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With Time&Space from the very start to 10,000 employees
Solution: Time & attendance and access control systems
Content:- How does the company oversee time & attendance of approximately 10,000 employees in Slovenia and Croatia?
- How do the two parallel systems, time & attendance and access control, work together?
- What are the responsibilities of supervisors who oversee time & attendence in such a large system?
Spar Slovenia, d. o. o. / Spar Group
- Sector concerned: retail, mainly groceries
- Company size: large, 2nd largest in Slovenia in terms of market share
- Number of employees: Around 10.000
- Number of branch offices and companies: 142 Spar Group locations in Slovenia
- Interesting facts:
- In addition to Spar Slovenia, the Time&Space system is also used by the sporting goods retailer Hervis with 300 employees and SES, Spar's real estate company in Slovenia.
- At the same time, Spar Croatia, a sister company of Spar Slovenia, is also using Spica International’s solution.
- Spar Slovenia is the only retailer with its own bakery.
Challenge
Spar Slovenia and Spica International have been growing together since Spar's arrival in Slovenia in 1991, with growth at the same time being Spar's biggest challenge in Slovenia over the past 30 years.
"Since adopting its use in 1993, the Time&Space solution allowed us to grow. First locally, and since 2004 centrally. Since then, shops have started using this solution alongside the administration. In 2004, we set up both systems: the time & attendence system, which is centrally linked to the SAP system, and the access control system for authorized access to individual premises for employees and certain external cleaning and maintenance services," says Rado Habjan, Head of IT at Spar Slovenia.
Hardware (terminals, readers and controllers) in the access control system opens the doors according to a predetermined hierarchy (not every employee can enter every room). Access control is the local responsibility of managers, while time & attendance is centralized:
"The entire system in the Slovenian Spar group is managed by two people, one in IT and one in HR. Right from the start, we have been regularly updating the software and no other upgrades were necessary."
Since 1991, the Spar group has grown to become the second largest grocery retailer in Slovenia in terms of market share. Spica's Time&Space system continues to fulfil its purpose. According to Jure Petkovšek, Operations Director at Spar, the number of errors is extremely low:
"From a rights perspective, the management of all Interspar and Spar retail systems have access to the time & attendence system in SAP to intervene with corrections of errors, such as forgetting to clock in or out. Each Interspar has 150 to 200 employees, over whom the Interspar management has the best oversight."
About Spar: Up to 250 sites in Slovenia and Croatia
The systems operate for Spar Slovenia, its sister company Hervis, and SES, Spar's real estate company in Slovenia. The Spar group operates in three fields of activity: grocery, sporting goods and property management.
All this is connected with Time&Space system: at 115 Spar Slovenia locations, 22 Hervis locations and 5 SES locations. This encompasses shops, warehouses, a bakery, administrative offices, etc.
Following the Slovenian example, the Croatian Spar and its local Hervis also decided to use Time&Space. Following the acquisition of the Billa retail stores in Croatia five years ago, Spar now has around 100 locations in Croatia.
This means that the Spar Group in Slovenia and Croatia uses the Time&Space solution at almost 250 locations and for around 10,000 employees. In total, there are 175 Spar terminals in Slovenia alone.
"There are three terminals in each Interspar shopping center: at the service entrance, at the information point and in the restaurant. This is due to the size of the facility and the greater distance between these points, as well as to the work process. So that employees don't have to walk far to get to the terminal when they leave for lunch, for example," says Matej Grašič from the IT Department.
Solutions
The Spar Group runs almost all aspects of its business through the SAP software. Time&Space is connected to SAP via a certified interface, which ensures that all clockings from different locations and terminals are added into SAP.
Spar Slovenija's HR department has access to the SAP system, where all working time records are managed in one place. The payroll, which is fully centralized, is then calculated based on this data.
Access control for authorized persons to individual premises is not linked to the SAP system, but is entirely in the domain of Time&Space.
Spar Slovenia has special arrangements for arriving to and leaving work, according to Jure Petkovšek. A few years ago, the decision was made that gave employees in shops and warehouses 15 minutes from the time they arrived to the time they started work. The system adds this time for the employee upon arrival and upon departure as well. Therefore, there is no need to further check how much time elapses between the arrival of employees at work and their actual start of work. This was also agreed with the trade unions.
"Staff leave and overtime continue to be approved locally by managers. We monitor overtime costs centrally and intervene if they deviate from a certain norm," says Jure Petkovšek. Rado Habjan adds, "In the central services, there is a special portal for announcing vacation leave."
Spar Slovenija is in the process of updating its terminals, as some shops are still using equipment that is over 20 years old. The new terminals are significantly more legible thanks to a color display and feature a touch screen. Around 80 shops have already been equipped with the new terminals, and more than 25 shops have yet to replace them. "By the end of the year, we will have replaced them in 10 more stores," says Matej Grašič.
What about the future? Is it cloud-based? That time is probably approaching too. Until a few years ago, the Spar group was reluctant to embrace cloud solutions. But the pandemic has brought change and the group is also looking into the use of cloud services."Had we had cloud solutions, we could have increased our online sales more during the Covid-19 crisis," says Jure Petkovšek.
In the field of time & attendance, Spica offers the All Hours solution (allhours.com), and in the area of access control, the Door Cloud solution (doorcloud.com).
Results
- At Spar Slovenia, which employs around 5,000 people, the system is controlled by just two people, one in IT department and one in HR.
- The certified SAP interface ensures data synchronization between Time&Space and SAP solutions.
- There are very few time & attendence errors in the Spar system.
- There are three terminals in each Interspar shopping center: at the service entrance, at the information point and in the restaurant. This is due to the size of the facility and the greater distance between these points, as well as to the work process. This means that employees don't have to walk far to get to the terminal when they leave for lunch, for example.
