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Cardinal is an innovative logistics provider at the heart of numerous New Zealand Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and retail businesses. With a team of over 500 staff, Cardinal’s Perfect Pallet product integrates solutions to sustainably get product to shelf on a cost and time-effective basis for major brands and retailers across New Zealand. These solutions include a 115,000 ASRS pallet warehouse in Auckland, which includes a robotic 62,000 goods-to-person carton pick system.
Within the business transformation program and an employee count set to exceed well beyond 500, Cardinal wanted to take a step change from their previous payroll system. Lisa Paki, Cardinal’s Head of Finance, recognised the previous solution wasn’t fit-for-purpose for their expanding operations which included a variety of different pay formats, and the need to both streamline and automate processes had become apparent.
“We are a lot bigger than we were 2-3 years ago and had outgrown the prior solution. With the aggressive investment we had made in other core business systems, we wanted a solution that integrated into those and our BI framework, as well as streamlining payroll processes and making life easier for our People as well as the team administering the system" – Lisa Paki, Head of Finance.
What they were looking for was a best-of-breed payroll solution that integrated seamlessly with time and attendance tracking and HR management for an all-round improved finance, payroll practitioner and employee experience.
Lisa and Jusandra Rowe, the Business Manager overseeing payroll, embarked on a journey with key managers across Cardinal to find a comprehensive solution that could address their evolving needs. After extensive research and evaluation of various options, they chose Datacom's Datapay payroll solution, along with complementary solutions for time and attendance with iDt and HR management with Elmo. This integrated approach allowed Cardinal to have a holistic system that integrated their payroll, time tracking, labour management and HR needs.
“We made the decision to go with what we felt were three robust solutions that critically, we could integrate and connect to our core systems and BI reporting. We knew that there's a huge compliance aspect underpinning Datapay, and it was a comfort knowing that we would have no issues maintaining our ongoing compliance when changing systems.” – Lisa Paki, Head of Finance
Cardinal found the implementation of their new payroll system collaborative, smooth and well-structured. While they initially anticipated complexity due to the size and structure of their operations, they found that Datapay’s solution and implementation approach catered well to their existing processes and north star vision for an improved payroll experience, which meant it required minimal configuration. The implementation team at Datapay also provided excellent support throughout the process, ensuring a successful transition.
The adoption of Datapay has brought about significant improvements for Cardinal. With access to real-time data and better automated processes, managers and employees have gained greater visibility in their operations. The introduction of self-service options, such as the MyPay app, have empowered employees to access pay slips and manage leave requests with ease. Managers have also benefitted from enhanced reporting capabilities, allowing for better analysis.
“We didn't have that level of employee self-service in the past, so having it now is beneficial for our staff to have access to information straight away, as well as manage rostering and clocking in/out information easily. Giving our People Leaders ease of People Management, was a big driving point for us.” – Lisa Paki, Head of Finance.
According to Jusandra, the efficiency they have gained has allowed for a focus on more value-based work.
"The shorter processing time is really beneficial for us, as it allows our team to focus more on meaningful analysis, queries and reporting.”
Datapay’s seamless integration with Cardinal’s business intelligence tool, QlikSense, also allows Cardinal to gain deeper insights into their operations and payroll data for improved decision-making.
“The real-time reminder notification you receive when a manager hasn't approved a leave request within the relevant timeframe is so useful.” – Jusandra Rowe, Business Manager
From a finance leadership perspective, Lisa Paki notes improvements in processing times. Compliance and risk mitigation are also addressed effectively, thanks to Datapay’s robust payroll processing system and support with subject matter expertise. Overall, the transition to Datacom's payroll solution has brought about positive feedback from employees and stakeholders alike, with increased trust in data accuracy and system reliability.
The successful implementation and adoption of Datacom's solutions provides a scalable platform to support Cardinal’s continued growth in the ever-evolving, complex landscape of logistics management.
