The Suddath Companies

Moving From a Service Bureau to a Kronos Solution

Controlling Labor Costs and Improving Productivity

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The Suddath Companies has grown from a small Florida moving and storage company into an organization focused on worldwide corporate employee relocations, household moving, warehouse and logistics management, and specialized transportation services. Employing 1,000 people at 16 locations across the United States, the company provides service to more than 100 countries and makes 400,000 shipments annually.

Suddath had been using a payroll service bureau to track the time and attendance of most employees, while a few locations faxed paper timesheets to the main office. Employee leave time accruals were tallied in a separate system, requiring dual entry of information, slowing productivity, and increasing the potential for error. As Suddath acquired additional companies, these disjointed applications became untenable, with no immediate access to accurate time records, little control over work and pay rules, and charges for updates and reports. This transportation company knew it was time to move — to a new solution.

In selecting its own time and attendance system, Suddath wanted ease of use, a single database system, real-time and accurate time records, and the ability to "push" timely reports to managers — features not available in the system it was using. Suddath chose the Kronos^® Workforce Central^® suite, which meets these demands and helps the company control labor costs, minimize compliance risk, and improve productivity. In addition, Suddath calculates that the payback from owning its own solution instead of renting the service bureau’s solution has put the company "financially ahead of the game."

Real-time information helps control labor costs

Before, managers were frustrated that they couldn’t access real-time labor information to effectively manage employees. Some workforce information was in the service bureau’s timekeeping application and other information resided in the payroll system. During peak periods, overtime was common, but assigning it equitably and cost-effectively was challenging.

Now, with reports automatically "pushed" out to managers, they have the latest information and can easily manage employee time to control labor costs. "With Kronos, we can see when employees are approaching overtime and can reassign employees to even out hours," says Elizabeth Spradley, vice president of human resources. "We try to keep labor costs in line by bringing in more peak period employees, so we're not paying extra overtime. Kronos gives us an easier read on managing overtime costs and managing time."

In addition, the web-based application has been extremely user friendly and Suddath employees have welcomed the opportunity to learn new computer system skills.

With Kronos in place, Suddath can now quickly and easily add acquired companies to the organization's time and attendance system, providing immediate access to accurate time records and a smooth transition. "Kronos provides flexibility for acquisitions, so we can drop in and have the same platform in real time with little effort from the organization," Spradley explains. "We can set up payroll as needed for this segment of the business and are in total control from the start."

With 23 company codes incorporated into numerous business units, The Suddath Companies needed a flexible solution. "The Kronos system is more robust and has greater configurability, if you need it, and we needed it," Spradley adds.

Minimized compliance risk

The company wanted to make sure its multiple pay rules were being managed the same way every time, especially at remote locations. Suddath controls this from its centralized human resources department by presetting and preprogramming all pay rules into the Kronos solution. "We sleep well because we know it's consistent," Spradley claims.

Having attendance and leave time accruals in a single system is also helping managers sleep more soundly, as they know employees’ accrual time is being paid accurately. Before, HR staff had to check both systems to see if all an employee’s accrual time had been paid out. “If managers requested time off for hourly employees, we had to make sure the request was in the timesheet and requested or marked in the system, or we could be paying double or not at all,” says Human Resources Informations Systems Manager Kristi Dennis. “Oh, the auditing we used to do.” With Kronos, the process is simple, fast, and accurate.

System delivers productivity gains

With workforce information available in real time in one place, managers can better manage employees' time and employees enjoy easy access to their time records and can request time off online. Before, an employee had to request a leave time report from his or her manager, who had to request the information from the service bureau. "Self-service has reduced the number of phone calls with questions, because employees can look at their timesheets and accrual balances online," Dennis says. "It has made the phone calls more pertinent and given us time to deal with the real business issues."

Using the solution's "push" technology, HR managers can create and automatically push out key reports to managers, allowing them to focus their time on servicing customers. “They don't have to spend lots of time creating or requesting reports, as it's all right there,” Dennis explains. “With this information at their fingertips, managers can be more productive.”

"Also, owning our solution, instead of using a service bureau, has put us more in control," Spradley says. “We like not having to call the service bureau to request a change. We are in charge of our own destiny now."