Keith, if I was the one who got the 14,000 shares today, then I would be shocked!
For you see, I am not a MM, I don't know any MM's, I don't have any MM's owing me a favour, I am not sleeping with a MM, and I don't have any private pictures of MM's in a compromising position to use as leverage! <ggg>
But, you can bet your own private stash of JDX shares that the person who did get those fit into one of the above categories. I am sure that there are some honest MM's out there, but what we have just seen over the past few days is a prime example of how low some of them will stoop.
I had hoped that earlier today I would have had a chance to provide some comments on this press release, but I have been packing for our camping trip and it has taken much longer than I thought. You see, I got caught in the rain, and it slowed me down quite a bit. As it stands now, I probably will only get 5 hours sleep before heading out tomorrow. Because of this pre-holiday rushing around, I think I have a better understanding now of why (when I was a kid) it took my Dad, a day or two to unwind, when we went out on holidays with the family.
Now, back to ASI!
If you can bear with me, I have taken some editorial license and I have added what I believe are some personal observations to explain what this release means to me. For expediency sake, I have also cut out some of the release's text. Now, I could be stretching it with some of my comments, but I don't think I am too far off. Anyway, for what it is worth, here is what I think.
SUBJECT: Replacement of Time Clocks with Computer Automated System Scheduled for DaimlerChrysler Corporation Manufacturing Plants by the Year 2001
Comment - Good revenue stream to ASI for the next 18 months
Timekeeper Overtime Reduced by 700-800 Hours Per Month for Initial Installations
Comment - Double time @ base of $15 hr. = $30 hr. X 750 hours (average) = $22,500 per month savings for the initial installations. $22,500 X 12 months = $270,000 yr. The number will grow substantially with the additional installs. Now Chrysler has to like that as these dollars go straight to the company's bottom line.
Southfield, MI -July 13, 1999- DaimlerChrysler's 33 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Canada are in the process of replacing the traditional Time Clock system with a new paperless, computer-automated, time, attendance, and labor allocation system -- an industry first. By the end of next year, the Company anticipates that the work-time logged in by approximately 70,000 workers will be accounted for by using a new C-ATS system known as Corporate Automated Time System.
Comment - Make no mistake, this is an endorsement by a world class company that will be noticed around the world! Think of all of the other large manufacturing plants who follow what this company is doing. Many of them do what Sam Walton used to do - borrow the best ideas from his competitors. Now, think about all of the suppliers to this company. They have manufacturing plants as well. If they get wind of how well this application is helping this company, you can bet your last nickel that they will be interested in talking when ASI comes calling!
The C-ATS system was jointly developed by DaimlerChrysler, Advanced Systems International ("ASI") (NQB: ADSN), Southfield, MI, and Perot Systems, Dallas, TX (NYSE: PER), and has been installed in one-third of DaimlerChrysler's plants since it first pilot tested last August in the company's Sterling Heights, MI, stamping plant. The system is currently being installed in the remaining plants at the rate of about a plant a month.
Comment - How many small growth companies can say that they were partnered with two giants in the industry who helped them develop a cutting edge product? It is like having two rich Uncles who take a personal interest in seeing you succeed. They help you get started on the right path in your business. They help you build your product line, and then become one of your best customers. They introduce you to their other successful friends, and take pride in seeing you succeed! Not bad, not bad at all.
Advanced Systems International originally developed the application in the early '90's as a Windows(tm)-based Client/Server program to address multi-dimensional labor data collection and distribution requirements for large manufacturing companies.
Comment - This product, and this company have been around the block. They have built up a good infrastructure, and as the President of ASI has stated, they have now entered their profitability stage.
The application, called TServer*, provides real time data to key supervisors throughout the enterprise, allowing supervisors to make informed labor allocation decisions based on current information.
Comment - In my former career, I was responsible for providing the new business applications to our 300 plus management team. When we rolled out a new application that solved a business problem, the people who received that application have been ecstatic. This was because they finally had direct access to the information they needed to make decisions. For many of them, they feel a sense of empowerment and control for the first time. If you haven't witnessed this first hand, I can assure you that it is a treat to watch the reaction you get when you give someone information they can use!
When workers arrive at the plant, they are able to enter via the most convenient gate, rather than the one nearest a specifically assigned time clock, which frequently is located at a great distance from where employees actually work. Electronically encoded security gate badges or cards automatically log workers in and out of the system as they enter and leave the plant.
Comment - If it takes 5 extra minutes per day for a worker to get to their work location, then the cumulative total of lost work time is tremendous. Remember, we are talking about a manufacturing plant, where each person can impact a whole assembly line if they are late. This makes sense, move the data collection system to the worker, don't make workers do extra to feed an inflexible administrative necessity. I can also imagine the grumbling that went on when workers who just wanted to get home had to go and check out at the other end of the plant.
If employees have overtime, vacation, sick leave or personal time, this time and attendance information is quickly reconciled by their supervisor on a Windows(tm)*-based computer screen with a user-friendly GUI (graphical user interface). If employees have any questions about their pay, these can generally be resolved quickly between worker and supervisor by reviewing and updating information that is readily available at the terminal. (In the rare incidence of a grievance, the same information is available to the union steward.)
Comment - At one time in my career, I relieved the payroll manager when they went on holidays. I also was responsible for administering the Short & Long Term Disability benefits for over 7,000 unionized employees. Believe me that if you want to see some pretty laid back people lose it, let them think that you (or the company) are screwing with their benefits! The staggering amount of unproductive time spent dealing with questions, confusion, personal situations, grievances, investigating potential abuses, and trying to rebuild trust and morale is numbing. If a company has a system in place - that everyone trusts - and it is flexible, then again, I can speak from experience, that workplace is a much, much more productive place of business.
"The bottom line for our workers," said Gary Rocheleau, DaimlerChrysler Plant and Payroll Accounting Manager "is that this system has the potential to reduce payroll errors to zero. At present, where this system has been installed at our larger plants (2,500-3,500 workers) payroll shortages (i.e. errors) have been reduced from about 50 a week to around 15. We can do even better as we get accustomed to the system. This system has improved employee morale at payday and reduced the overall time lost due to fixing payroll errors from about 70 to 20 hours a week."
Comments - 50 hours X $15 hr = $750 wk savings X 52 weeks = $39,000 yr. Ever try to balance a payroll that just won't balance! IT IS NOT WHAT I CONSIDER A FUN JOB!
Rocheleau also reports that the number of timekeepers on his staff has been already reduced, by attrition only, from 108 to 95. In addition, timekeeper overtime required to meet payroll deadlines has been reduced by 700 - 800 hours a month. These numbers alone indicate that the system has more than paid for itself in less than a year.
Comment - Reduction of 13 head count . . . 13 X $35,000 yr (benefits included) = $455,000 yr. savings.
According to Linda Savage, C-ATS Project Manager, the former Chrysler began evaluating off-the-shelf time and attendance software solutions in 1995. "Our mandate from the MIS department was that we should base our system on commercially available, open, client server software that supported Sybase. In addition, we needed a solution that would automate complex labor allocation functions performed by supervisors using paper crew sheets. This is why we are getting a high level of buy-in for the new system from our Plant Managers and Supervisors," Savage continued. "To them it's a tool for forecasting labor requirements and efficiently moving sets of skills to where they are most needed."
Comment - I betcha the main reason they are getting great buy in from the front line management is that the application works, and it works well! Purchasing a commercially available application is a wise move, in that it allows an organization to be on the release path for new upgrades that ASI develops.
"Advanced Systems International, a very small company at the time, had laid considerable groundwork in developing exactly the kind of system we were looking for. By partnering with them, we were able to get all of the
features that were important to us, including a user-friendly crew-based graphical user interface on a single screen. Perot Systems was asked to join the partnership to lend project management and programming support."
Comments - O.K., so say I want to start a business - It is a technology business. So, what do you think my chances are of getting (or for that matter being able to afford) Perot systems to provide me with the programming expertise to build a cutting edge application? I can just imagine the folks at ASI when they realized that both Chrysler and Perot systems were helping them build a product that they could build their future around! I guess it would be like having two rich Uncles showing you their vault for the first time.
Savage said that DaimlerChrysler manufacturing plants have extremely complex work rules which govern pay schedules and the allocation of overtime. Developing the C-ATS system involved an enormous team effort on the part of the vendors and especially by numerous people at DaimlerChrysler who established product requirements and tested numerous modifications. The challenge was to develop a product in which all the variations of the rules were embedded in the software so that there would be little need to write
additional software code as the system evolves.
Comments - I managed a team of 10 people whose job it was to identify business requirements, work with the I.S. department in the development of the product, and then perform the client acceptance testing for the finished product. That was an extremely detailed and rigorous process. I still am somewhat taken aback by the good fortune ASI had to be able to work so closely with two large and respected corporations to ensure that all of the possible variations were considered and addressed in their final product. Many new companies have to brainstorm on their own, or if they get to work with a company to develop a product, it is rarely of the caliber of these two organizations! I believe that because of what ASI went through, they have a product that is on the cutting edge.
ASI markets a commercial version of its ATServer* open, Client/Server time, attendance and labor allocation software. ASI customers, such as Welch's Foods, Johnson Controls, Cold Spring Farms, Sara Lee, ITT Automotive, The Budd Company, Heinz Canada and Dana Corporation, have all realized similar savings from reduced payroll processing time and errors.
Comment - I believe that ASI's customer list is just getting started. I recommend that people go back and read the customer testimonials as to why these companies purchased ASI's products. These comments are impressive.
This summer DaimlerChrysler will be reviewing the C-ATS solution for potential implementation at other DaimlerChrysler manufacturing plants worldwide.
Comments - Once again, I believe that ASI is just getting warmed up! They are growing, their customers love their products, and these products are saving them money. Their potential market is huge, and they are coming out with new products (Middleware) that the T&A application can feed into.
So there you have it! Sorry for the long post, and the boring stories of my past career experiences, but I felt that they were important as I feel they help to explain a bit about why I have invested in this company.
But enough for now, cause I have to go get some sleep! We have a long drive ahead of us tomorrow. I'll be back early next week, and I'll talk to you then!
Take care!
Crazy Canuk |
