Tracking Time with Barcodes adds up to Thousands of Dollars, Happy Employees

Abandoning the Obsolete Punch Clock
MadgeTech’s data loggers are used around the world to monitor and record an extensive range of variables, from temperature and humidity to water level, voltage and more. The company employs a total of 32.

For years, MadgeTech relied on a mechanical punch clock with cardboard time cards to track the time of its 10 hourly and part-time salaried employees. Unfortunately, this system created problems for the employees punching their time cards, as well as for the managers trying to add up staff hours.

“With the old time clock, the time cards needed to be lined up exactly for the punch,” said Jon Moriarty, director of manufacturing for MadgeTech. “It was far too easy to punch the wrong lines, and it wasn’t all that easy to use the clock properly.”

Since times on the cards were not calculated automatically, the employee in charge of payroll had to spend at least four to five hours a week manually adding up each employee’s time.

Adding at the Beep of a Barcode
MadgeTech installed WaspTime Standard Barcode Solution, which included time and attendance software, as well as a Wasp barcode-reading time clock. Each employee was issued a credit cardsized card with a barcode printed on the back. Employees clock in and out by simply swiping their cards through the barcode reader. WaspTime software automatically checks the time clock and collects ‘punches,’ accurately tabulating hours worked.

The manager who handles payroll now needs less than one-half hour to review the entire staff’s weekly time. She simply hands the time report to Moriarty on Monday morning for approval, and the process is complete.

Saving Thousands and Empowering Employees
MadgeTech immediately began saving both time and money with WaspTime. First, the employee who handles payroll needs at least four fewer hours per week to perform her duties. This alone translates to more than $3,000 per year in savings, Moriarty said. What’s more, this employee now can spend her time on higher-value tasks in the accounting and human resources areas.

“A small business like ours requires employees to wear multiple hats. Automating the timekeeping process to save a key employee four hours a week translates into true dollar savings for us,” Moriarty said. “This is not imaginary cost savings. These are real hours that now can be applied to more profitable tasks. And in today’s environment, efficiency and productivity are all-important.”

The system also simplifies important time-tracking tasks for employees. For example, part-time salaried employees must work a minimum number of hours each week to maintain benefits. In the past, there was no reliable way to ensure they were fulfilling this requirement. With WaspTime, their hours are tracked automatically, and Moriarty can run a simple report to check their time.

In addition, MadgeTech offers its employees flextime, allowing them to work extra hours on certain days so they can leave early when needed. This policy is popular with employees, who constantly want to know how many hours they have worked in the week. With WaspTime’s included PC Punch module, employees can quickly and easily sign in on a local PC to view their current hours. This saves time for managers and employees alike, since neither must sift through time cards to determine their weekly time.

Because the timekeeping process has been automated, errors have been eliminated on both employees’ and managers’ sides.

“Our employees prefer WaspTime over the old clock,” Moriarty said. “It takes a simple swipe of the card, and it’s impossible to make an error. We definitely would not want to go back to the old time clock. Now, we’re adding two more employees to the system, which will only increase our savings.”

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