We are a global industrial service provider operating in the project business. Our projects typically have long durations (several years). To replace the current “paper timesheets” and optimize the management of work and project hours, we are looking for a web-based time reporting system or a time and project tracking solution.
1. Tasks:
- Current Situation: Replacement of the current “paper timesheets”
Employees use these to allocate hours worked to recipient objects or account assignment objects. The supervisor approves these with a signature.
- Planned Goal: Setting hour budgets via web-based work packages, including time reporting
The employee is assigned an “hour budget” for their work package (“what” is to be done “by when” “in what timeframe”)
2. Process
- Commercial Project Manager: Entering the hour budgets per account object, including the timeframe in which the work must be completed
(The values come from the initial calculation. The hours are broken down into work packages/PSP elements.)
- The supervisor assigns their employees (the employee list comes from SAP) to the possible account objects (these also come from SAP).
Notes:
- If account objects are missing, they must first be entered in SAP.
- The information regarding “which employee” is authorized to post to which project cannot be retrieved from SAP.
- The supervisor allocates the hourly budgets to employees.
= He assigns each employee an hourly budget per account object, which must be worked off within a configurable time period.
- The employee distributes the hours recorded the previous day (via the Kaba-Benzing time tracking system) and offered by the system to the permitted account assignment objects. The smallest time unit that can be entered is 15 minutes.
If the budget is exceeded, the employee must have a budget increase entered by their supervisor.
Holidays and company holidays are already pre-assigned but can be changed.
The goal is for every employee to enter their hours daily.
The supervisor must process the review/approval in batches at least once a week.
- The supervisor reviews the recorded hours and approves them.
Upon approval, the data is transferred to SAP.
If rejected, the employee receives the data back for correction.
Notes:
A supervisor can also “enter hours.” = They assign their worked hours to the applicable account objects.
A supervisor cannot change their employees’ hours (dual-control principle)
- Additional functions:
Substitute arrangements:
The supervisor can enter one or more substitutes for themselves.
Employees can also have substitutes entered who enter the data
(Example: For assembly workers, the secretariat enters the data).
Reminder function:
The employee/supervisor receives an email if they have forgotten to enter or approve data.
Administration:
Overarching evaluation of data/missing entries; correction of data (e.g., after a power outage)
Analysis functions:
- For department heads:
- How many hours were logged “when” and “by whom” for which orders?
- Where are there overruns?
- How much of the “budgets” has been used/is still available?
- Where does the department stand with its orders?
- For employees:
- What is the personal hourly budget per order?
- How much of the “budgets” has been used/is still available?
- Vacation days used / sick days
- The employee cannot check flex-time accounts
- For Controlling:
- Only in the SAP system: Summary lists across all account objects
3. Logging in to the application:
- The SAP personnel number is the recommended form of identification, as it is stored in the SAP system.
Note: You can also log in using your AD credentials (via a small bridge program)
4. Rights:
- The employee can only see “the account assignment objects assigned to them”.
- The supervisor/administrator can see all account assignment objects in the company.
5. Technical Requirements:
- The software is based on HTML5 and does not use ActiveX.
- Integration with the company's Active Directory must be possible.
- The company provides a VM platform and an SQL Server.
6. Special cases that need to be addressed:
- Illness/other “employee unavailability”:
Information already known to HR (illness, vacation, etc.) is automatically imported as a suggestion (activity type).
- Employees have no system access (internet access): for example:
- Vacation
Suggestion: Employees can enter data in advance.
- Business trip:
The HR department enters the hours with the travel expense report.
- Incorrect entries (and the hours have already been transferred to SAP)
Open: Correction by?
7. Other Obligations of the Contractor:
- A preliminary check will be conducted to determine whether the required data can be retrieved from the company's SAP system:
Note: This check is necessary so that the company can estimate any additional effort required on the SAP side.
- Accounting objects
- PSP
- Internal orders (quotes, R&D, capital projects)
- Cost centers
- Employees + Supervisors
- Performance data
- Time entries
- Calendar data (company holidays, public holidays)
- The Contractor ensures that the system fits into the company’s IT strategy and can be migrated to the central system at the appropriate time without significant costs:
- PSH system
- HRcules system
- Languages: The system will be set up in one language (German).
Not included in the quoted price
- SAP system users
- SQL database incl. system users?
- Application server (operating system)?
- SAP Connect?
- SAP Customizing?
General Information
1. Personnel Statistics / Forecast -> Number of employees who log hours; current situation
- Currently logging hours: 200 employees (approx. 150 log their own hours; 70 have their hours logged by a substitute)
- Not logging hours: 29 (Administration / Management / Secretariats)
- Plan for end of 2019: 250 employees (total); this represents an increase of 20 “employees who log hours”
Definitions / Target Expansion / Locations:
- “People who log hours” may include:
- In-house employees
- Freelancers, temporary workers (approx. 50)
- This does not apply to:
- Interns
- Apprentices
- Temporary staff
- Doctoral candidates / Master’s candidates
- Students
- Employees are stored in SAP with a personnel number (= SAP master record):
(All persons who “receive money from the company” in any form are stored in SAP.)
- Freelancers, temporary staff
- Employees
- Interns, apprentices, temporary staff, doctoral candidates, Master’s candidates, students
- Definition of “Supervisors”:
- Supervisors are the cost center managers and are entered in the SAP system (FI/CO) (however, as free text without a personnel number)
- Time reporting applies to the following locations:
- Office
- Manufacturing (at two locations)
- Long-term construction sites
2. Accounting objects (The SAP nomenclature is used):
- Orders:
- Sales orders = Projects (approx. 100 active projects)
Sales orders can have up to 400 PSP sub-elements.
- Internal orders
- Quotes PSP element
- R&D
- Capital construction orders (used very rarely)
- Cost centers (there are approx. 25 cost centers where hours are recorded)
An employee may only post to their “own cost center” (post to master cost center)
- Activity Types
- Approx. > 100 cost elements are relevant for time posting.
- In addition, each cost center has 2–4 of its own activity types. These play a role in “analyses” (e.g., project managers, travel times).
3. Planned project phases or approach:
- Functional tests:
- IT Department: Functional test
- Purchasing Department: Practical test
- Commercial Department: Practical test
- Roll-out (staggered by 4 weeks) across various departments
An SAP interface is essential.
The software is intended for use by approximately 250 employees.