Manufacturing company seeks software for time recording, access control, and personnel scheduling (approx. 3,000 employees)

As an internationally active manufacturing company, we primarily operate in the automotive supply sector (approx. 3,000 employees worldwide). We are currently in the process of selecting new time management software for our company (including access, personnel scheduling, and optional use at our international locations in the USA, Mexico, and China). In Germany, we use P&I LOGA for payroll.

The software should meet the following requirements:

Master data/basic data

• Mapping of the complete company structure (company/client, payroll area, business location, plants, divisions, departments/cost centers, subdivisions/planning units and their links)
• Assigning managers and HR administrators to organizational units (company structure)
• Mapping employee groups (e.g., temporary workers, temporary staff), personnel status (e.g., senior executives), activities (e.g., operators, setters), and shift groups
• Visitor management with mini master record, ID card, access authorization, and additional information
• Display multiple contracts per employee
• Personnel master data with
• Vacation entitlement including additional vacation (e.g., severe disability)
• Working time model
• Working time (e.g., part-time)
• Links (e.g., capping, special accounts, etc.)
• Remuneration data (personnel costs including surcharges for forecasts)
• Additional functions (first aiders, etc.)
• Severe disability
• Other employee-related information (e.g., health aspects)
• Functions/qualifications/activities with grade/validity
• Mapping of routines for vocational schools with school days/rhythm, link to the “Easysoft” training software
• Integration of a BDE and project time recording with multi-level recording Cost centers, cost units, cost types
• Definition of error types (note, warning, error)
• Defining colors for account and error types
• Defining accounts (flexible definition)
• Defining wage types and linking them to payroll
• Integrating the current annual calendar with public holidays and company holidays
• Integrating target staffing levels for resource planning from the staffing plan (currently P&I Loga / ADP / Venturesoft)
• Recording vehicle registration numbers

ID card management

• Assigning ID cards to employees (personnel numbers) and contracts (contract numbers – e.g. for multiple contracts)
• Storing automatic ID card validity depending on contract period
• Supporting different identification methods in addition to ID cards (e.g., fingerprint)
• Connecting different ID card manufacturers (please specify supported ID card manufacturers)
• Integrating ordering processes (e.g., canteen) with transfer to payroll
• Defining important parameters such as status (active, blocked), validity
• System-based historical documentation of ID card use (issue, return)
• Defining different ID card classes (time recording/access) and types (employee/visitor)
• Integrating extended usage options such as company/machine data recording, vending machines

Access

• Group individual terminals/doors into access profiles and assign them to individual employees/user groups (department/cost center)
• Additional assignment of individual terminals to individual employees (e.g., key box/security areas)
• Automatic assignment of access profiles via employee cost centers
• Automatic assignment of access profiles for temporary loans
• Grouping of individual time periods into time profiles and assignment to individual employees/user groups (department/cost center)
• Additional assignment of individual time periods to individual employees (e.g., temporary staff, laboratories)
• Automatic assignment of time profiles via working time models
• Connection of different terminal manufacturers (please specify supported hardware manufacturers)
• Support for different technical procedures (please specify supported interface technology)
• Linking access authorization to an active contract/master record
• Assigning access and time profiles for visitors (tradespeople, consultants, etc.) without an active contract
• Linking to Active Directory (e.g., determining presence)
• Controlling access via conditions/rules (e.g., minimum number of employees in the room)
• Enabling approval processes (request, approval, activation) via employees and managers
• Designing an authorization workflow for deviating access authorizations

Editing times & absences

• Recording and editing booking accounts (absences) and schedule data (personnel resource planning) on a graphical basis (daily and weekly schedules for retroactive, current, and future periods)
• Planning on-call duty/special arrangements
• Creating individual and group bookings (e.g., one employee-one booking or one employee-multiple bookings)
• Creating mass entries (e.g., multiple employees-one booking or multiple employees-multiple bookings)
• Displaying additional personnel information such as vacation status, flex time status, employee photo in both the shift planner and the individual mask
• Making corrections both in the overview (shift planner) and in the individual mask (booking overview of individual employees)
• Displaying overtime according to settings (threshold value) and approving overtime (daily)
• Display and filter/sort employees by cost center/subarea/employee group (temporary staff, agency workers, jobbers), additional functions (first aiders, etc.)
• Connect SAP ERP PP and submodules (e.g., machine assignment)
• Connect variable production data collection (setup, downtime, OEE)
• Display of a cockpit/dashboard with definable employee information for managers/planners (e.g., date of birth, attendance, etc.)
• Storage of shift models by managers within the works agreement for each area (in the shift planner, if applicable)
• Displaying errors/notices/warnings in the graphical display (frame time violations, incorrect bookings, ArbZG violations)
• Notifying/displaying ArbZG violations, absences, threshold values (cockpit/dashboard)
• Display of monthly (time) caps
• Loading of planned and target costs (hourly rates from payroll) and the resulting balance for the selected period and employee
• Mobile recording of travel times (absences, foreign travel, etc.) by the employee via an approval process
• Correction of bookings by the employee via the terminal (last booking/incorrect bookings)
• Define absence groups (e.g., sick with/without EFZ) for reporting purposes
• Easily create absence accounts
• Easily create neutral absence accounts such as sick info (workflow check) or special leave (authorization)
• Easily create intra-day absences/hours (e.g., partially worked due to illness, 50% vacation)
• Inserting comments/notes (day-related) (e.g., planned to leave early)
• Displaying vacation/entitlement/special leave/additional vacation in the overview (shift planner)
• Printing the shift schedule – but displaying sick days as days of absence in the printout
• Set up workflows (approval process for absence recording (vacation and time off), time correction, overtime)

Working time/shift models

• Approval of specific shift models for managers (company agreement per area)
• Assign approved shifts or shift positions and breaks via the manager
• Defining break models/break regulations (variable, fixed, working time-dependent breaks)
• Calculating clocked breaks with paid shift breaks in 3-shift operation (according to collective agreement)
• Designing flexible shift models - Combination of various factors (number of shifts, shift times, weekly working hours, breaks, etc.))
• Defining framework times in shift operations (shift start/end)
• Defining clocking rounding (e.g., 3-minute intervals)
• Notification for planning outside the stored shift model
• Automatic shift recognition (clocking in/out)
• Automatic shift pattern recognition (sequence of shift models)
• Definition of capping rules (automatic storage of capping based on the shift model)
• Creation of special accounts/long-term accounts
• Creation of special account rules (automatic transfer to a special account in the case of overtime on weekends, for example)
• Individual storage of target days and target hours (distribution for part-time employees)
• Surcharge models for collectively agreed shift surcharges (late work, night work, overtime, public holidays, etc.)
• Recording the validity of a shift model
• Automatic assignment of agreed shift models down to the (lowest) level of the production units

Reporting

• Evaluating violations of the Working Hours Act
• Evaluate for company integration management – absences due to illness, reintegration periods, display of frequent short-term illnesses and long-term illnesses
• Issue attendance lists for fire safety (plant-related with areas)
• Issue errors differentiated by error type
• Issue an annual overview of “absences” with annual totals
• Display capped times
• Issuing working hours per area/cost center, including cost center transfers
• Issuing overviews of cost center transfers with evaluation (total costs) and justification
• Display of personnel times (target time gross and net (excluding public holidays), actual time, absences, balance, sick leave in hours and as a percentage, capped times, GLZ status, remaining vacation) - Overall view down to detailed view (“drill down”)
• Recording individually defined key figures (KPI, scorecard): e.g., monthly balance converted to number of employees, remaining vacation converted to number of employees, sickness rate, paid sick leave
• Evaluating a monthly overview per employee with time entries, breaks, absences, surcharges, and flexitime status
• Evaluate overtime outside the working time model
• Graphically display the development of time accounts and absences
• Evaluate personnel costs from resource planning (e.g., changes to the shift model)
• Issue a vacation overview with entitlement, remaining vacation time currently and at the end of the year
• Development of time accounts and flex time accrual or reduction (actual and planned)
• Evaluating authorizations per terminal and per employee
• Displaying unevaluated times outside the specified framework time from the working time model
• Querying flexitime balances, remaining vacation, etc. on a specific date
• Comparing planned/actual times in graphical and percentage form
• Evaluating employee data (e.g., vehicle registration numbers, communication data, birthdays, functions, severely disabled employees, tasks, qualifications, contract end dates, contractual working hours, etc.)
• Integrating a reminder function, e.g., for deadlines, birthdays (dashboard for managers) and self-stored appointments (e.g., weddings, training courses, etc.)
• Display of an annual overview, e.g. for vacation planning
• Output of the shift schedule in digital and analog form according to the selected view
• Individual queries of remaining vacation and flexitime status at the recording terminal, via a portal and/or an app
• Integration of an information tool for employees (e.g. notification of shift changes via app, SMS, email)
• Integration of a flexible evaluation generator (accounts, dependencies, links, time period => database query)
• Automatic notification of absences, working time violations, threshold value display (cockpit/dashboard)
• Evaluate time models per employee and employee per time model
• Integrate a bidirectional “payroll” interface to common accounting systems
• General output via all sorting and filter criteria

Personnel resource planning

• Output of notifications for overtime (outside the shift model)
• Integration of an “overtime request” workflow
• Planning of additional overtime (hours and days outside the shift model)
• Extrapolation of personnel costs
• Extrapolation of flexitime development according to planning
• Integration of on-call planning
• Grouping and sorting of shift groups (see personnel master data)
• Adjusting the view in the planning and in the output to weeks/months/years for vacation planning, for example
• Hiding/filtering certain accounts/absences
• Creating a planning proposal based on shift patterns/shift models or the last shifts actually worked
• Enabling additional individual adjustment of shift planning
• Displaying employee photos in the planning view
• Embedding an additional comment field for free text
• Planning multiple variants, publishing the final schedule (versioned)
• Selecting plan times according to shift model (flexible working time development)
• Issuing warnings/notices in the event of working time violations
• Issuing warnings/notices in the event of missing first aiders
• Define/import target staffing levels for resource planning with connection to payroll/HCM, including qualifications, functions, and other aspects
• Automatically suggest shift staffing based on defined/imported target staffing levels
• Display additional information such as number of employees per shift group, total hours worked
• Output the current shift schedule both digitally via monitor/screen and in paper format
• Integration of a tool or, alternatively, an interface for personnel cost planning (employees, costs, shift surcharges)
• Enabling a “staff pool view” for coordinating temporary staff surpluses or requirements for internal staff exchanges – conscious initiation with recording of quantity and qualifications for a defined period or number of hours
• Historical display for intra-month changes to shift groups/cost centers (master data)
• Mapping of workflows/information (e.g., shift schedule accessible via app and shift swap requests) for FK/MA
• Exchange of additional information via app (info to MA across individual shift groups)

Travel

• Record all data for travel expense reporting
• Record relevant data using MSS/ESS functions via portal/app/similar
• Record travel times
• Enable cost center transfers

Cost center transfer

• Creation of a request for the transfer of employees with automatic assignment of additional temporary authorizations (e.g., access, working time model) in the new area by the transferring area for a specific period (with the option of extension)
• Automatic transfer of the hours actually worked in the requested period according to employment group (for employees in the indirect area, only target time)
• Create a request for the transfer of working hours by employees or temporary staff from the transferring department, specifying the period and reason, confirmation by the receiving department
• Allocate hours worked to several cost centers via transfers
• Display of the “Transfers” overview on the dashboard/cockpit with reasons for the transferor and transferee
• Import of transfers into payroll for the allocation of total costs (as of the key date)
• Transfer of working hours even without an approval process, e.g., for assignments abroad
• Import of service times booked on machines from SAP ERP

Project time recording

• Recording project times (hours, employees, project number/description)
• Linking to central project number generator (merging customer projects, SAP internal orders, tool numbers, etc.)
• Defining extended criteria (e.g., class such as processes, change/sales projects, administration, or activities)
• Assign project hours to cost centers or cost units
• Integration of project-related equipment possible
• Evaluate project times using hourly rates
• Define individual statuses
• Automatic notifications through plausibility checks (e.g., missing entries, entries > working time, etc.)
• Open interfaces (e.g., connection to resource planning for pre-production) – please explain
• Flexible and graphical evaluation
• Dependency between working time and project time
• Integration of BDE with machine data connection, material/warehouse
• Direct recording of project hours by employees or managers

Operational data collection

• Transfer of production times
• Transfer of machine times
• Mapping of functions within an order-related PEP, taking into account, for example, setup times

Administration

• Integration of an authorization concept (organization, persons, menu selection, accounts, reporting, mobile bookings) with users and roles
• Assignment of substitute roles via workflows (user requests substitute role, manager approves)
• Automatic assignment of authorizations for trainees according to location (link to “EasySoft” training plan)
• Import/integration of employee photos from payroll/master data and/or from the network drive
• Program settings (calculation, etc.) as system-wide parameters, if necessary per group, level, location
• Automatic import of data from: master data, organization, activities, contract data, remuneration data/hourly rates
• Automatic export of data from: absences, variable data, flexitime balance, vacation entitlement (action-based or key date)
• General integration of interfaces and exports (Excel/Access/DataWarehouse/SAP)
• Integration of an interface to P&I LOGA
• Integration of an interface to ADP/USA
• Integration of an interface to Venturesoft/Mexico
• Enabling action-based import (e.g., entry)
• Integration of notifications/warnings for failed or incorrect imports – event-based
• Integration of notifications for incorrect calculations, unassignable postings
• Integration of a calculation lock for retroactive changes
• Automated transfer of master data to terminals (KABA interface)
• Statement on the frequency of release changes/updates – customer-specific adjustments possible?
• Integration of plausibility checks/dependencies during input
• Free definition of mandatory fields
• Continuous historical documentation of rights and changes

General requirements

• Name two reference customers of comparable size (>1,000 employees, industry, international)
• Enclose an indicative price offer for Germany (license model, 2,500 users, both operating concepts)
• Enclose an indicative price quote for the US/Mexico/China (license model, 1,200 users, both operating concepts)
• Worldwide support in country-specific language and time zone (MEX/USA/DEU/CHN) (please explain)
• Specify available SLAs (e.g., response times, etc.)
• Information on connection to possible HCM systems (e.g., SuccessFactors, LOGA3, Haufe Umantis, etc.) (please explain)

Internationality

• System languages offered:
• German
• English
• Spanish
• Chinese
• Are other languages available? Which ones?
• The language versions are available in:
• Screen dialogs
• Field contents
• Forms
• Help texts
• Country versions (localization such as laws and standards or jurisdiction)
• Germany (federal state of Baden-Württemberg, e.g., company calendar)
• USA
• Mexico
• China
• Other
• The system is Unicode-compatible
• Creation of workflows by named key users of the customer
• Customization of system parameters by named key users of the customer
• Historical documentation of all entries and changes

Cross-system functions

MS Office integration

• Output of all displayed tables to MS Excel
• Output of master data lists to MS Excel
• Output of statistics and evaluations to MS Excel
• Output of forms to MS WORD

Help system, online documentation

• Complete user documentation with search functions
• Context-sensitive help, i.e. help texts for fields and masks/functions
• Help texts can be changed by authorized users (WORD-like)

Workflow functionality

• Integrated workflow system/generator
• Workflows can be created by customers themselves
• Agent-related to-do lists
• Display of individual worklists
• The link to the relevant application location for the work step is stored in the workflow element
• Integration of external applications (e.g., MS Office/Adobe)
• Specifying deadline constraints/target processing times for work steps in workflows
• Resubmission of a process by a certain date
• Escalation workflow if the processor does not respond

Tools

• For creating, maintaining, and modifying forms
• For creating, maintaining, and modifying interfaces
• For reporting (query and list generator)
• Tool for migrating data from legacy systems, for example (brief description of how it works)
• Free definition of plausibility checks possible

IT technology (operating concept)

Preferred operating concept: On-premise (in-house)

• Server and database technology (back end)
• Microsoft Windows as server operating system (specify supported versions)
• Microsoft SQL Server as database system (specify supported versions)
• Support for virtualization based on VMWare
• Support for Citrix XenApp for publishing the GUI application
• Data
• On-the-fly backup (at runtime)
• On-the-fly restore (at runtime)

Alternative operating concept: SaaS (Software as a Service)

• ITIL certification
• ISO 27001 certification
• VdS guidelines for certified cyber security (VdS 3473)
• High availability is guaranteed throughout the year (365x24)
• The sensitivity of the data for this project is assessed by us in accordance with VdS 3473 at a level yet to be defined.
• The measures to be derived from this to ensure data protection, data security, and availability will be taken and defined in accordance with our IT policy (“Use of SaaS or Cloud Computing Solutions”) and agreed upon in a specific contract.

IT Technology (General)

User interface (front end)

• Provision via desktop application (GUI) on Windows basis
• Provision via web application (specification of supported browsers and other system requirements – especially browser plug-ins)
• Access via mobile application/app (specification of supported smartphones, e.g., Apple, etc.)
• Access from smartphones for ESS/MSS (in the internal network)
• Access from smartphones for ESS/MSS (via mobile communications)

Access management and logging

• Role concept / user management / access rights
• Logging of changes
• Support for single sign-on (one-time login)

Interfaces

• Integration of the existing PDM Pro.File DMS system possible
• Output of documents as PDF
• Email integration (Outlook): e.g., direct sending of PDF documents from the application
• Sharepoint integration supported

Connection to time recording terminals

• Support for KABA terminals (specify the supported interface technology, including a description, as an attachment to the offer)

LOCATION | Germany

Hardware / Software

• B-Net 92 50 - Control unit for access control
• B-Net 92 90 Access manager
• B-Net 92 90-2 Access manager
• Bedanet 92 90 Access manager
• B-Net 9340 - Terminal for time recording
• B-web 9340 - Terminal for time recording
• Kaba Terminal 97 40
• Kaba Compact reader 91 10 with Legic reader
• B-Net 91 04 - Legic
• B-COM Java (technical interface software from KABA)

LOCATION | China

Hardware / Software

• B-web 93 00
• B-net 92 90 -2
• Finger Reader B-Web 91 05 FP
• Kaba exos (technical interface software)
• Gaia works (current time recording software)

LOCATION | Mexico

Hardware/Software

• Time recording: “BioLiteNET” fingerprint device with “BioStar 1.81” software (both from Suprema)
• Access control: Door controller and “AxTraxNG” software from Rosslare/card reader from HID

LOCATION | USA

Hardware/Software

• Time recording: ADP terminal with HID-compatible card reader
• Access control: Card reader (RC-03-PRX, HID-compatible) and software (Crystal Matrix) from ISONAS

LOCATION | USA

Hardware/Software

• Time recording: ADP terminal with ioProx XSF 26 bit Wiegand
• Access: Terminals: ioProx RFID reader (model P225W26)
• Cards: ioProx XSF 26 bit Wiegand
• Software: MAXSYS Control Panel PC4020

Note from SoftGuide:

The rough weighting of the individual requirements (must, can or optional) can be requested from SoftGuide.