. Kronos offers high-quality, real-time data about the workforce leading to cost savings. The best-of-breed Kronos solution easily integrates with our existing ERP system and helps us leverage that investment to control labor costs.”
* Kathy Tessendorf, director of human resource information, Northwestern University
“The Kronos solution enhances communication among departments and divisions through easy integration capabilities and provides real-time reporting from a centralized database. As grant funding has become an increasingly crucial part of education budgets, by using Kronos, we are able to total all hours employees work from all of their jobs for overtime calculations as well as giving us the ability to keep accurate reporting for separate grant projects.”
* Kimberly Curtis, PMP, senior project manager, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“Payroll is typically a university’s largest expense, and with a dispersed and complex workforce, they need a system that automates processes and handles multiple and complex pay rules. With Kronos, pay rules are easily configured, tested, and deployed across the entire campus. This helps control labor costs, improve productivity, and achieve greater ROI.”
* Christine Carmichael, director of education industry marketing, Kronos
“At Kronos, we strive to offer detailed workforce intelligence to help our customers take positive action. As a result, they can extend the value of other technology investments such as ERPs to minimize absenteeism rates and control labor costs, ultimately resulting in better service to students, employees, and the community.”
Supporting Resources
* Kronos offers an integration tool, which makes it even easier for organizations to integrate Kronos applications with existing ERP, payroll, and human resources systems (see “Kronos Announces Availability of Workforce Central 6.1”).
About Kronos Incorporated
Kronos is the global leader in workforce management solutions that enable organizations to control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve workforce productivity. Tens of thousands of organizations in 60 countries — including more than half of the Fortune 1000® — use Kronos time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics applications. To learn how Kronos uniquely delivers complete automation and high-quality information in an easy-to-use solution, visit www.kronos.com.
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Source: Kronos