Bonlac Expands Reliance on Kronos Timekeeper/AS® Running on AS400 Platform
Bonlac rolls out Kronos frontline labour management solution to five additional sites
Leading Australian food group, Bonlac, is expanding its use of Kronos Timekeeper/AS Labour Data Collection system for IBM's AS400 platform to enhance labour management at an additional five sites in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales.
This month's rollout brings to 14 the number of Bonlac sites using Timekeeper/AS to manage up to 1,800 staff during peak season.
One of the nation's largest dairy producers, Bonlac is owned and controlled by 3,100 dairy farmers in Victoria and Tasmania and has annual turnover of $1.2 billion.
Bonlac's Payroll Team Leader, Gayle Cachia, said the company first introduced the Kronos solution three years ago to replace a manual bundy clock system and had reaped the benefits of automated time capture and streamlined labour management and payroll processes.
Accurate and fast payroll
"Bonlac operates various manufacturing facilities producing and marketing a range of high quality dairy and beverage products. We employ a diverse range of workers, from drivers and factory workers to sales and administration staff, all attracting different pay conditions, awards and shift allowances," she said.
"We rely on Kronos to track time and attendance and ensure accurate payroll procedures for the hundreds of process workers, truck drivers and maintenance staff who form the bulk of our workforce, as well as using it to capture data about the hours worked by some clerical staff."
Bonlac's Timekeeper/AS system runs on the IBM AS400 platform and interfaces with the company's JD Edwards payroll system to provide accurate costings and calculations for the various payrolls.
"We previously relied on a team of seven people to handle all the data entry and manual calculations associated with the old timesheet system," said Miss Cachia.
"Each person was responsible for a different region and had to remember all the different rules and awards for those staff. I can remember how stressful the payroll process used to be and how it was always a rush to get it to the bank by 1.00pm every Tuesday.
"Timekeeper/AS has certainly made our lives much easier and saves an enormous amount of time and stress. The system automatically calculates the various rates and benefits owing to each worker and we can now complete payrolls for a significantly larger pool of workers with just two and a half staff. On top of that, we've reduced our processing time by around 24 hours and the payroll is always finished well before we go home on Mondays," she said.
Better management of workforce
Not only has Timekeeper/AS improved productivity and accuracy within Bonlac's payroll office, but the system is also empowering department supervisors to manage their workers better.
"Supervisors can access the system to monitor attendance and overtime details and confirm accrued leave before approving holiday applications. Timekeeper/AS also helps them in planning ahead and scheduling workers to meet their production requirements while keeping overheads to a minimum," Miss Cachia explained.
The company is so satisfied with its labour management system, it recently cemented its commitment to this platform by upgrading to Version 8.0 and is now expanding its investment to include an additional five sites.
The new locations include the Spring Valley Beverages facility at Cheltenham in Victoria, and Murrumbidgee Dairy Products at Wagga in NSW, plus three new Tasmanian dairy manufacturing sites, acquired through Bonlac's recent merger with United Milk Tasmania.
"These sites will add around 300 staff to the Timekeeper/AS system and seasonal fluctuations in our workforce mean it will grow by another 300 or more casual staff over the next month as we enter our peak dairy production phase."
Despite the variations, Miss Cachia said the system has no problem handling Bonlac's changing requirements and will continue to serve them well into the future.
"When we first went looking for a frontline labour management solution we considered all the major players, choosing Timekeeper because it most closely satisfied our requirements – in particular the AS400 platform. We've been delighted with the performance of the system and on those rare occasions when we have experienced a problem, the technical support and assistance from Kronos has been excellent.
"Timekeeper not only saves us considerable time and effort in the payroll office, but helps our frontline production teams to operate more efficiently and cost-effectively, ultimately improving Bonlac's profitability and performance," she said.
Kronos frontline labour management solutions
People are the largest single variable cost in most organisations. Kronos solutions provide control and accuracy, and a method of labour tracking that aids labour cost management. The Kronos system quickly becomes an invaluable core business system.
A key advantage of Kronos solutions is the fast and demonstrable Return on Investment that companies typically achieve for a relatively small outlay, with many customers achieving full ROI within six to 12 months of implementation.
Being parameter driven, the Kronos system is ideally suited to the complex Australian environment. Each installation is easily tailored for a company's specific requirements and backed by Kronos' extensive support operations, both local and overseas.
Kronos provides comprehensive solutions in five key areas of frontline labour management:
- Employee Time & Attendance
- Rostering
- Access Control
- Detailed Departmental Costing
- Payroll Preparation
Our global alliances with companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Informix, SAP, Baan, JD Edwards, ensure Kronos solutions are backed by the world's leading technology providers.
For more information about Kronos solutions, talk to our experienced staff in Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, or Auckland. In Australia call us on our toll free number 1800 811 492 or call our Auckland office on 64 9 302 5349.
