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4,700 BMW Spartanburg (SC) Employees Create 750
Vehicles Daily
MIRAMAR, FL. -May 6, 2003- Kaba Benzing, a
subsidiary of $690 million Kaba Holding AG and worldwide leader in
time and labor management systems, today announced that BMW extends
the use of the SAP time management component of the mySAP-Human
Resources (mySAP HR) solution in use at the BMW Spartanburg plant by
collecting employee time and labor data with B-COMM™ for SAP
R/3“-solution-based time and labor management system and 9380
terminals. The more than 4,700-employee BMW Spartanburg plant
produces 750 vehicles daily, including 390 BMW X5 sports activity
vehicles and 360 Z4 roadsters. To do so, the plant is open six days
per week and uses flexible working hour models.
"Based on forecasts of high demand for the new sports activity
vehicle, we needed to ramp up production of the X5 quickly,"reports
Wayne Pressley, BMW section manager. "That meant we needed to change
shift patterns and our old time management system could not handle
that. Our first Kaba Benzing terminals were installed at the body
shop in March of 2001."
"We had also made the switch to the SAP time management component
of mySAP HR and needed to have our time clocks and time data
collection interface with the SAP solution," Pressley adds. "We
wanted to ease implementation by selecting a SAP partner with a
certified interface. Kaba Benzing interfaces with more than 700
installations of SAP solutions around the world. B-COMM™ for SAP R/3
offers great functionality off the shelf and the Kaba Workforce
Solutions team was able to quickly create a custom application to
support our unique needs. We were live in just 60 days after our
first meeting."
B-COMM™ for SAP R/3 links Kaba Benzing terminals and other
hardware data devices to SAP R/3, Releases 3.1 to 4.6. It automates
and validates the collection of employee and labor data for entry
into SAP solutions, including mySAP Human Resources (mySAP HR, time
management), mySAP Product Lifecycle Management (including product
planning, plant maintenance and project system), SAP Cross
Application Time Sheet (CATS) and the employee self-service
capabilities of mySAP HR.
The core of the software is a SAP-certified interface software
that helps ensure faultless data exchange between the individual SAP
applications and the data collection devices. This interface is kept
current with all new SAP technical developments. All data
maintenance takes place in the SAP solution.
"B-COMM™ is a reliable interface between the terminals and data
collection server to our SAP solution-based system," says Pressley.
"The terminals can store punches if the system goes down, ensuring
that we always have accurate information. We transfer data from the
data collection server to the SAP solution-based server every 30
minutes, posting the data to time management."
At installation, the body shop had to be up and running first.
Since BMW employees had been using RFID-based (proximity) ID badges,
Kaba Benzing initially provided them with touch screen terminals and
went to work creating the proximity credential reader. Within six
months, all employees were able to clock in with their proximity ID
badges. BMW had Kaba Benzing create a special transaction to cover
instances in which an employee forgets his ID badge. As a result,
employees can simply clock in using the touchscreen, which Pressley
reports is a much easier and more expeditious way than creating a
special time card for one day only.
Today, four of the color, touchscreen 9380 time and labor
terminals are placed at the main entrance of the 1.5 million square
foot main production building where the majority of employees enter.
They are also implemented at other entrances and at the training and
development center, maintenance shop and additional buildings. The
goal, in all cases, is to place the terminals as close to the
employee's individual production center as possible.
"As our plant expands, we will add more terminals," Pressley
states. "After all, this is the system that collects our people's
work hours to determine their pay."
For more information:
Rohini
Uppal
KABA BENZING
954-416-1720, x361
ruppal@kbm.kaba.com
Tom Brigham
BRIGHAM
SCULLY
818-716-9021
tbrigham@brighamscully.com
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