R-TEK Limited of Merthyr Tydfil, a Tier 1 automotive manufacturer turning over approximately £40 million per annum, has chosen the HR Unity range of Human Resource, Payroll and Time and Attendance software from Carval as part of their technology led fight back against the prevailing economic climate.
With the news full of stories about the global downturn, the decimation of the car industry has risen to the fore as a bellwether of the economic malaise.
As part of the international operations of Kasai Kogyo Co. LTD. of Japan and Visteon, supplying high quality interior automotive components, for Nissan Motor Manufacturing UK and Honda Manufacturing UK in Swindon, R-TEK found themselves in the eye of this storm.
Given this backdrop, the experienced management team at R-TEK were keen to maximise the efficiency of their operations. Part of this process was to review the way that technology was used within the company.
The company’s HR and Payroll operations were one area that came up for such a technology review. The site’s Human Resource records were largely paper-based and the existing payroll system lacked the flexibility to produce the bespoke management reports that are so crucial in troubled times.
While R-TEK had the option to upgrade with their existing supplier, Damian Howells their Payroll Manager, felt that it was a perfect opportunity to look holistically at the functionality they required. Howells started to conduct an in-depth review of the market and decided that an integrated HR, Payroll and Time and Attendance system would provide him with the functionality and efficiencies that he required.
Following a visit to their sister company in Washington who had been using the HR Unity suite from Carval since 2003, both HR and Payroll teams were convinced that Carval could offer both the functionality and service required at the Merthyr Tydfil site. Based on this assessment R-TEK made the decision to go with Carval.
As R-TEK Human Resources Manager, Alan Culliford explains; “We liked the fact that the Carval system offered HR, Payroll and T&A in one integrated package and could produce effective management reports quickly. We saw it as a very prudent way of bringing our HR processes into the 21st century. All the key data would be at our fingertips; even employee documents are viewable with the click of a mouse.”
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The current economic climate has resulted in what is hoped to be a temporary reduction in operating capacity. Some redundancies have sadly already been necessary. Whilst the UK Government is increasingly keen to support the motor industry and has recently introduced the car scrapping scheme, it is uncertain as to when the green shoots of recovery will be seen. However, Culliford has only praise for the support they have received locally noting: “The Welsh Assembly Government is bending over backwards to help us. They have made Pro Act funding available to offer our employees training and to subsidise wages. We recognise and welcome these efforts.”
