The brief
The Port of Tauranga is New Zealand’s largest and most efficient port. It aims to be recognised as New Zealand's Port for the Future by offering a range of preferred cargo gateways and shipping solutions.
Alongside this vision the Port of Tauranga looks to ensure the delivery of internal business efficiencies. Simon Kebbell IT/Finance Manager at the Port of Tauranga engaged with Cucumber to develop a Timesheet application primarily as a business process recording and productivity tool; that is, staff would no longer use traditional timesheets but instead input into a web based timesheet tool which would provide a data feed into the Port of Tauranga payroll system.
The Process
Cucumber worked closely with the Port of Tauranga team to develop the Timesheet application and the steps involved in delivering the solution are outlined below :
- The production of a functional specification with key prioritisation items covering functional, non-functional, role based administration and system requirements.
- A collaborative prototyping approach to provide the Port of Tauranga team with a clickable visual representation of what the application would look like in order to agree the workflow process before development started.
- Development of the application using .Net technologies which fitted well with the Port of Tauranga’s application environment.
- A thorough User Acceptance Testing process which included the sponsor and key staff members.
The Result
The first phase release saw 20 staff using the web timesheet application. The outcomes were:
- Increased productivity through electronic workflow approvals
- Better management of internal data and documentation
- Improvements in accuracy of data input and time recording
- Enhanced speed of process via import of data into the Payroll system
- A simplified process for relief staff in the HR Department