Ace flushes out manual workforce management

Ace Hardware Corp. is helping independent members of its retail cooperative manage increasingly complex labor regulations.



The hardware chain is leveraging the cloud-based Kronos Workforce Central suite of workforce management solutions. In addition to better management of rising labor law compliance requirements, Ace expects the deployment to also enable improvement of store productivity and increase of associate engagement.



Ace selected Kronos to replace an existing manual workforce management process. This should enable Ace Hardware retailers to free up time previously spent on administrative work and improve accuracy by eliminating error-prone processes. The suite includes solutions such as time and attendance, forecasting, and scheduling, which will provide greater visibility into labor data and manage diverse labor laws and collective agreements across different regions.



Deploying in the cloud allows the retailer to offer self-service features via Kronos mobile and tablet applications. Kronos will perform all configuration, maintenance, upgrades, and support of the workforce management solution.



“We needed an advanced workforce management solution to streamline important workforce management processes as well as further strengthen associate engagement with the business,” said Bob Lovesky, store operations manager for Ace Hardware. “We are really excited to gain these benefits with Kronos and also achieve a fast return on investment by deploying in the Kronos Cloud.”



Workforce management has become much more complicated in recent years. However, retailers are discovering what was once considered a “keeping the lights on” type of task can actually provide a significant boost to store-level efficiency and savings, and also deliver a rich trove of actionable data. Ace is playing its workforce management hand sharply by upping the ante on the technology it uses to control labor operations.