Photo by Elevate on Unsplash
Background
A global leader in providing engineering solutions, specializing in factory relocation, machine installation, and heavy machinery moving services.
With a strong presence in close to three dozen locations worldwide, the company offers engineering support to the manufacturing and industrial sectors.
With over a century of experience and over thousands of heavy equipment moving and installation projects completed, the company has a vast network of professionals that enables it to support both local and international projects.
For confidentiality reasons, the company name is not disclosed.
Challenges with the Old System That Made the Company Change
With a diverse and highly mobile workforce across various industries, including manufacturing, construction, and engineering, faced a number of significant challenges with their previous time tracking system:
* Manual Timesheet Collection and Approval:
The process of manually collecting and approving timesheets was inefficient and prone to error. Supervisors were often required to review paper timesheets or email submissions, which was time-consuming and prone to delays. A new time tracking system with digital timesheets, automated approval workflows, and real-time supervisor notifications would streamline the process, reducing delays and improving accuracy in timesheet submission and approval.
* Security Concerns and Data Protection:
The company was concerned about the security and privacy of sensitive time tracking data, particularly when employees were working in remote locations or using mobile devices to log hours. The old system did not provide the level of security needed to protect employee data.
* Inaccurate Time Tracking for On-Site and Mobile Workers:
The company’s employees often work on client sites and across various locations, including remote areas, making traditional clock-in systems impractical. The old system was unable to accurately track hours for employees working on-site or in the field. This led to discrepancies in logged hours and difficulty ensuring accurate payroll for workers who spent significant time off-site.
* Challenges with Managing Project-Based Work and Billable Hours:
The company works on multiple large-scale projects, where employees need to allocate their time to specific jobs or tasks, such as machinery installation or relocation. The old system did not offer effective project-based time tracking, making it difficult to accurately bill clients or analyze labor costs per project.
* Difficulty in Managing International Teams and Time Zones:
With operations spanning several countries, the company struggled to manage teams working across different time zones. The previous system did not account for the complexity of global workforce management, leading to time-tracking errors and difficulties calculating payroll for international staff.
* Manual Processes for Absence Management:
Managing employee leave, including vacation days, sick leave, and personal time off, was a cumbersome and manual process under the old system. Employees had to request time off through email or paperwork, which was then manually processed by HR. This created delays in approvals and confusion regarding remaining leave balances.
The Company’s Time Tracking Key Requirements
The company had several critical requirements for a time tracking solution to address the complexities of its operations, ensuring seamless integration and operational efficiency. These key requirements included:
- Project-Specific Time Tracking – Ability to log hours based on client projects or machinery installations.
- Mobile and Remote Clocking – Support for workers on-site and in remote locations to log their hours.
- Customizable Roles – Ability to manage different employee types (full-time, contractors, etc.).
- Timesheet Automation – Digital submission, approval workflows, and error-free timesheet management.
- Leave Management Capabilities – The ability to easily manage leave requests and approvals across workforce.
Why the Company Chose Jibble Time Tracking
When it came time to find a solution to track the team’s time, Jibble stood out as the perfect fit. Here’s why the company decided to integrate it into their workflow:
1# Real-Time Project Tracking:
The company with a strong focus on industrial projects, needed to track time spent on each task in real time to ensure their projects were running smoothly. Jibble’s real-time tracking feature enabled managers to monitor the progress of each project, instantly recognizing when more resources were needed or when tasks were falling behind schedule. This level of visibility helped optimize the deployment of workers and resources across multiple ongoing projects.
2# Geofencing for Site-Based Timekeeping:
With employees frequently working at construction sites or factories, the company needed a way to ensure that time logs were accurately recorded only when employees were physically present at the job site. Jibble’s geofencing technology allowed the system to automatically detect when employees entered or left the designated work area, making it impossible for employees to clock in from unauthorized locations. This feature greatly reduced the risk of time theft and ensured that time logs aligned with the work performed at each site.
3# Mobile Time Tracking for Diverse Teams:
Many of the company’s employees, including those working in remote or temporary environments, needed a flexible solution for time tracking. Jibble’s mobile app provided the workforce with a user-friendly interface to log hours from any location, regardless of the type of work or the site location. This flexibility simplified time tracking, improved compliance with working hours, and eliminated the need for paper-based timesheets.
4# Efficient Management Features:
Jibble offered the grouping capabilities to ensure that teams of similar schedule are assigned appropriate tracking capabilities. Alerts and reminders were also customizable according to team requirements. Further, leave requests and approval were easily set up, automating processes in one centralized location.
How Was the Onboarding Process?
The company’s onboarding process for Jibble was a strategic effort that aimed to improve time tracking for their teams working on construction and industrial projects across various sites. The implementation began with a needs analysis and a thorough discussion of the company’s unique requirements.
Since the company’s employees are often working on remote sites, the focus was on implementing geofencing and mobile time tracking solutions that could ensure accuracy even when employees were working at multiple locations. The onboarding process took 6 weeks to complete, with the first two weeks dedicated to customizing the system to accommodate different project locations and job-specific time tracking criteria.
The second stage was the deployment phase, where the system was initially introduced to the project managers and administrative staff for familiarization. The company organized training sessions for both office staff and on-site employees. These sessions were essential for showing how to use the mobile app for time tracking and the geofencing functionality for job sites. During this time, the company worked with Jibble’s support team to ensure that their payroll and project management systems were successfully integrated with Jibble’s time tracking software.
The final stage of onboarding was a full roll-out to the field teams, accompanied by additional on-site support to ensure that workers understood how to log their hours accurately while at different job sites. The 6-week process resulted in better time accuracy, reduced administrative burden, and improved project oversight for the company’s operations.
The Benefits Immediately Identified Post Onboarding
Following the onboarding process, the company quickly experienced several key benefits that significantly contributed to its sustainable improvement, including:
1. Accurate Field Time Tracking: Geofencing and mobile tracking enabled the company to ensure that field engineers only clocked in when on-site, improving billing accuracy.
2. Improved Reporting and Analysis: Automated reporting helped managers make data-driven decisions about resource allocation and project timelines.
3. Reduced Time Theft: Real-time clocking in and out, combined with geo-fencing, minimized time theft and ensured employees’ hours were correctly reported.
Main Method of Jibbling In and Out
The key methods for clocking in for the Company is through:
- Mobile App: The company’s field engineers use geofencing for accurate time tracking, only being able to clock in and out at the project sites, ensuring that time is recorded accurately based on location. Live location tracking was also enabled for appropriate assignments.
- Desktop App: For office staff, the system is integrated with the desktop app for easy time logging.
Conclusion
The implementation of Jibble’s time tracking solution has significantly streamlined operations for the UK engineering services company, resolving key challenges such as manual timesheet management, security concerns, and inaccurate time tracking for mobile and on-site workers.
With real-time project tracking, geofencing, and mobile time logging, the company now ensures accurate time reporting across diverse locations and job sites.
The seamless integration with payroll systems and enhanced reporting capabilities has improved resource allocation, reduced administrative tasks, and minimized time theft, resulting in more efficient operations, accurate billing, and better project oversight.
