Tag Archives: Primavera timesheet

case study

TimeControl case study with WHP Engineering 

We’re delighted to tell you that we have just finished collaborating with WHP Engineering on a greate case study describing how this UK-based engineering company has implemented TimeControl to improve operational efficiency in the organization.

WHP Engineering specializes in precision engineered solutions for the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and other clean process manufacturing industries.  It has grown more than 135% since 2017.

WHP has deployed TimeControl in part due to its integration with both Oracle Primavera and Sage and are delighted with the results.

“The fact that I can see what projects people are spending their hours on and what they’re delivering for those hours is crucial,” explained John Wheeler, WHP’s Engineering Manager. “If we hadn’t made the change to TimeControl, we certainly wouldn’t have the level of key business metrics that we’re getting now.”

You can read the case study in its entirety at: TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies/whp or to see more case studies, go to: TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies.

primavera, timecontrol

Read the new White Paper on Integrating TimeControl and Primavera

Oracle_GoldPartner_300x80Oracle-Primavera EPPM administrators know that a Primavera timesheet for task updates is already included when you purchase the EPPM Team Member license. But there are many business scenarios where using a third party timesheet will maximize your Primavera effectiveness.

TimeControl is a multi-function timesheet that is already integrated to both Oracle-Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro.  It was created to bring timesheet functionality even further.

Imagine one or more of these scenarios:

You need a timesheet but you are using Primavera Pro on the desktop, not EPPM on the server or in the cloud

TimeControl already includes complete integration with both Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro on the desktop. You can support as many desktop users as you wish and even have a mix of EPPM projects and remotely managed projects on Primavera Professional integrated at the same time.

Your rates are different per client or per project or per task

TimeControl has extensive rate management functionality allowing an individual to have an unlimited number of rate codes. An employee can have different rates for different projects, different rates for different roles on the same project or different rates for different tasks all on the same timesheet. Not only that, but for each of those rate codes you can maintain multiple values so tracking the internal cost, billing value and average project cost can be done all at the same time.

You use Roles rather than individuals in Primavera for Resource Scheduling

TimeControl supports the notion of work at the role level, the generic resource level and the individual.

You are working at a different level than the project tasks

TimeControl allows you to summarize Primavera activities into higher level TimeControl Charge Codes or to summarize TimeControl Charge Codes to Primavera activities. This lets the timesheet function at a different level than the project schedule.

Same timesheet for Primavera and Payroll and HR and Billing and R&D Tax Credits…

This is TimeControl’s key design feature. It is an auditable timesheet that is designed to be multi-purpose.  TimeControl fulfills multiple timesheet requirements from the same timesheet at the same time.  It’s perfect for Finance, HR, Payroll, Billing, and governance as well as integrated with Primavera.

You need to enter timesheets for a whole crew at a time not just individuals

Need to enter a high volume of timesheet data for field personnel who don’t even have access to a computer? TimeControl Industrial is our field data collection version which allows you to enter Crew Timesheets, Material consumption, Equipment usage and even production accomplished and integrate that information with Primavera.

TimeControl 6 / Primavera 6 Solution Portal

We have just published a new White Paper in our free TimeControl / Primavera Resource Portal where you’ll also find webcasts, factsheets, white papers, slide presentations and other information. You will see how integrating TimeControl and Oracle-Primavera allows a single timesheet to be used for multiple purposes.  You can read the new White Paper at: Integrating TimeControl and Primavera. or, go to the Portal at: Primavera.TimeControl.com.

7.4.1, timecontrol

TimeControl 7.4.1 is now available!

We’re delighted to tell you that TimeControl 7.4.1 is now available for download.  This version updates TimeControl, TimeControl Industrial, TimeControl Online and the free TimeControl Mobile App.  TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial clients with a current support and maintenance agreement can download the new version immediately at TimeControl.com/support/updates.  HMS is preparing for the upgrade of TimeControl Online which will happen automatically in the next 2-3 weeks.  TimeControl Online customers will be notified a week in advance of the update.

There are many new features to be excited about.  Here are some of the highlights:

Charge Hierarchy

TimeControl now supports multiple methods of displaying a hierarchy of charge codes.  TimeControl has long been recognized for supporting hierarchical charge structures but the new functionality takes this to a new level.  Field hierarchy permits hierarchy to be built from multiple user defined fields in the Charge Table and you can create multiple breakdowns then switch them on the fly when you’re searching for charge codes in the timesheet!

Numerous new API methods

We have made extensive additions to the TimeControl API making it even easier to integrate TimeControl as part of an overall corporate environment.

Mobile Debit/Credit Adjustments

The TimeControl Mobile App now allows Debit/Credit update Adjustments.  This allows supervisors and administrators to open a Posted timesheet and apply adjustments to that timesheet and release those adjustments to Posting.

Mobile Posted Expenses and Attachments

The TimeControl Mobile App now includes the ability to view the expenses that are attached to a posted timesheet in the past as well as any attachments that might have been associated to the timesheet or expenses.

Assignments

We have made major changes to the Assignments Table.  Assignments can now be made as part of a person’s full time availability so one person could be put on two tasks simultaneously at 50% of their availability each.  You can also now have the assignment start and finish be dates other than the charge start and stop so assignments that were meant to occur only during part of the charge can be defined that way.

Administrator configuration enhancements

We have taken numerous elements of the TimeControl configuration and moved them from the TimeControl.INI file into the Administrator System Preferences and User Profiles functions.  This will make a huge difference for TimeControl Online environments where some of these features had to be managed at the server level.

New User Profile Features

There are numerous new settings in User Profiles that allows TimeControl’s configuration to be tailored to the person or group with that User Profile setting.  These changes include all-new Super-User reject and Modify rights .  You can also change how the Timesheet List appears, allowing only a certain number of weeks in the past or future to display.  A new Highlight feature helps when adding a timesheet by highlighting the current week or the last missing week for a new timesheet.

Control Period Create Times

When creating timesheets, TimeControl allows the number of periods in the past and the future to be constrained to avoid accidentally creating a timesheet in the wrong period or in a period when Finance is not expecting it.

Copy Hours

We’ve made it possible to control who is allowed to copy hours when creating a new timesheet using the Copy Timesheet function and activated the ability to copy hours.

And…

There’s so much more.  We’ve done a lot of work on high volume capacity, improved performance, added more revision auditing, and improved usability across the application.

Find out more at TimeControl.com/features/latest

timecontrol

HMS Software and Oracle extend their technical alliance for a 20th consecutive year

Our relationship with Oracle started from several places at once back in 1997.  HMS became an Oracle Technical Partner that year because of the then-new support of the Oracle database by TimeControl 3.  We were very excited that year to announce that TimeControl was officially a client-server product.  Ah, the good old days.  That same year in that same version of TimeControl, we announced our new link with Primavera’s project management product, P3.  Shortly after that Primavera released P3 for the Enterprise (P3e) and our timing was such that TimeControl was the first product of any kind to link to that new product.

In 2008 those extended relationships blended together when Oracle purchased Primavera.  By then we had other relationship with Oracle products as well with support for MySQL and links to JD Edwards and Oracle E-Business Suite.

Fast forward to 2017.  Oracle and HMS have announced that HMS will be an Oracle Gold Partner from 2017 to 2018 making this the 20th consecutive year of our technical relationship and we couldn’t be prouder.

“This relationship is an example of the win-win that technical alliances are supposed to deliver,” explained our President, Chris Vandersluis.  “Oracle is able to extend the functionality and expertise to their clients through HMS and HMS is, in turn, able to get privileged access to Oracle’s technology and staff.  The clients we have in common benefit from this relationship as do both companies.”

The evolution of TimeControl has been able to take advantage of this relationship with ongoing support of multiple database versions and products in the Oracle family as well as links between TimeControl and Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and, of course, Oracle-Primavera P6 Professional and Oracle-Primavera EPPM. Announcements have been made in just the last few weeks about new functionality in the links between TimeControl and Oracle-Primavera EPPM.

Some of TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include: multiple rates per employee, automated business rule validations, automated workflow, missing timesheet notification, simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera, both a browser and mobile/tablet interface and matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™.

HMS is delighted to be celebrating our twentieth year as an Oracle Partner and look forward to our relationship continuing for many years to come.

For more information about TimeControl and how it links to Oracle technologies, visit the TimeControl Oracle Solution Portal at: http://www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/oracle-portalor contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

timecontrol

TimeControl Case Study – March Consulting

Here at HMS we are blessed to have the clients we have. Our long standing relationships is one of the key motivators for our staff and there is little that will get our team more excited than hearing that a client is using our software in a way that has made a difference for them.

So it is great to see a new case study on the TimeControl website by one of our clients.

March Consulting is a Canadian engineering firm based in the province of Saskatchewan and they can be working on 20 or more projects at a time.

“I’ve implemented a lot of software throughout my career and now I use TimeControl as my gold standard,” Peter Smithen, Project Services said. “This was the best implementation I’ve ever completed.”

You can read the whole story at TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies/march or to see more case studies, go to: TimeControl.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies

 

timecontrol

What is the difference between TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial?

industrial_300x180.jpgBoth products are part of the TimeControl family. TimeControl Industrial includes everything that the regular TimeControl has but adds modules and functionality to extend TimeControl in ways that are more appropriate for construction or industrial situations where end users will not be filling in their own timesheets.

Imagine a situation such as a construction site where there might be hundreds or even thousands of workers in the field working on our project today.  They are all managed by supervisors and may even have a time and attendance system to make sure they get paid properly.  But, management is having a terrible time trying to figure out what the exact cost of each project tasks is.  Yet these carpenters, welders, pipefitters and drivers aren’t expected to sit down at a PC and fill out a timesheet.  This is the world that TimeControl Industrial was designed for.  TimeControl supports high-volume entries by supervisors or data entry clerks who enter the timesheet data in crew timesheets on behalf of the employees who have finished their shift.

TimeControl Industrial is popular in industries like mining, heavy construction, utilities and infrastructure operations.  The additional modules in TimeControl Industrial include:

  • Crew timesheet entry
  • Non-Labor entry for materials, equipment and production accomplished entry
  • Extended Labor Rates
  • Extended Non-Labor Rates
  • Crew Management
  • Crew Approvals
  • Non-Labor Approvals

You can find out more about TimeControl Industrial and see it in action at industrial.timecontrol.com.

timecontrol

FAQ: What PM Systems does TimeControl link with?

Integration_300x227.jpgWe talk often about how TimeControl can link with many different systems but it’s worth taking a moment to talk about the pre-established links that all versions of TimeControl ship with.

Links to and from project management tools must each be designed from two perspectives:

  1. What is the connection mechanism for this project link?
  2. What business rules does this project management system require to pull information and then to push the update data back?

For each project system there are different features that don’t exist in the others.  For example, Primavera has a progress methodology called “Steps”.  TimeControl supports the progress of Steps but there is no such mechanism in Microsoft Project so Steps data doesn’t come in from or go out to Project.

In some systems there are more than one connection mechanism.  For example, Microsoft Project Server can be linked through Microsoft Project or directly with Project Server’s PSI (The application programmable interface for Project Server).

So, what project management tools does every version of TimeControl have a predefined link with?  Here’s a list:

Transfer in Transfer out
Microsoft Project  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Microsoft Project Server  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Oracle-Primavera P6  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Oracle-Primavera EPPM  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Deltek Open Plan  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
Deltek Cobra  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
VersionOne  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30
SharePoint  checkmark_green_36x30  xmark-red_32x30
Hard Dollar HD PCM  checkmark_green_36x30  checkmark_green_36x30

There are numerous resources available on the TimeControl website for each of these links:

For Microsoft Project, Project Server and SharePoint, see these use-case solution areas:

For Oracle-Primavera’s P6 and EPPM, see these use-case solution areas:

For Deltek EPM including Open Plan and Cobra see this use-case solution area:

For VersionOne see this use-case solution area:

For Ineight’s Hard Dollar HD PCM see this use-case solution area:

For all use-cases go to the Use-Case Solutions or contact HMS at info@hms.ca where we’ll be happy to talk to you about your particular needs.