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Workforce management the next horizon

Mike Austen was at the executive breakfast staffing the Powell Tronics stand and enjoyed the event and the venue. Austen says Powell Tronics is excited about the retail environment and plans to become a significant player in this market.

Powell Tronics stand at the breakfast.

To date, Powell Tronics has served the retail market through its various partners with biometric technology for access control as well as time and attendance (T&A) applications, including outsourced staff management systems. The company is in the process of expanding its retail offering by including a new workforce management solution in its offerings.

Powell Tronics has signed Synerion, a company specialising in workforce management and will be distributing the brand in South Africa. The company has recently taken the product on board, with its technicians completing their training in April and May this year.

Austen says workforce management has become a significant issue for South African retailers who have to deal with issues such as buddy clocking and other ways employees can appear to work for more hours than they actually do. By using biometric systems to clock workers in and out as a starting point for workforce management, the temptation and opportunity to cheat is removed and companies can save on their salary bills.

Powell Tronics distributes Morpho and Impro biometric readers and will be selling these with Synerion, although Austen says the product can work with any technology.

What’s more, he notes that Powell Tronics is also working on its own workforce management software aimed at smaller retailers. He does note, however, that the new software is still in the testing phase and it won’t be available until the end of the year. When complete, it will allow for up to three biometric readers to be attached to the system, and the software to enrol staff members and run the system will be provided for free.

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