Just in case you think that it is something new, the company Blick Plc has been active in the field of time and attendance for nearly 80 years, long before the computer was ever dreamed of. In the early days the process used a clock and a time stamp on an attendance card, but since the advent of computer technology the UK-based company has remained at the cutting edge of what today is referred to as time management systems.
Through what is today Blick SA, the group has been functional in South Africa for 52 years with the local operation contributing significantly to both R&D and device manufacturing for the global operations. With its focus on time management linked to access control (and communications), Blick SA dominates the market in terms of the local mining industry but also has hardware, software and systems installed throughout the local economy with prestige clients including Delta, Huletts, RAU, Eskom, Mediclinic Hospitals and Sun City, to name but a few.
The purpose of this article is to review how Blick SA tackled and solved a unique problem for one of its major customers, South African Breweries (SAB), and how their innovative approach to this problem has now found acceptance by other SAP users both locally and internationally.
SAB had been using a computerised time management system supplied by Blick since 1987, but in late 1998 a strategic decision was taken to expand the company's SAP system to include the human resources module SAP HR, and to integrate this in turn with the countrywide time management systems. The problem that arose is that SAP HR is designed to operate on a solely one-to-one basis whereas the SAB requirement was to link its 36 sites distributed throughout South Africa into the SAP system at their head office. One (costly) solution might have been to implement and operate SAP HR at each of these sites but even that may have proved problematic.
Solution
The specialists at Blick SA (itself an accredited SAP partner) instead looked for a solution that would allow SAB to continue to use its already installed base of time and attendance devices (estimated replacement value some R7 million) and to provide these functional systems with a new lease on life. An initial problem faced was that whereas each site wanted to have control of its own access allocation system, head office has overall responsibility for hiring (and firing) and for the payroll. The system thus had to provide for this dual responsibility and hence had to allow two-way communication.
As SAP HR was only capable of a one-to-one interaction a new software and hardware interface (HCD) was developed by Blick to communicate directly with SAP HR, and to provide a capability of addressing multiple sites equipped with a simultaneously developed package called HRC using a proprietary encrypted protocol HR Comm for communication. The data exchange provided is two-way so that head office can communicate with individual sites and vice versa.
A problem particularly relevant to the African environment is loss of the communications link. This was addressed by making the system 100% failsafe and in the event of a loss in communications all new data awaiting transmission is immediately backed up. When the link is restored the system automatically checks where the data transmission was terminated and then forwards the backed up data from the appropriate time.
Of course there would not be much point in having a computerised time management system if it was not operating virtually in realtime. The SAB installation ensures that anything put onto SAP, or changed at the individual site, will be transferred to and mirrored by the other party within seven seconds, with the entries made at head office being allocated to the correct site using unique site identifiers. This unique two-way communication of critical data allows head office full control over its prerogative, namely the hiring, firing and allocation of new staff, while the site itself can manage its own risk through access control allocation.
After having completed the software and hardware development the next stage was its trial and evaluation, the Beta site chosen being Isando, where the system was installed in June 1999. After extensive testing to the satisfaction of SAB, Blick then proceeded to plan the logistics for the nationwide roll out. The logistics were a major hassle and required training of both IT personnel and all employees at each site, together with the issue of new access cards. Blick were typically on site for seven days, the actual changeover from the old standalone system to the integrated SAP system being carried out over the weekend, being completely transparent to employees.
They clocked out on the Friday on the old system and came into work on the Monday with the new system fully operational. As many as eight sites were converted over a single weekend and the transition period extended over five months. Every installation was 100% successful and Blick did not have to roll back a single site.
The complete system has now been operational for over 12 months without any major problems. A major surprise for SAB was the minimal impact that the new system with all its data exchange had on the network. The reason for this was Blick's HR Comm that was designed with high-density two-way traffic in mind and with its unique encrypted code and small data packets has little influence on normal network traffic. After full integration of the system SAB recorded only a 3% increase in the load on its network.
System maintenance
Blick as a company does not believe that its work is finished following installation and they offer a product called Service Select that provides for ongoing system maintenance. In fact, in the case of SAB the proposal accepted was that they would outsource the full operation to Blick who had to guarantee that the system would be live 24 h/day, 365 days/yr. This outsourcing contract has been in place for 21 months (since the Isando site came on-line) and SAB is completely satisfied with the service levels provided.
A further enhancement to the SAB installation was the development by Blick of an Intranet package called Beernet. This allows browsing of the total HR database through site or employee input and detailed information can be provided on the movements and attendance record of staff with historical data on access and time patterns. This feature can be used obviously to contain theft but more importantly can be used for process troubleshooting where it can be seen if the right staff were available in the right place at the right time.
The locally developed system is so unique and has worked so well in complementing the widely used SAP HR, that it has been exported to other SAP users with distributed sites. Through a partner in North America customers now include United Airlines, Siemens, Goodyear and aircraft manufacturer Bombardier. Blick SA supplies the hardware, software and the core expertise.
The system is obviously particularly appropriate for use by the mining industry where it can be assured that all personnel are on surface before blasting occurs. In the event of underground accidents it could be used with man-tracking devices to find out where personnel were last working. Amongst the customers of Blick SA are Anglo Gold, Anglo Platinum, Harmony and De Beers. This was where the local company began using realtime solid state devices (SRAM) instead of disk drives, the only difference to SAB being that they use the more recent Blueline device as compared to the CS500 (SAB is now also progressively replacing its CS500s with newer technology devices). The mines cannot afford to have disk crashes but the solid state device runs off 12 V, and even with full power outage will continue to operate for up to eight hours. As compared to hard disks the solid state devices offer MTBF of more than three years.
Blick SA operates throughout the African continent and maintain offices in Gauteng, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Cape Town with the rest of Africa being serviced from Zimbabwe. The company's most distant operation is in Mali, but there are numerous applications in neighbouring countries including Botswana, Namibia, Uganda, Mozambique and Tanzania. The company remains highly competitive in the time management field through its strong South African base and an R&D team of ten people. All hardware, readers, software and integration into SAP, BAAN and other systems is done locally. For African applications in general, equipment must be very rugged and Blick SA believes that it leads the rest of the world when it comes to robust systems and solutions.
For further details contact Blick SA on tel: (011) 321 1800.
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