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CyberShift: The Timing Is Right

Manufacturing executives know there are hidden cost savings throughout the business cycle—it’s just a matter of knowing where to look and then having the tools and resources to tap into them.

Workforce management provider CyberShift, www.cybershift.com, Parsippany, N.J., is helping companies take full advantage of these hidden cost-saving treasures by managing their most controllable expense: labor costs.

Much has been written about how IT (information technology) helps manufacturers reduce inventories, shorten cycle times, enhance collaboration, and tighten supply chains. While all of these areas are important, the cost savings and efficiencies that can be uncovered within the workforce itself are abundant. For 10 years, CyberShift’s technology has collected not only the amount of time employees spend at work but also realtime business forecasting, labor scheduling, and most recently, expense management.

START-IT editors have been impressed with CyberShift for some time now, particularly in that it offers its workforce management solutions in two ways: the traditional license fee route and SaaS (Software as a Service). The editors also note CyberShift’s solutions are scalable from companies with a minimum of 1,000 employees in one facility to those with thousands in multiple facilities. That is why CyberShift was selected as one of START-IT ’s Hottest Companies of 2007.

Partnerships are a big part of what makes workforce management provider CyberShift successful which is another reason why START-IT is recognizing the company for its contribution to manufacturers. Its partnership philosophy, especially with its customers, is one of the main reasons why TCI Tire Centers, www.tirecenters.com, Duncan, S.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Michelin Tires North America Inc., www.michelin-us.com, Greenville, S.C., invested in CyberShift.

Specializing in commercial truck tire sales, service solutions, and the manufacturing of custom-mold and pre-mold truck retreads, TCI Tire Centers has more than 128 locations in 39 states and 2,500 employees. It needed to reduce payroll preparation time by implementing an automated system to efficiently deploy, accurately schedule, and compensate its diverse workforce. CyberShift’s Web based Workforce Management 3G suite of products provides TCI Tire Centers with a cost-effective, comprehensive solution that dramatically reduces up-front costs, scales easily with business requirements, and accelerates time-to-benefit.

In short, the company wanted to centralize the collection of how much time its employees spend working, whether it be factory workers or workers on the road performing service calls on vehicles. Traditionally, employee hours were documented or tracked via phone or email. Employees would email their time sheets in an Excel spreadsheet, which then had to be manually inputted into the payroll system. It was difficult to manage and prone to errors, says Julie Bridwell, payroll manager for TCI Tire Centers.

By implementing CyberShift’s Web-based Workforce Management 3G suite of software products as its new workforce management system, TCI Tire Centers now have a full range of features at its disposal that include time and attendance, labor management, employee scheduling, employer and manager self-service, and related workforce management solutions.

With CyberShift’s software loaded onto biometric time clocks at all of TCI Tire Centers’ locations, employees’ work hours are automatically calculated and sent to the payroll system. “We now have consistency configuring employee time,” explains Bridwell. “Rounding hours was done differently in spreadsheets, and interpreting the information was different. Now we put business policies right into the CyberShift system.”

Another area that the company was able to help TCI Tire Centers’ HR (human resource) issue was with its service technician workers. CyberShift suggested these employees would be good candidates to use the Web to clock in and out using a handheld device. “Our president wants to know what we make on our service calls,” says Bridwell. “It will help our business to be able to see an opportunity to make more money. We make the most money we can and give the best service.”

With the new tool, TCI Tire Centers’ employees now clock in to perform certain functions on the factory floor. When a specific job is completed, an employee can clock out and then clock in on a different job. This way TCI Tire Centers will know exactly which employee executed the job and how long it took. This will also allow TCI Tire Centers to adjust how much it should charge customers. “Our manufacturing facility will help us in costing purposes,” she says.

CyberShift worked closely with TCI Tire Centers to fully understand its needs, says Bridwell, adding the company was in the process of going with a different workforce management provider, but it didn’t understand TCI Tire Centers’ market or how the company operated. “With CyberShift, it better understood what we are saying about tire centers. We believed there was room for that partnership to grow,” says Bridwell.

The past year has been good for CyberShift not just from a customer success-story stance but in other tangible forms. In 2006, CyberShift increased its revenues 40%, and new orders grew higher as it transitioned to a SaaS model. Bob Farina, CEO, CyberShift, however, is quick to point out he doesn’t foresee a time when the company abandons license fees. CyberShfit is also conducting more business with larger clients, as companies become more comfortable standardizing on one product line.

CyberShift isn’t the type of company that believes in growing its marketshare through acquisitions but would rather partner with other companies whose technology complements its offerings. One of the more recent partnerships formed was with Ceridian Corp., www.myceridian.com, Minneapolis, Minn., which offers a broad range of HR services, including payroll, benefits administration, tax compliance, HR information systems, employee assistance program, and work-life solutions. It is the payroll system TCI Tire Centers use, and Bridwell says the partnership between CyberShift and Ceridian is working beautifully.

While CyberShift is a big proponent of partnering, that’s not to say, however, it wouldn’t acquire a company it believed could strengthen its offerings. Late in 2005, CyberShift purchased Necho Systems Corp., a provider of expense-management software. This strategic acquisition combines innovative solutions that help decision-makers at midsize to large, complex companies better manage their top two controllable business costs: labor and employee expenses.

CyberShift’s Web-based, enterprise-class workforce management solutions are focused on improving organizational performance and profitability by optimizing and managing the deployment of an organization’s labor force through an integrated suite of applications. Through time and attendance, advanced scheduling and reporting and analytics, companies can more effectively plan, manage, and deploy their workforces.

Necho’s solutions automate the processing and facilitate the management of employee business expenses, the second largest controllable expense after labor costs. By listening and responding to customers, CyberShift helps them become more efficient and profitable, ultimately making it one hot company.