The African food and beverage industry is a key driver of economic growth. In particular, this holds true in regions like Sango. With a wide range of food products being produced and distributed across the area, efficient operations are essential. However, the Operations Manager of a leading food manufacturing company faced major challenges in workforce management. Specifically, the main issues were employee shift scheduling and attendance tracking. To address these challenges, the company started exploring time & attendance solutions. Their goal was to improve workforce efficiency and streamline operations.

Operational Challenges Highlight the Need for Time & Attendance Solutions

The company’s Operations Manager struggled with several ongoing issues:

• Firstly, managing continuous shifts was a problem. Employees frequently worked long hours, including night shifts. Unfortunately, the current system could not handle this efficiently. This led to unrecorded attendance and missed overtime hours.
• Secondly, leave tracking was not consistent. As a result, the system had gaps and errors, which affected productivity.
• Moreover, confirming overtime manually took up a lot of time each month. This process kept the Production Manager from focusing on key tasks.
• Additionally, errors in shift allocation occurred often. Without an automated attendance system, there was a risk of either too many or too few workers during shifts.

Why Solving This Problem Matters Now?

The company had already set up Suprema fingerprint devices across the campus. These devices recorded staff time and attendance well. However, the HR team still found it hard to manage night shift records and long working hours. As a result, there were gaps in real-time tracking, which caused mistakes in payroll and lowered overall productivity.

Also, without an automatic system to handle shift extensions and overtime, the team had to do everything by hand. This led to errors and slow processes. Because of this, it became important to fix these problems quickly to keep operations running smoothly and maintain good performance.

Custom Time and Attendance Management System

To overcome these challenges, the company implemented a custom-built time and attendance management system using .NET and SQL technologies. This system was designed specifically to handle their unique needs and came with several key features:

• Automated Shift Scheduling: The system automatically manages continuous and night shifts, allowing smooth transitions from one shift to another.

• Effective Absence Tracking: It also allows the HR team to track and approve leaves in real-time, reducing mistakes.

• Overtime Compliance: The system accurately records overtime hours, so manual work by the Production Manager is no longer needed.

Key System Integrations and Accessibility

• Integrated Attendance Data: The system collects real-time data from Suprema devices across all blocks, ensuring accurate shift information.

• Seamless Payroll Integration: Attendance data connects directly with payroll, which reduces admin work and ensures on-time salary payments.

• Mobile and Web Accessibility: The solution works on both web and mobile platforms, giving HR and operations teams more flexibility.

Impact and Results

After adopting the customized system, the company saw clear improvements:

• Increased Productivity: Automated scheduling and real-time tracking allowed managers to focus on more important tasks.

• Error Reduction: Shift and overtime errors were eliminated, which reduced disputes.

• Smart Decisions: Real-time data allowed faster and better decision-making.

• Higher Satisfaction: Timely payroll and accurate tracking boosted employee morale and trust.

Conclusion

The customized time & attendance solutions not only met the company’s needs but also gave it a competitive edge. By using smart technologies and real-time data, the company improved how it manages its workforce. As a result, this led to higher efficiency and supported long-term growth in the fast-paced food and beverage industry.

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