C&S Wholesale Grocers Chooses Workbrain ERM 3.0 To Automate Unique Employee 'Incentive Pay' System

Business Wire, Oct 29, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2001

Solution Integrates With Existing Infrastructure, Enabling C&S to

Centralize Employee Management Processes for 10,000 Workers

Workbrain, Inc., a leading provider of Employee Relationship Management (ERM) solutions, today announced that C&S Wholesale Grocers, a distributor of food to supermarkets, retail stores and military bases, has selected Workbrain(TM) ERM 3.0 to automate their time and attendance and incentive management process through one application. (For more on Workbrain's ERM 3.0, please see today's announcement, "Workbrain Announces The Availability of ERM 3.0").

C&S, named by Forbes as one of the world's 20 largest private firms, is recognized as an innovative employer for its incentive program that allows employees to earn incentive pay based on the quantity and quality of their work. As a result of the company's growth, C&S believes that the administration of its incentive pay program will benefit from having a centralized, integrated system in place.

Workbrain will automate C&S' time and attendance and incentive pay process across all 24 company locations, encompassing a total of 10,000 users by early next year. Because Workbrain's ERM 3.0 integrates with C&S' existing IT and payroll systems (Cyborg and applications developed in-house), C&S will be able to protect much of its existing investments--such as its long-standing Kronos(TM) time clocks.

"Workbrain's solution allows us to continue using our existing Kronos clocks, and replace Kronos' time and attendance application with one that can handle time, attendance and labor rules, and our complex incentive pay system," said Tim DeFreitas, vice president of information services for C&S Wholesale Grocers. "ERM 3.0 allowed us to integrate and enhance our time and attendance and payroll systems without undergoing any change management or completely reengineering our processes."

ERM 3.0 will allow C&S to run a more efficient workplace--simplifying company procedures in a cost-effective manner by eliminating manual data entry, processing payroll in a timely, error-free manner and allowing the time spent on administrative functions to be directed to more strategic areas. Workbrain's flexible ERM platform also gives C&S the option to implement additional functionality as the company's needs change.

"At C&S, we faced problems such as a large workforce spread out across various sites, all with varying employee incentive pay and benefits packages that needed to be manually entered into the payroll system each month," added Keith Martin, manager of payroll for C&S Wholesale Grocers. "Workbrain's ERM 3.0 will help us reduce errors and costs by taking all of these variables into account in one centralized system."

Once implemented, the transition to ERM 3.0 will be seamless for C&S' employees. They will continue to use their existing time cards and Kronos clocks each day without noticing any difference in functionality--and with no additional training. Behind the scenes, ERM 3.0 will integrate the daily data with all of C&S' other systems, enabling advanced levels of employee management by supervisors, human resources and payroll.

Workbrain ERM 3.0 also gives C&S better reporting capabilities. The increased workforce analysis will enable C&S to manage their business better, smarter and most importantly--in real-time. With one common platform capable of handling complex rule calculations and changes, personnel needs can be adjusted on the spot, thus saving the company a great deal of money.

"Our work with C&S highlights ERM 3.0's ease of use, ease of installation and robust feature set," added David Stein, senior vice president at Workbrain. "By seamlessly integrating with existing clocks and infrastructure, and automating C&S' entire incentive pay system without impacting employees, ERM 3.0 will deliver a rapid return on investment. ERM 3.0 also enables C&S to implement additional functionality as their needs evolve."

About C&S Wholesale Grocers

C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. is a privately owned company with annual sales of over $8 Billion. C&S, with headquarters in Brattleboro, Vermont, was founded in 1918 and is currently the 3rd largest wholesaler and distributor of food and grocery products in the United States. C&S distributes to over 1500 customers from its warehouses in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Pennsylvania. More information is located at www.cswg.com.

About Workbrain, Inc.

Workbrain's Employee Relationship Management (ERM) software applications automate the most frequent and complex interactions between an enterprise and its employees, including time and attendance, training registration, scheduling, skills management, surveys and testing. Workbrain's flagship product, ERM 3.0, is built on the J2EE platform for rapid implementation--enabling companies to reduce costs, increase productivity and realize a substantial return on investment. ERM 3.0 integrates with a company's existing technology investments and scales to meet the needs of hundreds of thousands of users. As a result, Global 2000 customers such as British Airways, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Levi Strauss & Co. and Russell Corporation have chosen Workbrain's industry standard ERM solution. For more information, please visit us at www.workbrain.com.