BON'A PARTE
Time & Attendance registration at BON´A PARTE twice as advantageous
For the postal order company, BON´ A PARTE, Statistics Denmark’s requirement for the reporting of absence seemed, off hand, to be an inconvenient workload. But after having chosen the time registration system, ProMark from Mark Information, the inconveniences turned to successes – for administration as well as for employees. Reporting occurs simply through IT systems and the employees now have an overview of their exact working hours, holidays and lieu days.
BON´A PARTE is a Danish success story within the sale of fashion wear through postal orders and the Internet. In the course of a few years, the turnover has grown tremendously to DKK 0.5 billion and the company has established itself in Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland.
At the same time, many new workplaces for Danish employees have been created – 400 in total. The many new appointments also meant that BON 'A PARTE had grown to the size which, according to Danish law, necessitated the reporting of the employees' absence to Statistics Denmark.
"At first we thought, oh no – an extra workload of no benefit to us. We quickly discovered that we needed an IT solution in order to automate the procedure – otherwise we would use far too much time on the task in administration," says financial and personnel manager, Ella Marie Hansen at BON´A PARTE and continues:
"We discovered ProMark and it was something of an eye-opener for all of us. The employees were given an easy registration, where before we had paper time sheets and at the same time they obtained online access to their own time, attendance and absence registrations, including holidays and lieu days.
Administration also reduced the time used in connection with absence registration and daily time and attendance registration because much of this now occurs automatically. So today, there are resources to solve other tasks.
"Previously, we entered the time sheets for the registration of absence and working hours. This was time-demanding and there was a risk of error. Today, this occurs automatically so we actually have less work. At the same time, our data basis is in order. With the paper solution, we sometimes lacked an overview of absenteeism. We have control of that today - and when we discuss matters in the safety committee, these discussions are based on facts - not assumptions," says payroll bookkeeper, Lene Sasser at BON'A PARTE.
Simple – in a good way
If anyone was anxious that the employees would not like IT-based reporting, they had their fears put to rest.
"The employees have accepted ProMark very well indeed. In shipping, our colleagues have asked for an efficiency report at department level to be placed on the notice board. This provides a good guide in relation to the goals in their balanced scorecard," says Ella Marie Hansen and continues:
"The system is simple in a good way, because it is easy for everyone to use. Employees say that it is easy to register time and absence and the screen images are clear and easy to understand."
There are many reports that have not been put into use yet. Management has many new analysis options that can help to create new knowledge.
"We look forward to working more with the many reporting options. This gives us the opportunity to optimise staffing," tells Ella Marie Hansen.
Implementation took a couple of months
After ProMark was selected as the time and attendance registration system, things happened quickly. The solution was ready to be used in the course of a couple of months with intense activity.
"The consultants from Mark Information focused on the task. They worked hard on creating the desired integration to the payroll system from Epos," tells Lene Sasser.
"Today, ProMark operates without problems. I think I have called support four times since New Year. The whole company is very satisfied – and we look forward to making use of even more of the options in ProMark," concludes Ella Marie Hansen.
ABOUT BON´A PARTE - a postal order success
Growth from DKK 1.75 million in turnover in 1997 to DKK 0.5 billion in 2007 speaks for itself. This is about a company with enormous success. BON´A PARTE's concept of the sale of fashion wear via postal orders and the Internet has the interest of many consumers. And the success has been exported to Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland where market shares are gained on a daily basis. Today, BON´A PARTE sells more than 4.5 million items of clothing per year and 1.2 million packages are sent annually from the logistics centre.
FACTS
Effective IT systems bind BON´A PARTE together
- ProMark – time and attendance registration – arrive/leave and absence registration
- Epos – payroll system
- SAP - ERP system
- SAS Insitute – Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence
- Pulsen – postal order and logistics system
Published September 17, 2008
