For many years, ITM INDUSTRY EUROPE has been an opportunity for innovation leaders to meet and share experiences as well as to present solutions that boost the efficiency of devices, optimise production and increase the attractiveness on the market and the competitive edge of industrial companies.

TIMATE will present the visitors with its system for managing teams and processes that is used by large businesses in the sectors of production and logistics, e.g. RABEN Logistics, ALAB Laboratoria, Halsang and Omega Pilzno.

Our system serves mainly to record time and attendance automatically, to support the safety of dispersed groups of employees, to optimise processes, and to provide employees with current feedback on their work. We will speak more about the functions of the TIMATE system during ITM INDUSTRY EUROPE. We will also put an emphasis on the daily automatic assessment of employees and managers, which enables ongoing detection and elimination of process-related errors, thereby boosting the company’s performance and efficiency to a considerable extent. That is what our tool makes possible, explains Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

Nearly 50% of exhibitors at the ITM INDUSTRY EUROPE are companies from Austria, Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, India, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Great Britain and Italy.

Although our system is used mainly by Polish enterprises, we are fully prepared to implement it in other countries as well. The trade fair will be a great opportunity for international networking and for presenting the TIMATE tool to businesses from Europe and other parts of the globe, adds Sebastian Młodziński.

The event will be held at MTP Poznań Expo on 30 May–2 June 2023. Experts from TIMATE will be there at Stand 76, Sector 5A. Feel invited!

Omega Pilzno has been handling complex logistic processes around the globe for 30 years. The company delivers such services as road transport, maritime transport and warehouse logistics. It facilitates effective management of stock and enhances flexibility within supply chains. It employs more than 1,000 people.

The management board has decided to implement the TIMATE system in order to optimise the company’s processes, to organise the teams’ work as effectively as possible as well as to streamline the communication between the office, team leaders and warehouse employees.

As part of our daily operations, we will be using the TIMATE system mostly for the purposes of real-time monitoring of the work performed by warehouse employees. In consequence, we will be able to analyse our processes in more detail and to optimise them as well as to make our teams work more efficiently. It is of equal significance to simplify the communication between various groups of employees. The quick process of forwarding information, tasks and the status of their performance will allow us to improve the work time planning process, says Albert Krawczyk, Logistics Manager at Omega Pilzno. We have chosen TIMATE also because this producer has already had experience in the sector of logistics. For this very reason, TIMATE knows the customer’s needs very well and offers a flexible approach to the project.

Omega Pilzno joins the group of logistics operators that use the TIMATE system.

One should bear in mind that efficiency in this sector is absolutely crucial and that is exactly what we focus on. The system enables in-depth tracking of processes and much better work organisation. Effective management of human resources and processes is the key to success in logistics. Another important thing is that we make a significant contribution to enhancing the safety of employees, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

The implementation project was launched in July this year.

More and more countries in Europe switch to the 4-day workweek. It is a sign that today employers focus on their employee’s performance and efficiency. Furthermore, many businesses have been choosing the remote/hybrid work models. Therefore, it becomes much more important to be able to verify whether employees meet their goals and perform the assigned tasks. Today, that is the key indicator of effectiveness. On the other hand, it is simply impossible for some employees to perform their duties on a remote basis. Blue-collar workers employed at factories, production plants, logistic companies and construction sites will never be working from home. In such cases, the priority is to ensure their safety at work, but also to make them feel treated on equal terms with their colleagues working from home. The TIMATE system can do all of this and that is why, in our opinion, it is a tool that successfully meets the global demands of our times. It is also fully adapted to operate in multilingual environments. As such, it can be implemented in every enterprise that seeks quality improvement in personnel and process management, savings, task automation and constant visibility of how particular teams are working, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO, who received the award from Jacek Goliszewski, President of BCC.

The Ambassador of the Polish Economy is a nationwide non-commercial initiative which serves the purpose of recognising and promoting entrepreneurs who have successes on international markets, promoting high standards in economy and finances as well as recommending good business practices in international interactions.

The jury considered such factors as the growth ratio of completed projects as well as the number of employees and customers. TIMATE was among the top three companies in the IT Software Development category that demonstrated the best results in the areas under assessment.

Pro Progressio also granted awards in the following categories: BPO, SSC, Call/Contact Center, HR Recruitment, IT Contracting, RPA, Accounting, Payroll, Remuneration, City, Developer, Real Estate and Innovative Solutions for Business.

Outsourcing Stars is the only non-commercial competition in Poland for the sector of advanced business services. Its goal is to select and recognise the most dynamically developing organisations within the business environment, centres of shared services and cities in Poland. This year it was the 9th edition of this event.

The new agreement is part of the strategy to establish a network of TIMATE partners.

When selecting our distributors, we pay careful attention to their specialisation. We want our solution to be offered by companies that understand how the Internet of Things and the Internet of Behaviours function and what they can do. Furthermore, our partners should be familiar with the specifics of our target sectors: logistics and manufacturing. APA Group meets all of these requirements, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

The TIMATE system is an automatic and self-operating tool for comprehensive management of people and processes in businesses. It functions by utilizing innovative cards with an e-Paper display that provide employees with their electronic ID and at the same time they measure the time at work and assess how that time is used. It supports remote work and task-based work. It also ensures that employees comply with the OHS rules and regulations. It enables current assessment of task performance by employees and teams. Additionally, it functions as a system for motivation and communication.

Drawing on the capabilities of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Behaviours (IoB), the TIMATE system collects, analyses and conveys data regarding the activities of particular employees and teams. Of course, principles of privacy and legal regulations concerning data collection are all observed.

At present, the system is used mainly by companies from the sectors of logistics, manufacturing, and healthcare, e.g. Raben, Halsang, and ALAB.

Our collaboration with TIMATE provides a great addition to the APA portfolio of technological solutions. We know from experience that today, in the era of dynamic digital transformation of businesses, customers need highly advanced products for the management and control of people and property. Whether it is a production line or an office building, APA provides technologies that ensure people’s safety. Our strategic collaboration will result in very unique solutions that the market has not yet seen. We will satisfy customers’ most sophisticated expectations in terms of safety, says Artur Pollak, CEO of APA Group.

APA Group is a leader on the market of smart industrial automation and building management systems. For more than 20 years, it has been implementing new technologies in various institutions, municipalities and industrial plants around the globe. All concepts of technology for products and services are designed in Gliwice. The customers of APA Group include: VW, Eisenmann, FIAT, OPEL, 3M, MAN, Amazon, DB Schenker, Tesla, and prestigious technical universities.

The TIMATE project has been developed since 2015. The system’s prototype was consulted and examined in collaboration with research centres: the Central Institute for Labour Protection in Warsaw and the University of Occupational Safety Management in Katowice. The designers of the system started the patent application process right after the solution was ready.

Patents make products more trustworthy. They guarantee that the solution is original, innovative and unique. We have been waiting several years for the European patent. During that time the European Patent Office conducted all substantial examinations. The patent gives us the exclusive right to commercially use our technology in Europe. This is perfectly in sync with the company’s plans regarding the expansion outside Poland, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

The TIMATE system is an automatic and self-operating tool for comprehensive management of people and processes in businesses. It functions by utilizing innovative cards with an ePaper display that provide employees with their electronic ID and at the same time they measure the time at work and assess how that time is used. The system supports remote work and task-based work. It also ensures that employees comply with the OHS rules and regulations. It enables current assessment of task performance by employees and teams. Additionally, it functions as a system for motivation and communication.

At present, the system is used mainly by companies from the sectors of logistics (e.g. Raben Logistics), manufacturing (e.g. Halsang) and healthcare (e.g. ALAB Laboratoria). TIMATE is planning to start collaborating with European distribution partners this year and sell its product outside Poland.

According to rough estimates, Poland has already welcomed one million people from war-ravaged Ukraine. The Polish government has decided to open the employment market for Ukrainians. Relevant regulations are being prepared.

Enterprises will also need to adjust to these changes. To facilitate communication with employees from Ukraine and to support the process of induction, TIMATE has decided to develop the Ukrainian version of its system for managing people and processes. As a result, employees (particularly blue-collar workers in large enterprises) who speak Ukrainian only will be able to get clear information about their working time, safety at work, tasks to be performed and assessment of their work. Employers will also be able to use the TIMATE cards in order to send short text messages.

We are hoping that we will make it easier for employees from Ukraine to adapt. We will help them acclimatize and learn new duties as well as get access to information, including the daily assessment of their work. Even if they do not speak Polish or English, they will be able to find out how their work is perceived, if anything needs to be improved, which tasks they are assigned to each day, how much time they have worked and what is their leave entitlement. They will receive clear and concise safety alerts as well as any messages and reminders about the requirements to use personal protective equipment. This will make new team members feel safer and, in consequence, they will find their feet much quicker, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO. At the same time, entrepreneurs will get a tool that will help them communicate effectively with people from Ukraine.

The Ukrainian version of the system is ready to be tested.

We are inviting companies interested in implementing the system with the Ukrainian language option to take part in our pilot program which will allows to test the new functionality. This particular version of the system is available on preferential terms. Our goal is to help as many companies employing Ukrainians as we possibly can, adds Sebastian Młodziński.

Companies can enrol for the pilot program by completing the contact form on TIMATE’s website.

Raben started implementing the TIMATE system in 2020.

We embarked on the project by reviewing time and attendance systems available on the market. We verified traditional solutions requiring clock-in and clock-out with the use of cards, but we also looked around for innovative products. TIMATE offered a comprehensive solution: hardware and software with interfaces to external systems. As a result, we could work with TIMATE to provide our facilities with necessary installations, to prepare integrations with the HR system and the working time scheduling system as well as to configure the application, and all of that at the same time, says Paweł Szymański, IT Project Coordinator in the Raben Group.

Today, the solution is used by employees in nearly forty facilities in Poland. The company decided to use the TIMATE cards for the working time measurement in large warehouses where traditional readers would not be an effective solution.

The solution offered by TIMATE enables recording of the working time of a large number of employees in many locations in Poland without the need to use standard card readers set up at entrances to the company premises, warehouses, offices etc. It also allows to check the actual number of employees within a given area, which is very important information for emergency services when there is a threat of fire. Furthermore, the collaboration with TIMATE is part of Raben’s policy to support start-ups offering interesting solutions. Undoubtedly, the IoT cards and the system of receiver stations along with the software constitute an appealing tool for large and medium companies. By integrating it with other systems operating within the enterprise, one can get measurable benefits in terms of safety and efficiency, says Sławomir Pawlak, CIO in the Raben Group.

The TIMATE system uses the capabilities of both IoT (Internet of Things) and IoB (Internet of Behaviours). It is a new platform that offers a range of possibilities in terms of personnel management. It records the working time and measures its use, but it also cares for the safety of employees. In consequence, our company has ongoing real-time visibility of how particular facilities function.

The implementation at Raben gave us the chance to prove that our system is scalable and can work in large enterprises operating multiple facilities. We estimate that it is one of the largest installations in Poland and Europe that works by combining radio technologies and Web technologies into a single IoT platform. Today, it already comprises a network of several thousand devices. The successful implementation of the TIMATE system was possible thanks to the effective collaboration of our employees with the customer’s experienced team, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

The implementation at Raben Logistics Polska covers all of the company’s facilities in Poland.

Raben Logistics Polska provides the services of contract logistics, LCL transport, maritime transport and air freight. It belongs to the Raben Group, operating in 14 European countries and offering custom-made logistic solutions since the 1990s.

ALAB tested the TIMATE system for employee and process management during the period of more than 6 months. The company observed the operation of its laboratories to identify elements which could be improved in order to increase performance.

TIMATE and the cards carried by employees provided the managers with data regarding the organisation of processes.

While analysing the information collected by the system, we quickly noticed what could be improved. One of the examples was the percentage-based presence of people in the rooms, which showed us that our employees needed an additional analyser. We bought it at once, which made the work of diagnosticians quicker and easier. There were other similar cases and the process changes we implemented have brought us significant savings, says Ewa Małkowska, CEO of ALAB Laboratoria.

The TIMATE system collects and analyses data about the company’s operation in six areas: the working time and its use, safety, results and deliverables, task performance and team management. Based on the ongoing information from the system and the automatic assessment of these areas, managers gain continuous visibility of how the processes within the enterprise are organised. If they spot an error, they can eliminate it at once.

Today information is all, but it is not enough by itself. Our system provides and analyses data, using clear maps and charts to show how the company is doing, how employees work, whether particular tasks are performed and how long it takes, and where employees are currently located. Such information enables better understanding of the enterprise and its processes. It helps to detect errors as soon as they appear and to eliminate them before they impede work. The system gives employees clear and simple feedback about the quality of their work, which makes it possible to quickly diagnose causes of errors that are often not the fault of employees, explains Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

Following the trial period which ended in October, ALAB decided to have a full implementation of the TIMATE system. The company uses all available modules.

I have always known that apart from financial benefits it is extremely important for employees to see that they are appreciated on a daily basis, that we see and recognise their progress and efforts. It is not always possible to do that in person, especially in such a large organisation as ours. The system that we purchased helps us manage our dispersed organisation by daily and automatically providing data about task performance in laboratories. It also informs the employees about the completion of their daily schedule and reminds them to take a break or finish their work. As a result, people feel more noticed and recognised, knowing that the way they work can bring them actual benefits, adds Ewa Małkowska, CEO of ALAB Laboratoria.

ALAB Laboratoria is a network of 400 diagnostic facilities offering more than 3,000 diagnostic tests: from basic ones through highly specialised tests to examination packages designed for specific diseases, ailments and organs as well as preventive healthcare.

The TIMATE system which supports the management of teams and processes in enterprises has been on the market since 2019. Today, thousands of TIMATE cards are operating in many Polish businesses. They mainly include companies from the sectors of logistics (Raben Logistics), manufacturing (Halsang) and healthcare (ALAB).

We have a strong network of customers in Poland and many companies are testing our solution as part of the Proof of Concept. The TIMATE system is proven to be reliable and ready to operate in organisations of different sizes. We are fully prepared to offer our product in other countries. The plans to sell in European markets were thwarted by the pandemic, but today we begin a new stage in the company’s growth. Our Chief Business Development Officer will help us achieve this goal, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

Grzegorz Cichoń is a manager with nearly 20 years of professional experience. For a long time he worked for Etisoft as the Business Development Manager and the Product Manager. He was responsible for sales development on foreign markets among other duties. He studied law at the University of Silesia in Katowice and he also holds the MBA degree from the Oxford Brookes University.

At TIMATE, he will be organising an international network of distributors for the purpose of selling our product in selected European markets.

Our goal is to start collaborating with distributors who specialise in implementing IoT solutions and have customers who are potentially interested in using the TIMATE system. Importantly, we want partners who will understand our product and who will enthusiastically recommend it. Therefore, it will not be a large network of distributors. We will choose several companies for whom TIMATE will become the key system in their portfolio, says Grzegorz Cichoń, Chief Business Development Officer at TIMATE.

The new member of TIMATE’s team will also manage the collaboration with the company’s Polish partners.

The list of our distributors in Poland is nearly complete. It includes partners who specialise in implementing innovations in the sectors of manufacturing and logistics, adds Grzegorz Cichoń. I am happy that I have the privilege of working with them and present our potential customers with the tool that enables the cheapest audit available in the market and it is an audit in which all employees participate every day. It provides a great value to entrepreneurs who, today even more than ever, are under the pressure to optimise the work of their teams and have processes under full control.

The European Medal is a Poland-wide initiative which aims at recognising and promoting Polish companies, also in the international arena. The honorary patron is one of the European Commission’s key institutions for entrepreneurs, i.e. the European Economic and Social Committee. The medal is also a mark of approval and recommendation given by the Committee.

It is a great honour to be among the companies which the Business Centre Club recognises as role models in terms of the best practices that should be followed and promoted in other member states of the European Union. The BCC has appreciated our product, the TIMATE system, and our drive to make the solution available to entrepreneurs and employees in Poland and other countries, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

It was the 32nd time that the European Medals were awarded.

The goal of the European Technology Chamber is to bring together people and organisations which share the vision of building a common future based on technology. The role of innovations is to solve problems, reinforce the position of citizens and help the natural environment.

EU Tech extends invitations to companies which share this vision of social development. Through collaboration, they exchange knowledge, experience and contacts. Representative of the EU Tech promote technologies which can enhance welfare and drive the spread of the digital transformation in Europe.

TIMATE is absolutely ready to enter foreign markets. Our system has been adapted so as to work in a multilingual environment and it can meet the needs of global companies that want to improve the quality of people and process management, strive to save time and money, decide to automate their operations and seek ongoing insight into the work of particular teams. The collaboration with the EU Tech Chamber will help us reach potential customers as well as business and technology partners outside Poland, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

EU Tech observes technologies developed in various European countries and chooses those which provide the opportunity to increase the European Union’s global competitiveness.

I am excited to have TIMATE joining us. They represent what we always look for in companies to join the Chamber: European innovation, technology and entrepreneurship. I am very much looking forward to working with TIMATE, says Manuel Gonzalez Villavecchia, Director of the Finance Commission at the EU Tech Chamber.

EU Tech has been operating since 2015 and it supports international collaboration between governments, the private sector, civil society, organisations, universities, technology companies and other entities interested in building the digital era.

The surveys conducted in enterprises using the TIMATE system indicate that the implementation of the new method for recording and monitoring time and attendance allows to save up to 80% of ineffective working time for which companies pay their employees. This means real money.

The survey we were carrying out in large production and logistics businesses show that each employee wastes 460 minutes per month on ineffective actions. If we assume that one minute of work costs the average amount of PLN 0.47, it turns out a company employing 500 people loses more than PLN 100,000 per month on wasted working time, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

Based on the surveys, TIMATE could identify the sources that generate the greatest losses in this respect. These include: cigarette breaks, running private errands by employees outside the company premises, meals, leaving work early. They have been included in TIMATE’s calculator tool.

We are aware that entrepreneurs do not normally reflect on how many precious minutes of a typical business day are actually wasted. The scale of the problem is revealed once you make the additions and convert them into money. Our calculator can do just that, adds Sebastian Młodziński.

The Business Centre Club was established in 1991. Since the very beginning, its key goal has been the promotion of entrepreneurship. It collaborates with public, social and private organisations in order to drive and strengthen the Polish economy. Its gathers entrepreneurs from all sectors and regions. As emphasised by the representatives of the BCC, its members include only reliable companies enjoying a strong position in the market.

The BCC is also committed to defend the interests of Polish entrepreneurs through active participation in advocating good legal regulations that will contribute to the prosperity of businesses and the growth of the free market. The member companies of the BCC have been acting as advisers for presidents and prime ministers of Poland.

The values and principles upheld by the Business Centre Club align with TIMATE’s philosophy. Our system was designed to help entrepreneurs in better understanding of how their business functions, in implementing changes within processes as well as in managing and motivating teams so as to achieve the best possible results. We want companies and the entire economy to grow faster and operate more efficiently. I have no doubts that by joining forces with other members of the BCC we will be able to enhance everyday operations of Polish enterprises, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

Companies belonging to the Business Centre Club are based in nearly 250 cities in Poland and employ more than 400,000 people in total. Their aggregate turnover reaches PLN 20 billion.

The new module evaluates how teams and businesses function on an ongoing basis within six areas: time and attendance, use of the working time, safety, task performance, results and management.

The assessment module makes use of the data collected by the TIMATE system. At the end of each working day, team leaders and members are provided with a summary of actions within several areas. Each area has its own icon under which the employee card displays a pictogram: a smiling face, an indifferent face or a sad face. In this way, employees can see right away whether they have managed to perform the planned tasks, whether they have been following all the safety rules and whether they have been punctual, explains Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

The assessment system can provide the basis for a motivation program. A positive assessment can result in granting points which will then be converted into bonuses and rewards.

Thanks to such a solution employees are more eager and committed, because everyday they clearly see how the work they do translates into assessment and the resulting benefits, adds Sebastian Młodziński. However, our system does not only support employee recognition and appreciation, but it also identifies problems in the company’s operations. That is why employee cards display the assessment of the entire team and its management level. The team leader can instantly identify which operating area of his or her group is defective in any way. The application enables an in-depth analysis of the data in order to determine which elements need improvement.

The instant and comprehensive evaluation allows managers to quickly respond to emerging problems through a relevant modification of production and business processes, thereby achieving higher efficiency and real savings.

Employees who get current information about the quality of their work and who see how this quality converts into bonuses are more motivated to perform their daily tasks better. As a result, the company’s operation are enhanced in a bottom-up model. Such changes implemented by employees on their own initiative are certainly more effective and permanent, adds TIMATE’s CEO.

The modification of processes in real time based on daily data instead of assessments performed once a quarter or so will result in actual and concrete benefits for the enterprise. TIMATE’s calculations indicate that changes in the way the working time is used (e.g. shortening the lunch or cigarette breaks which exceed the statutory time) can save as much as PLN 2,000 per year per employee.

The new assessment module is now available to the existing and future users of TIMATE.

Halsang has been operating in Poland since 2011. Gradually, it has been extending its team with its core workspace comprising three productions halls.

We are increasing our headcount, so we really need a system that will help us record time and attendance. However, we have been looking for something more than standard cards that employees use to clock in and clock out. What we actually want is the real data on how the company is doing, on how we organize our teamwork and whether we use the working time and resources as best as we can. Such information will provide us with useful clues regarding the enterprise management and the assignment of tasks among employees in such a way that they do not feel overburdened with work or fed up due to idleness, explains Arkadiusz Jaworski, Vice President at Halsang.

TIMATE enables automatic collection and analysis of data related to business operations, procedures and methods. It mainly gathers the information about how employees use the working time, whether they adhere to the safety rules and how they make progress in performing the expected plans and schedules. Analyses in the form of clear charts are available in the system on an ongoing basis. As a result, managers can easily assess the actual use of human resources as well as the costs related to production processes.

We produce our gates by hand. Each model is unique and tailor-made. That is why we do not have any standard price list, as individual orders make it difficult to estimate the costs and the time of workmanship. Up to a point we go by intuition when we determine the final cost of products. The data provided by TIMATE will be our basis for precise calculations of the man-hours for each particular gate. We will then be able to verify the prices, while our customers will rest assured they pay only for the actual working time, adds Arkadiusz Jaworski.

TIMATE will also enable a fair settlement of time and attendance for the employees of Halsang.

When it comes to our team, cigarette breaks can sometimes be problematic – the employees who do not smoke actually work longer. We would like to eliminate such disproportions, but it is difficult to determine the precise difference here. The data we get from TIMATE will tell us exactly how long people work and how they use their time at the workplace, says the Vice President at Halsang.

Based on the collected information, TIMATE will also evaluate the effectiveness of teams and production processes on a daily basis. The assessments will be displayed on the Halsang employees’ and managers’ cards in the form of clear pictograms. It will help us promptly respond to problems and implement changes to boost our performance, emphasises Arkadiusz Jaworski.

The TIMATE system has been on the market since 2019. Today, it is used mainly by large businesses in the sectors of production and logistics. In Poland, several thousands of TIMATE cards are in operation every day.

Since the very beginning we have attached a special importance to the idea that the system should provide entrepreneurs with accurate data on how they businesses actually function. Moreover, such data need to be structured so that managers can quickly check all processes as well as identify and respond to any problems, if anything goes wrong. Our customers confirm the system works just as it should, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

The idea behind the “Silesian Innovator” competition organized by the Upper Silesian Agency for Entrepreneurship and Development is to promote and recognize the most innovative entities in the province of Silesia. The awardees include companies and R&D institutions which develop and introduce innovative changes, state-of-the-art technologies, new products or services and achieve business and academic successes through their innovations.

We feel it is an extremely important award, since our idea started and evolved in Silesia, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO. We are really glad we can contribute to the dynamic development of this region. We are also proud that so many innovative and ground-breaking ideas emerge in Silesia.

As part of the competition, the special award of the Chairman of the Management Board of Metropolis GZM was given to the University of Silesia in Katowice in recognition of the device for the selective collection and storage of the gaseous phase. It will make it possible to perform early diagnostics of interstitial changes in the lungs through the fractional analysis of bronchoalveolar lavage in the case of patients who have suffered from the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and show symptoms of interstitial lung diseases.

In addition to research and development entities, the competition awards were also granted to micro, small and medium enterprises. The winner in the first category was Smart Labs for the Customy start-up and its offer to cranio-maxillofacial surgery patients and orthopaedic surgery patients. The winner in the small enterprise category was Helioenergia in recognition of SilverCon, a product used in thermal silver plating of aluminium, copper and other surfaces. The winner in the medium enterprise category was Alumast SA for the active Smartpole Crossing for pedestrians.

It was the 12th edition of the “Silesian Innovator” competition. The event was held with the honorary patronage of Metropolis GZM.

Meanwhile, you can make savings within the enterprise without implementing any major organizational changes. The key approach is to analyse the processes and identify those that make money leak out of the company budget.

One of the areas worth considering is the use of the working time by employees. As it turns out, a company employing 500 people may lose over 1 million PLN per year due to the working time waste.

The working time bottleneck: where do the hours and the money disappear?

TIMATE, the manufacturer of the time and attendance system, analysed the behaviours of employees in several large companies from the sectors of production and logistics. The yearlong project revealed areas in which an employer can make savings effectively. These savings can be considerable, as an average employee wastes 460 minutes of the working time per month. When comparing the initial results (at the start of the analysis) with the final results (after one year of using the TIMATE system), it may be concluded that the abuses and costs related to the use of the working time can be significantly reduced.

Importantly, TIMATE analysed only the time that employees are contractually obliged to devote to work. The analysis excluded the statutory breaks.

What do employees do at work when they do not work?

1. A cigarette break

20% of the wasted working time, i.e. 90 minutes per month on average, cover the cigarette breaks. TIMATE’s analysis shows that the advanced working time monitoring (not only exits/entrances, but also employees’ behaviours during their working hours) allows to reduce this time by up to 78%.

2. Leaving for private purposes

13% of the time for which the employer pays and in which the employee does not work cover the situations of leaving the company premises for private purposes. The enterprises under analysis managed to eliminate this problem completely by using cutting-edge technologies.

3. Meals

As it turned out, employees spend more time on their meals than it is specified in the labour code. To be precise, it is additional 60 minutes per month. This can be reduced by up to 92% per month.

4. Unauthorized overtime

A major problem faced by employers is the unauthorized overtime, i.e. the working time that goes beyond the employee’s contractual working hours. Much of this overtime is not agreed upon with the managers, which means that employees stay longer, but they do not do any work during this time. On average, this overtime is one hour per one employee per month. This issue can be completely eliminated, as shown by the example of the businesses analysed by TIMATE.

5. Entrance and exit

It would seem that entering and exiting the company premises should not take up much time. Meanwhile, it turns out that these actions may cover a large amount of minutes on a monthly basis. Time is wasted in the queues to the turnstiles and on talks in the cloakroom. The time at the gates can be reduced by 87% by using the automatic time and attendance system.

6. Ineffective time

The analysis reveals that an average employee wastes 90 minutes per month on simply doing nothing. The businesses under analysis managed to reduce this figure by 67%.

7. Shorter actual working time

Leaving early or arriving late result in a situation when an employee spends less time at work than specified in the contract. This issue can be completely resolved.

Better work organization: savings at your fingertips

460 minutes per month may seem unimpressive. However, it is enough to translate this figure into money in order to see the scale of the losses.

Let’s assume that an employer pays the average of 0.47 PLN for one minute of work. A company employing 500 people loses over 100,000 PLN on wasted working time per month, i.e. over 1 million PLN per year. This is a huge amount of money, explains Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO. By analysing employees’ behaviours, it is possible to identify the causes of waste and react accordingly. In consequence, a company can optimize the work and divide the tasks among its employees more effectively. This will, of course, boost its performance.

A more effective team will be able to carry out more tasks and the company will earn more without recruiting new people. This is one of the ways that businesses can use to face the present economic challenges and come out victorious.

TIMATE analysed the working time use in the businesses that decided to implement the system. When the system started operating, an average employee wasted 460 minutes per month. It was the time which should have been devoted to tasks and duties. TIMATE did not include the statutory breaks in the analysis. Only the time which the employees were obliged to use for work-related purposes was considered (i.e. after deducting the time for breaks).

Both we and the business owners could hardly believe what we saw in the measurement results. A record-breaking employee in one company wasted as much as 50% of his working time. In other words, he received one half of his salary for doing nothing. As we are now facing an economic crisis, no manager can afford to spend the company money in such a way, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

When wasting time instead of working, most employees did the following: they went for a cigarette break (90 minutes per each employee per month on average), they left work for reasons unrelated to their duties or tasks (60 minutes), they had meals and meetings at the cafeteria or the cloakroom (90 minutes). It was also revealed that the employers paid for unauthorized overtime (60 minutes per each employee per month on average) and for the time that the employees did not spend at work, because they left early or arrived late (20 minutes).

I would not go so far as to say that employees waste their working time deliberately. Of course, such things happen. However, in many cases the long breaks, leaving the office or the factory or simply doing nothing during working hours result from the ineffective division of tasks among employees. Some of them have too much on their hands, while others have too little to do within their contractual working hours. TIMATE allows to analyse the division of tasks and the task performance time, which makes it easier to optimize the business operations and increase their effectiveness, adds Sebastian Młodziński.

More effective work translates into actual savings. In the cases under analysis, the initial parameters could be significantly improved thanks to TIMATE and the monitoring of entrances and exits and of what the employees actually did during the working hours. Within one year, the time devoted to activities unrelated to work was reduced by 80% on average. The following issues were completely eliminated: leaving work for private reasons, unauthorized overtime and situations when employees spent less time at work than specified in their contracts.

Additionally, the cigarette break time was reduced by 78%, the meal time by 92%, and the exit and entrance time (e.g. queues to the turnstiles) by 87%.

At the beginning of our analysis, the enterprises paid each employee for the average of 460 minutes of not working per month. If a company employed 500 people, it generated losses exceeding one hundred thousand PLN per month. During a year this amount exceeded 1 million PLN. TIMATE made it possible to reduce the expenses on empty hours by 80%, concludes Sebastian Młodziński.

The analysis was performed in large businesses from the sectors of production and logistics from mid-2019 to mid-2020.

Polish schools are now entering the new reality of digital transformation. In March 2019 in Tarnów, the representatives of NASK (Research and Academic Computer Network) and SMWI (Cities Online Association) signed a declaration for digital education development in the face of the 21st-century challenges. The technological turn in education is all the more important in a situation when schools have to adapt to new teaching conditions resulting from the coronavirus pandemics.

At the beginning of the pandemic, TIMATE extended its personnel management and safety system by adding functions which support the threat prevention and containment. It soon became clear that these functions as well as the entire system can also be used in schools.

TIMATE was initially designed as a specifically industrial system. However, the market itself has recognized the much wider potential of this solution. We received an inquiry from Portugal: they asked if we could adjust our system to school needs. We could and we did, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO. Be it a company or an educational facility, the system is programmed to protect safety and this is a management priority, especially in these difficult times of COVID-19.

The solution for schools provides such functions as digital identifiers of teachers and students, school agendas, student grade records and library cards. It also protects student safety through the SOS button which can be used to call for help in the case of accidents, near-miss situations or bullying. The system also supports evacuation and detects falls and it reminds of the necessity to disinfect hands.

The return to schools after the summer vacation will be a challenge. Both teachers and students will probably have to get accustomed to totally new conditions. A sanitary regime can reasonably be expected. Our system supports adherence to such a regime. The smart card allows to measure the card holder’s temperature remotely and to monitor larger gatherings as well as to identify the people with whom an infected person has interacted, says Sebastian Młodziński.

Importantly, the card does not collect biometric data of teachers and students. Outside the school premises, the card does not display the user’s photo and name. In contrast to smartphones, the card contains no games, social media functions or other applications that would distract students, but it allows to contact them and determine their location.

Students often say they need to have their phones on them so that their parents know where they are and if they are OK. Our system can ensure that as well and more. It protects from distraction and emits several hundred times less radiation than a cellphone, adds Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE.

To adapt the system to school needs, TIMATE collaborated with Euvic IT, a company with many years of experience in complex IT projects.

We saw the potential of the TIMATE solution right away. On a daily basis, we help our customers understand the critical importance of IT processes and improve their performance. We know what enterprises and institutions need in terms of IT, so we are able to offer tailor-made solutions based on the analysis of individual needs, says Bartłomiej Łatka, Sales Director at Euvic IT. When it comes to TIMATE, we appreciated the fact that the solution is multilingual, safe and easy to use and manage. These aspects are particularly important for customers from the sector of education.

The solution by TIMATE can be integrated with other tools already used in schools, e.g. Librus or Vulcan, and extended with new functions such as logging for early primary school grades.

The system is now available for implementations.

CONTACTLESS OPERATION:

• The card is contactless, so it prevents the spread of the virus.
• The card extends the scope of contactless operation of the company infrastructure, e.g. by allowing to open/disable turnstiles on which the virus can stay active for 2 or 3 days.

ACTIVE ASSISTANCE IN KEEPING THE SAFE DISTANCE BETWEEN EMPLOYEES:

• The cards monitor distances between employees and make a beep when they come to close to one another. The preprogrammed distance is 2 metres. The beep can be turned off when employees need to meet for legitimate reasons. The information about breaking the distance rules is forwarded to the system. The operator can react quickly.
• Messages can be sent to inform when an employee can enter/leave (for a break, to/from work, to/from a zone) in order to minimize the risk of too many people meeting at the entrance or the cloakroom. For instance, the card can display the following message: “Leave now through door A.”

STATISTICS PREVENTING EMPLOYEES FROM GATHERING:

• The employee location system provides ongoing monitoring of the number of people in particular zones and sends an alert to the operator if there are too many people. Reports on the use of the zones make it possible to plan the location of employees in keeping with the safe distance rules.

QUARANTINE:

• Reports on the last 7/14 days on employees who could come into contact with a person infected or suspected of being infected with COVID-19. The report (based on the recorded working time, schedules and employee locations) is generated on request and allows to identify the persons which should be quarantined.

OHS MESSAGES:

• The reminder to wash hands when coming to work, during work and after finishing work.
• Monitoring of the location of employees to check if they go to the area designated for washing hands.
• Monitoring of the cleaning frequency with regard to toilets. Cloakrooms and other places which require top standards of hygiene.

THE SOS BUTTON:

• It can be used to report any violations of the OHS rules, e.g. when there are too many employees at one place or masks are not being worn, or to report any situations of employees feeling ill.

EMPLOYMENT OPTIMIZATION:

• Employment optimization on the basis of the indicators and analysis of the working time, tasks and movement.

EFFECTIVE REMOTE WORK:

• It is possible to exercise strict supervision over employees who work remotely. Central station can be placed next to the employee’s computer and it will detect when the employee leaves the work place.
• Task delegation for remote work and task performance assessment and accountability.

TEMPERATURE CHECK UPON THE EMPLOYEE’S CONSENT (AN OPTIONAL SOLUTION FOR INCREASED MICROBIOLOGICAL THREATS):

• Optionally, the card can be equipped with a contactless infrared temperature sensor similar to the ordinary electronic thermometers. This extra sensor is located on the bottom section of the C2 card and the silicon case protects it from contamination.
• In the situation of the present pandemic, the temperature check is performed by the employee himself/herself and upon the employee’s consent.
• There is no need to wait in long queues and potential contact with other people can be avoided. Employees can check their body temperature at any time during the day.
• The card can also display a reminder to check the temperature.
• In extreme situations of epidemic threat, the temperature check results can be immediately sent to the system on the employer’s demand. This way it will be possible to immediately isolate people with increased temperature.
• The integrated sensor can also be used outside work when it functions as an ordinary thermometer and no medical data are sent to the system.

We invite you to test TIMATE and check our proof-of-concept implementations. Such implementations allow to test TIMATE on a smaller scale.

To receive our offer, please contact as via e-mail at: contact@timatesystem.com

The recommendations of physicians and government officials are clear: if you can, stay home as long as you can. What about work? Pursuant to Art. 3 of the Act of 2 March 2020 on specific solutions for preventing, counteracting and combating COVID-19, other infectious diseases and related emergency situations, an employer can instruct the employees to switch to remote work.

This new regulations provides entrepreneurs with a wide spectrum of options regarding decisions about who works outside the company premises and for how long. Employers can instruct employees to work from home any number of times, they can call employees back to the company, they can return to the remote work mode again and they can also reduce or prolong the remote work period. This will be possible until 4 September 2020 when the effective period of the Act (180 days) will expire.

Can the employer somehow monitor the employees who do their work remotely? This particular form of collaboration must be based on mutual trust and the responsibility of the employee. There are numerous temptations at home and we often do the job less effectively when no one is watching over our shoulder. Is there any way that the employer can optimize the company operations during the coronavirus threat? How to avoid losses for the company and reduced performance by employees in the remote work mode of operation?

A tool assisting in the remote work management

The Polish company TIMATE has a tool for the remote work management. How does it function?

This tool is a smart card which collects information about the employer’s motion. It is fully reliable when it comes to analysing the use of the working time, employee safety, information about the employee location, task delegation and – most importantly in this particular case – recording the progress of remote work. The card can be used to confirm task performance when employees are on the company premises and when they go on a business trip or work from home, says Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO.

How is this done? The employee uses the task list on the smartphone and chooses the next task to perform. By placing the card against the phone and using the NFC technology, the employee confirms the start and the completion of the task.

TIMATE records the time devoted to the task on condition that the employee has the card on. When the card is placed against the phone, the location is recorded, i.e. the place where the remote work is performed, based on GPS, explains Sebastian Młodziński.

Photo: TIMATE card

The card also has the employee’s task schedule preloaded, so if it detects that the employee is not at work on a given day, it will ask for reasons of this absence. The card owner can choose one of the options on the screen (remote work, business trip, sick leave) or any other option predefined in the system.

Photo: TIMATE card reading – remote work with geolocation

Data from the cards of employees who are not on the company premises are recorded and the employer can access them instantly. This allows for monitoring attendance and reasons for absence on a regular basis.

If not remote work, then what? How to ensure the employee safety to the maximum?

Unfortunately, working from home is not always an option. Even during the pandemic, some people simply have to be there on the company premises due to the nature of their duties. How to make sure they are 100% safe? Again, TIMATE can be of assistance.

When the location function is on, the system can point to the location of the card holder (in a room or in a section of the building). When there is a confirmed case of the COVID-2019 infection in the company, the employer uses TIMATE to easily determine which employees had contact with the infected person and who needs to be quarantined, explains Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

The cards also have the SOS button which ensures immediate notification about threats. You see someone is feeling ill? You press the SOS button on your card. You are feeling unwell yourself? You get help with one button.

Photo: TIMATE card’s SOS function

When the temporary quarantine is necessary in the company, the system will enable ongoing verification of the movements of the quarantined persons. Each employee who has the card is visible in the system, so managers can see and monitor the locations of all employees. In consequence, they can react immediately if the quarantine rules are not followed.

The pandemic is resulting in many changes for both employers and employees. They need to adapt to the new situation and try to cope with it effectively. Remote work can become a permanent mode of collaboration in Polish enterprises. Innovations which are available on the market can ensure that remote work will be as effective as the work performed on the company premises.

Our company has been nominated in the category “Technologies of the Future” for the smart card which enables automatic recording of time and attendance at work, access control as well as monitoring of employee safety and performance.

– We are very glad that our idea and our work in creating the TIMATE system have been appreciated. Considering that this award is highly valued both in business and in science, the nomination itself is already a mark of distinction and it also shows that the Polish market is now ready for cutting-edge innovative devices which will change and optimize processes in enterprises, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE. .

The awards are granted in several categories, .e.g. the scientist of the future, the visionary CEO, innovative technologies of the future, the inspiring woman leading an organization or the local government supporting residents and investors. This distinction is an expression of respect for projects and concepts, plans of their development and methods of promotion.

The Awards of Intelligent Development are presented and received each year at the special ceremony during the Intelligent Development Forum. The 5th edition of this event will be held in November.

This event dedicated to experts in communication, digitalization of internal processes and HR operations was held on 30–31 January in Warsaw. One of the speakers was Sebastian Młodziński, TIMATE’s CEO, whose presentations was titled “IoT = Internet of Things / Interpretation of Time”.

Enterprises are now ready for the digitalization of workplaces. This transformation can boost the competitive edge and improve the comfort of work. It also supports automation of key processes and enhances the control, which is directly translated into better effectiveness. That is why my presentation focused on the benefits related to the implementation of our system. I pointed out the multiple problems that TIMATE can solve. I accentuated the huge amount of data it can collect and analyse. Companies gather lots of information, but they lack the mechanism that would be able to analyse this information. TIMATE provides a ready-made environment and generates analysed data, says Sebastian Młodziński.

The presentation by our CEO aroused a lot of interest among the participants who assessed it highly in the post-conference survey and admitted they were impressed by TIMATE in the backstage comments.

During the Digital Workplace event I had the opportunity to talk to representatives of several companies who had already heard about our system, but it is still an unknown and pretty exotic solution to the majority of businesses. That’s why I am really happy about the positive feedback from the conference participants. For some people TIMATE turned out to be a real eye-opener: they saw the new approach to time and attendance at work, including remote work, safety and task delegation. Why such a reaction? Because no one before has measured what employees actually do from clock-in to clock-out. Nearly a half of companies participating in the conference said they would want to test our system, says TIMATE’s CEO.

Digital Workplace gathered representatives of more than fifty companies who could attend presentations as well as share their experiences and observations and initiate new business relations. The conference has shown that the process of workplace digitalization is inevitable and enterprises are ready to implement technological innovations that enhance employee engagement.

His presentation (“IoT = Internet of Things / Interpretation of Time”) will focus on how IoT can monitor and verify the performance of tasks and duties at the workplace. Sebastian will show the potential of cutting-edge solutions and devices in the everyday operations of companies and factories as well as the benefits brought by a fair time and attendance system and employee behaviour analysis.

There’s too little being said about Polish inventions in the globally known and valued category of the Internet of Things (IoT). Meanwhile TIMATE, a time and attendance system, is a good example of how you can reconcile the needs of both employers and employees. Technology allows to see into the commitment and efficiency of employees as well as to implement optimizations which save money and improve the employee safety and the way that the working time is used, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO at TIMATE.

Digital Workplace is an event dedicated to experts in communication and digitization of internal processes and HR operations. The speakers are practitioners who implement business solutions which support HR departments and enhance communication between employees in order to make them more committed and effective.

The conference participants will have the opportunity to share precious experience and observations regarding the state-of-the art solutions in the are of digital workplace. More information about the event: https://www.trioconferences.pl/digital-workplace/ 

For several decades, I-Care has been operating in the industrial sector, optimising production processes and supporting maintenance departments in the most efficient use of machinery parks. Each day, the company collects and analyses big data in order to prevent failures and plan servicing, which allows to avoid downtime.

We use big data in our work on a daily basis, so the idea behind TIMATE is something we can definitely relate to. What is interesting to us in this solution is the detailed data analysis which supports planning and the effective use of human resources. We were also very impressed by the fully automated recording of time and attendance, says Łukasz Szumilas, CEO of I-Care Polska.

Under the contract signed by the companies, I-Care will recommend TIMATE to its customers, i.e. production enterprises where the employees work in machinery halls. From their perspective, the special benefit of TIMATE is the comprehensive combination of employee safety (OHS), time and attendance (HR) and work maintenance in terms of the efficient assignment of human resources.

When we designed and developed TIMATE, we made employee safety our priority. We know how difficult it is to monitor such aspects as the use of the required personal protective equipment by employees. When someone ignores the rule of wearing a helmet, it can lead to risks and hazards. The surveys by Statistics Poland show that in Q1 2019 as many as 60.5% of accidents at work were due to employee faults. TIMATE makes it a lot easier to protect personnel safety, says Sebastian Młodziński, CEO of TIMATE.

The system consists of sensors which analyse how people move around a specific area. The heart of TIMATE is the smart card based on the IoT technology. It notifies the employee about entering the hazard zone and the requirement to use personal protective equipment. It will also notify the manager when an accident occurs, providing the information about the whereabouts of the employee who needs help. If there is an evacuation, TIMATE allows to immediately check whether all employees are outside the hazard zone.

The smart card also supports remote work. It can contain a list of tasks and it will then monitor their performance and the time needed for their completion. As a result, the employer can easily check if an employee who works outside the company premises actually performs the assigned tasks.

I-Care has already started talks with companies that would consider the implementation of TIMATE.

We have received many responses. One of our customers will soon begin testing the system, says Łukasz Szumilas, I-Care Polska.