While the company is willing to embrace technology to grow, it’s a delicate balance.
“There’s been a tremendous amount of change and growth and sometimes it’s difficult,” admitted Sheila Eck, an officer at Sparkle Painting. “How do you balance the labor force with getting the things that you need done on a day-to-day basis?
Arcoro’s solutions have helped the company scale its operations and manage its workforce while saving time and money.
The Issue
Sparkle Painting had too many disparate solutions for HR management. It used a different program for each HR management function, leading to confusion within the siloed systems. Much of the work was manual, like relying on paper for sign in, timesheets and payroll.
“Doing job costing [in previous roles] was painful,” said Rosa Ashby, HR/payroll manager at Sparkle Painting. “It was all manual.”
“As we’ve grown, we’ve realized we can’t use paper sheets [anymore],” explained Lakesha, Coates, manager of the accounting department at Sparkle Painting and resident technology maven. “We need something to track time off and disciplinary issues.”
The Solution
In 2017, Sparkle partnered with Arcoro ExakTime for a timekeeping solution. Arcoro ExakTime, starting at 90 users and skyrocketing to 360, including subcontractors.
“It’s been so much more efficient to use ExakTime than a sign-in sheet,” said Jennifer Prada, head of accounts receivable billing at Sparkle Painting. “I’m no longer constantly flipping through papers, trying to figure out someone’s signature.”
Eliminating Manual Error and Time Theft
Arcoro ExakTime provides accuracy and reduction of human error, plus FaceFront Biometrics™, ensures users are at the right job site and eliminates falsifying hours.
“It’s easy to correct if there’s a real problem,” added Prada. “Now we’re doing it with a system that can do the calculations and note red flags for me.”
Managing a Mobile Workforce
Sparkle Painting discovered other Arcoro ExakTime features rendered many of their current platforms redundant. The Scheduler feature was identical to an expensive scheduling platform they were currently using. By moving to Arcoro ExakTime, they were able to cancel this platform, saving nearly $25,000 annually.
Sparkle Painting also used an external company for payroll and found the process painful. Systems were disparate, training was sparse and the implementation felt “fly by night.” The company canceled after two months and instead went with Arcoro’s Sage 300 integration for payroll, after the success of Arcoro ExakTime.
“We’ve always used Sage 300, so something compatible with that has been a blessing,” said Lakesha. “We moved to systems that are simple enough so that people in the field can do what we need them to do, and we can get enough info on the back end.”
“The fact that [Arcoro] communicates to Sage is a huge plus because it keeps all of us close to using ExakTime and not a brand-new application,” said Rosa. “If we can keep [the software] the same for the people in the field, it’s easier. It’s their everyday application and it’ll work out in making payroll and the HR features a lot smoother.”
“We will end up using more features that Arcoro has to offer,” said Rosa. “Having one system that can do multiple things is ultimate the goal, instead of six systems that do different things. We want to consolidate things into one software that keeps us moving ahead. Tech continues to grow and we have to keep up with it.”
Goals
- Eliminating Paper Processes
- Reducing Errors
- Removing Silos
Results
- Streamlined & Accurate Time Tracking
- Moved Scheduling to Arcoro ExakTime, Saving $25,000 a Year
- Payroll Integration with Sage 300
- One, Scalable Solution
Modules Used
- Arcoro ExakTime
- Core HR
- Performance Management
