Killing two birds with one stone at Excluton

Excluton, a manufacturer of concrete paving products, offers a wide range for both garden design and public spaces. Founded in 1975 by Frans van Haren, with its head office and production site strategically located in Druten on the river Waal, Excluton is the only concrete manufacturer in the Netherlands, and the first in Europe, with a certified Cradle to Cradle® recycling system. This innovative system makes it possible to reuse old paving stones and materials for new, sustainable paving products. In 2022, Excluton was acquired by Gilde Equity Management.

The acquisition brought new wishes and needs, especially on the organizational side. HR Manager Kitty Dirkse actively looked for an integrated HR package and a workforce management system, and ended up with Dyflexis.

Efficient time registration

When Kitty joined Excluton, she immediately faced a major challenge: making time registration more efficient. Many processes were still done by hand, and the systems worked separately from each other.

“Every week, we spent half a day transferring hours worked from Excel into our payroll software,” says Kitty. “The systems worked on their own, but they weren’t connected. That led to a lot of duplicate work and errors.”

After a thorough search, they chose a combination of Dyflexis, Daywize and Nmbrs. That choice worked out very well: “This step was a real game changer. New employees now appear automatically in every system, and the hours worked reach the payroll software at the push of a button. Thanks to Dyflexis, we have taken a huge step in modernizing our HR processes.”

Perfecting staff scheduling

Staff scheduling was a headache too, especially with several departments and roles that each had their own way of planning.

“It was a complex puzzle that took a lot of time,” says Kitty. “Every department used its own scheduling method, which made it hard to keep a complete and up-to-date overview.”

Dyflexis changed that. Employees now register their hours with a new time clock system, which team leaders check. This gives daily, individual insight into regular and extra hours, which is valuable input for future schedules.

Our planners and team leaders can now work much faster and more efficiently. That has led to a better overview, a fairer distribution of shifts and substantial cost savings.

Fast implementation

Once the benefits of the software combination became clear, Excluton wanted to move quickly. “We didn’t want a long project, we wanted to get going straight away,” says Kitty.

“The full implementation was completed within two months. It went smoothly, partly thanks to good support from the suppliers.”

Every change starts with a challenge

Of course, the switch also brought some uncertainty for employees. Even so, the new system was quickly embraced.

“Some resistance is completely normal with changes like this,” says Kitty. “But we were well supported, and the benefits soon became clear to everyone.

Employees can now easily sign up for extra shifts that fit their calendar, and the app gives them real-time insight into their schedule.

Managing overtime has improved too: employees can now choose between having it paid out or taking time off in lieu.”