Manufacturer Trims Costs, Reduces HR Headcount, and Enhances Reporting With Ultimate Software’s Intersourcing

WESTON, Fla., Aug 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, announced today that its customer Interstate Resources, a leading manufacturer of paper products such as corrugated boxes and paper, is achieving companywide business benefits as a result of implementing Ultimate Software’s hosted service model, Intersourcing.

Prior to Intersourcing, Interstate Resources had been using a payroll service bureau, but sought more functionality and flexibility than the outsourcer could provide. The manufacturer selected Intersourcing to address those needs, and since going “live” on Intersourcing in 2001, has been able to:
* cut costs and improve service by posting forms and employee documents on the UltiPro portal
* reduce HR/payroll headcount, reassigning certain employees to other departments
* improve the quality of management reports and speed in producing them using UltiPro’s easy-to-use, customizable reporting tool

With more than 900 employees spread throughout 6 states, Interstate Resources wanted a solution that would give employees the ability to view their individual human resources, benefits, and payroll information without HR/payroll staff involvement, saving time and reducing paper transactions. The company rolled out self-service and gave its employees online access to benefits choices, paycheck details, compensation history, employee handbooks, forms, and more. As a result, Interstate Resources discontinued the printing of many forms, including direct deposit advices (DDAs), providing the company an immediate and recurring savings.

“Each plant is saving thousands of dollars every year in printing costs since we’ve been able to stop printing DDAs, and that’s just the hard-cost savings,” said Ann Patton, payroll manager, Interstate Resources. “The traffic through the human resources and payroll departments has also dropped because employees are able to gather information on their own without our assistance, freeing up our staff.”

Because of efficiencies like those attributed to self-service, Interstate Resources has reassigned five HR/payroll staff members to other departments where they are needed, providing an overall bottom-line benefit to the business while allowing employees to explore new job opportunities within the company. Patton herself has started working virtually, moving her home to another state, since she can log on to UltiPro using the Internet.

From her home office, Patton processes payroll and generates customized reports. She regularly uses UltiPro’s reporting to develop ad hoc reports, addressing specific issues and questions. For instance, Patton recently needed to prepare an annual pension census-a 52-column document that encompasses a broad range of detailed employee information. With UltiPro, she created the report herself and ran it in a few hours compared with the days she believes it would have taken her to delve through hard copy reports and manually compile data onto spreadsheets.

“Intersourcing gives me the ability to build complex reports from home. The customized reporting that we have with UltiPro is simple to use, pulls from real-time data, and gives me all the information I need without the delay or extra costs that can be associated with a service bureau,” said Patton. “Since I don’t need to be in the office to direct upgrades or system maintenance with Intersourcing, I have the freedom to work virtually.”

“Interstate Resources has discovered two of the core benefits from Intersourcing, which are flexibility and speed. Intersourcing users have the ability to manage their employee-related processes from anywhere at any time, while workforce analytics can be collected within a moment’s notice,” said Greg Swick, senior vice president of sales for Ultimate Software.

About Ultimate Software 
Ultimate Software, a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, markets award-winning UltiPro as licensed software, as a hosted application through Intersourcing, and as a co-branded offering to Business Service Providers (BSPs) under the “Powered by UltiPro” brand. Employing approximately 500 professionals who are focused on developing the highest quality products and services, Ultimate Software was named the 2005 Payroll Provider of the Year by the Human Resources Outsourcing Association and listed among the 2005 top 25 Best Medium Places to Work in America by the Great Place to Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management. Ultimate Software customers represent diverse industries and include such organizations as The Container Store, Elizabeth Arden, The Florida Marlins Baseball Team, The New York Yankees Baseball Team, Nintendo of America, Ruths Chris Steak House, SkyWest Airlines, and Trammell Crow Residential. More information on Ultimate Software’s products and services can be found at http://www.ultimatesoftware.com.


UltiPro and Intersourcing are registered trademarks of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

For Sales Information:
Ultimate Software
Phone: (800) 432-1729
Web site: http://www.ultimatesoftware.com