Del Rey Nut Co.
Fingerprint Timecards Sweeten the Pot for Gourmet Sweets Wholesaler
LosAngeles-based Del Rey Nut Co. is a family-owned wholesaler of nuts,candies and gourmet gift items. Within the company's packing plant andwarehouse are four divisions – a production center, warehouse, kitchenand silkscreening department, where nearly 30 workers report, fillingorders that add up to $3.5 million in annual sales revenues.
Despiteits success, Owner David Karpman had concerns about high overhead costsin particular, about Del Rey's payroll costs, which he was convincedwere too high and which he attributed to a form of time theft commonlyknow as “buddy-punching.”
“We were paying people for timewhen they weren't even at work,” says Karpman, explaining that someemployees were punching timecards for co-workers who were either comingin late, leaving early, or altogether failing to show up.
Whilea few minutes here and there may seem like no big deal, surveys by theAmerican Payroll Association reveal otherwise. In fact, the APAconcludes that the average employee steals 4.5 hours each week, whichleaves businesses paying the equivalent of a six-week vacation to eachemployee on staff for hours they never worked.
As Karpmaninvestigated alternatives to the conventional electronic timeclock usedat Del Rey, he learned about Count Me In, a Chicago-based developer ofaward-winning software solutions that offered a “fingerprint timecard”to capture employee hours. The product, Timecard Monitor, claimed toensure an accurate, real-time accounting of employee hours that couldnot be compromised by unethical behavior.
And accordingto Karpman, Timecard Monitor more than lived up to its promise: “Thiswas absolutely a worthwhile investment,” says Karpman about the $400 hepaid for the system. “Timecard Monitor has paid for itself many timesover.”
