Time and attendance and access control company Uniclox signed a strategic partnership agreement with French human resources firm Bodet Software last month to provide significant new functionality for customers, says Uniclox GM Rodney Sanders.

Signing the agreement brings a wealth of experience, product knowledge and software development to the African market. Bodet Software, present in 18 African countries, is pursuing its strategy of expanding into these markets through partnerships, says Bodet Software export sales manager Mathieu Maurel.

Uniclox has been repositioning itself within its market, partly to provide increased support for its clients in the Southern African Development Community region and expand its main customer base in South Africa.

“To enable our long-term sustainability, we must ensure that we are able to support our client base with good-quality technologies and software functionalities.

“Bodet Software brings international benchmark quality hardware and software expertise to our clients, enabling us to capitalise on resource management developments in Europe for our customers within the exciting and challenging environments in Southern Africa,” says Sanders.

Uniclox has a research and development team in Alberton, Gauteng, under research manager Kobus Niewoudt and has a highly technical and experienced installation team, proficient at large and small installation projects.

Bodet has a staff complement of 250 that comprises 60 software engineers, of which 17 are software testing engineers, says Maurel.

“The partnership is a very important milestone for Uniclox, as it brings local market experience and support, while Bodet Software brings international software development, testing and customisation to our clients and potential customers in the region,” says Sanders.

Uniclox provides building management, time and attendance, access control and human resources, as well as leave management tools, while Bodet Software provides staff planning systems and employee self-service systems. It also provides reporting and business intelligence systems that provide aggregated and strategic information for business managers and executives to make informed staff decisions and forecasts.

Bodet Software has a suite of modules that provide additional functions, such as the job-costing module, which is especially useful to determine the exact time spent on various projects and compare them to identify whether time has been spent efficiently and profitably.

Significantly, Uniclox is also aiming to expand its client base in the financial services and legal firms markets, where the Bodet Software systems will boost the existing Uniclox time management systems at such companies, notes Sanders.

“Bodet Software, which also manufactures its own hardware to ISO 9001 and 140001 standards, is focused on delivering robust, customised and quality software to meet clients’ needs. Our strong software focus is bolstered by our in-house manufacturing capabilities, and we will offer our range of hardware with that offered by Uniclox,” says Maurel.

“Bodet Software’s hardware is designed to, and has been proven to, endure severe conditions, including humidity, dust and heat. The hardware conforms with standards that govern dust-, water- and humidity-resistance, as well as heat tolerance,” he adds.

Uniclox is a family-owned business, celebrating its seventieth year, and originally focused on making clocks, two of which are functioning in the Wanderers Club building, in Illovo, and the SAB building, in Johannesburg.

Bodet is also family-owned and is celebrating its 146th anniversary this year. It also originally built clock towers and clocks.