Client Profile

If you own a pair of jeans, sportswear, footwear, or tailored apparel, chances are Coats industrial threads is a crucial part of the quality equation that holds those products together. Coats American, Inc., is a subsidiary of the legendary U.K.- based Coats Company founded in 1898. Coats American threads and textiles contribute to a number of premium global apparel and safety brands. Coats American has 800 employees at their Charlotte, NC facility. A highly regarded industry pioneer, Coats reported $1.4 billion in revenue in 2019.

Project Challenges

Every corporate acquisition is different, and the task of integrating two companies into one workforce management platform on a tight schedule carries unique challenges.

Pre-acquisition Integration Schedule

From day one, the defining challenge of this project was timing. The new employees had to be integrated to both WFC for Timekeeping and ADP for HR/Payroll before the official acquisition date. However, Improv was up for the task and provided the needed custom configurations to facilitate the integration. Unique project challenges included:

Kronos Administration Gap

Coats contracted the Improv team to help with HR/Payroll team with both WFC configuration and WIM interfaces. One factor quickly emerged that had repercussions throughout the project. The Client project team had limited Kronos knowledge due to losing its Kronos administrator a year earlier. This subsequent knowledge gap compromised WFC’s Payroll Export interface configuration, which generated numerous General Ledger Accounting and Payroll files. In response, Improv worked closely with the Coats Financial Department to reconstruct the interfaces and make sure the new site was set up with the necessary WFC Labor Entries needed to generate accurate Finance reports.

Global Networking

Kronos configuration work amid an acquisition can get tricky, namely because Payroll deadlines drive project deadlines. In this case, Coats tasked Improv with setting new employees up in Kronos prior to having them set up completely in ADP. This timeline request posed several challenges. The first was global coordination. The new company’s Clock Setup had to be coordinated with both Corporate IT in Europe and the North Carolina office to get network connectivity running smoothly before the new business line was officially required.

Accelerated Training

The pre-acquisition deadline required the Improv team to conduct training for employees and managers on Clock Enrollment and basic Kronos Navigation outside of a traditional training schedule.

Dormant Configurations

Since the company’s WFC platform lacked a Kronos System Administrator, Improv discovered a number of configuration and interface items no longer being used. The latent interfaces were causing user confusion. Improv analyzed processes, streamlined the interfaces, and only duplicated the necessary interfaces for the company’s new employee location.

The entire project team was fully committed to get new clocks setup and make sure new employees were imported correctly into Workforce Central. The circumstances weren’t ideal and there were a lot of missing pieces but the Coats project team’s commitment to helping us fill those gaps made every difference. It was a great experience from start to finish.”

Kathy Casey

Improv Application Consultant

Our Approach & Solution

The Improv team analyzed the Pay Policies and Attendance Policies for the new location and compared those against what was already set up in WFC for the Client’s current locations.

New Rules and Wage Profiles Improv discovered that each location had unique Policies and also had unique Configurations in WFC. As a solution, we created new Work Rules, Pay Rules, Accrual Policies, Schedules, and Wage Profiles in WFC for the new company.

Temporary Person Import

To get new employees into Kronos’ WFC early so all employees could be enrolled in Biometrics clocks, we created a Temporary Person Import interface from Ceridian to Kronos.

ADP Import and Testing

After the import from Ceridian was completed, we added new employees to the Person Import interface from ADP. We created new Pay Rules, Accruals, Wage Profiles and Schedules for the new location and then lead Payroll supervisors through how to test each piece.

Customized Interfaces

We coordinated with HR on setting up New Managers and defining what Employee Groups and Access and permissions each manager needed. We duplicated all of the Finance and Payroll interfaces and then modified them to fit the new location.

Accrual Configurations

We worked with Payroll to test out each interface and imported Starting Accrual Balances for all employees at the new location. We worked with the client’s IT teams (local and international) to get all clocks set up and tested as well as enroll all employees in Biometrics. We then monitored and fixed clock issues during Go-Live.

Best Practices

"This project, while fast-tracked and somewhat complex, proved to be one of our most rewarding thanks to three best practices we put in place on day one: Consistent communication and coordination and prioritizing knowledge transfer,” says Improv Senior Application Consultant, Ken Casey.

Biweekly Meetings

Setting up biweekly meetings with the Coats team to review progress and plan the next steps made a significant difference in keeping this project on track. Says Ken Casey: Project momentum is always intentional.

Prioritize Knowledge Transfer

Because the project had such a condensed timeline, knowledge transfer became a priority for the project team to understand what configuration and interfaces needed to be built and tested.

“The entire project team was fully committed to get new clocks setup and make sure new employees were imported correctly into Workforce Central,” added Improv Application Consultant Kathy Casey. “The circumstances weren’t ideal and there were a lot of missing pieces but the Coats project team’s commitment to helping us fill those gaps made every difference. It was a great experience from start to finish.”

Outcomes & Opportunity

• The Client’s pre-acquisition timeline for WFC and ADP integration was met without issue. All 320 new employees were set up with the employee, HR, and scheduling data needed on day one of their new employment.
• Successful Testing and Go-Live.
• Successful training (while condensed) helped contribute to very strong user adoption and minimal post-Go Live support for supervisors and employees.
• Coats American has requested Improv work on its next Kronos project.

This project, while fast-tracked and somewhat complex, proved to be one of our most rewarding thanks to three best practices we put in place on day one: Consistent communication and coordination and prioritizing knowledge transfer.”

Ken Casey

Improv Senior Application Consultant