Case study:
Suir engineering use Access COINS to level up their workforce management software
Access COINS ERP helped Suir Engineering streamline their payroll and workforce management processes, providing real-time visibility and control over construction time on-site and attendance
Business size
Mid-tier
Industry
Mechanical & Electrical
Product
Access COINS ERP
Challenge
- With plans to double their active workforce, Suir Engineering required a site-based technology which would provide complete control over time on site, attendance records and payroll management.
Approach
- Suir Engineering implemented COINS Time Management software to integrate with their existing COINS ERP solution.
Results
- Since implementation Suir Engineering’s HR team now have real-time access to key information, allowing them to better track time and attendance, as well as reducing human error across the board and reducing business pressure.
Based in Ireland, Suir Engineering are a leading provider of innovative mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engineering solutions throughout the UK, Ireland and Europe.
Suir Engineering believe passionately that people are their number one asset. So ensuring that they could best serve their workforce was a key factor in the decision making process to adopt a better workforce management system.
With their team rapidly expanding in recent years and more growth to come, Suir needed a site-based technology which would provide more visibility and control over construction site time and attendance, digitise the weekly payroll process, and integrate seamlessly with their COINS solution.
The Shift From Offline To Digital Payroll Processes
Existing manual processes included inputting information into a range of diverse timesheets which were emailed directly from construction sites. This method of managing the weekly payroll was highly pressurised, time-consuming and prone to human errors. This meant that significant time had to be spent reconciling and amending data entries prior to the finalisation of the payroll.
Previously details such as time, time and a half, double time, lodge and travel were manually entered onto the system for every single worker, every single week, and as employees were set to increase from 619 to over 1000, we would not be able to cope.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
With one payroll administrator responsible for this process, it was an ineffective system which desperately needed to transform.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst at Suir, was instrumental in leading this major change project.
We were looking for a system that would integrate seamlessly with our COINS payroll solutions rather than having to manually input the details. Without COINS Time Management Software it would have been impossible to pay 1000 employees every week without recruiting additional staff.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
Finding The Right Approach To Tracking On-Site Attendance
With a forward-thinking management team who were open to new ways of working, biometric technology seemed the most obvious choice, as this provides an accurate view of ‘real presence’.
COINS Time Management Software is a sophisticated access control and time management system which uses biometric data collected via fingerprint scanning technology, to monitor the attendance of employees and contractors against expected working hours.
It was a bonus to us that COINS Time Management Software had already been acquired by COINS, this meant that it was already integrated with the COINS solutions, and also that strong working relationships pre-existed between COINS and COINS Time Management Software.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
COINS Time Management Software & The Path To Implementation
The implementation plan was to firstly focus on Suir’s larger construction sites, aiming to transfer the majority of their 1000 employees in Ireland to the new biometric system.
This involved installing COINS Time Management Software biometric machines and collecting fingerprint information through a site-based registration exercise.
Capturing of fingerprints was an intensive process managed directly by Anita and her team; this involved visiting each site and taking fingerprints carefully from everyone who would be using the new system.
One of the advantages of COINS Time Management Software is that fingerprints only need to be captured once. They are converted into an encrypted fingerprint template, and these are then stored so can be used across all Suir sites.
The first registration exercise took place at Suir’s largest construction site in summer 2018, with the anticipated 70 employees quickly growing to 200.
We soon found out it was a large task to register everyone’s fingerprints, however one of the advantages of this process was that I enjoyed working more closely with the site-based managers and meeting many employees face-to-face for the first time.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
Using Construction-Specific Software To Overcome Common Challenges
During the initial set up three construction-specific challenges became apparent. Suir and COINS Time Management Software worked in partnership to develop measures to overcome these.
The first of these related to issues arising with reliability of fingerprints due to hands being ‘too clean’ when the prints were captured. The process of cleaning the fingers with alcohol wipes prior to registration had removed oils from fingerprints and didn’t replicate ‘real-life’ where people would more usually clock in and out with ‘dirty’ fingerprints. Suir then had to re-register everyone without cleaning hands to improve accuracy.
Secondly, the actual location of the COINS Time Management Software biometric scanner is important. Originally, the machines were installed indoors, but this was found to be impractical for busy periods on large sites, whilst people were on the way in and out of the site.
To overcome this, the biometric machines were re-located outdoors and placed in an obstacle free location, at the optimum height determined for the most accurate readings. This learning was then used as a standard across other sites.
Thirdly it was found that not all fingerprints were biometric friendly, for instance electricians’ activity of cable twisting impacted on their fingertips, some employees also tend to have less well-defined prints due to wear and tear. So, a supplementary method, such as a card reader, was needed as a backup process for these groups, with the data still all being fed digitally into the payroll solution.
I learnt a lot, we then rolled out the technology to all our large sites and were able to achieve an 80% success rate on 1st swipe, as well as site-based teams embracing this new process.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
Adapting To A Changing World With Access COINS ERP
With the onset of Coronavirus, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) advised against the use of biometric technology on construction sites, so urgent adaptation was required to support the re-opening of Suir’s sites in June 2020.
Fortunately, the COINS Time Management Software ‘Ultimate Reader’ was able to be adapted to combine biometric scanning alongside card reading technology, and it was decided that moving everyone across to card readers would avoid the Covid-related risks posed by fingerprint technology.
Anita led the effort to retrofit Suir’s biometric machines with card chips across their thirty larger sites as well as increasing the number of site-based readers to reduce queues.
We needed to ease the headache that the sites had. Covid was enough of a headache and by adapting the readers to card technology we were able to avoid reverting back to paper-based processes and manual inputting.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
The Benefits Of Implementing Digital Systems & ERP Software
Implementing COINS Time Management Software was originally meant to tackle a select few challenges Suir Engineering were facing. However, since automating the payroll process has had multiple benefits including some which were unforeseen, including:
- Reduced errors caused through manual keying of paper-based information
- Less weekly pressure
- Greater visibility and control
Most importantly, the HR team now have access to real-time information which helps them to track time and attendance, as well as the ability to view historic information, which is important to map absences.
We have not needed to recruit any additional payroll administrators to deal with the increased manpower, and now have more time to focus on checks and reviews every week.
Anita Larkin, Business Systems Analyst, Suir
