Testimonials

What our customers say...

Capita plc

Financial, Insurance and Business Management Services

Tim Sill of Capita:

“Q>TAR has been in place for over twenty five years and has been used as our time recording system for monitoring staff attendance, sickness and holidays. The data captured has been instrumental in ensuring there has been sufficient oversight of the company's staff utilisation across its operation.

During this time, there have been minimal issues with the software in terms of reliability and ease of data access. The hardware, as it has aged, has shown an expected level of reliability, with any fix on fail requirements dealt with efficiently under the annual maintenance agreement.

All in all, the use of Q>TAR has continuously satisfied the needs of the company, and the service provided by P & Q International Ltd has been very satisfactory.

Cadbury (Ireland)

Manufacturer of Confectionery products

Catherine Murphy of Cadbury:

“We employ approximately 1400 employees between two plants in Ireland. We operate QTAR in both these plants. Our shift patterns are very variable – we have 5-day shifts, four-night weeks, weekend shifts, 5-evening part-time workers etc.

We use the basic QTAR package and then we transfer clocking information up onto our mainframe payroll package. We have an annual maintenance contract with P&Q but we tend not to need to contact them too often for support – perhaps 2 or 3 times a year. We might have the occasional query and the staff at P&Q are always very helpful.”

Monarch Aircraft Engineering Ltd

Aircraft servicing and repairs

Pat Thomas of Monarch:

“We installed and started to set up QTAR over the Christmas/New Year period in 1991. It was quite hard work transferring all the information, knowing that we were meant to move over onto using it in May. We decided to run the old system alongside it to start with, and we were going to trial the new software for a while to check for accuracy. But it revolutionised our whole system of doing the payroll so quickly that we dropped the trials after about six weeks. We found that P&Q were always ready to help, and they respond very fast to urgent problems. We stopped using QTAR for a short time a couple of years ago, but found that QTAR was by far the best system we had tried, and came back to the new upgrade in 2003. It's reliable and flexible.”

Caparo Precision Tubes

Manufacturer of Steel tubing

Bob Sharratt of Caparo Tubing:

“When we first installed QTAR over 10 years ago, we needed a Time & Attendance system quite urgently. This system was perfect for the purpose at that time. I must say, though, that we didn't upgrade our system as P&Q brought out new versions, so gradually its impact for the company decreased over time.

“Then Tyco took over the company, and it became apparent that most systems were going to be centralised. We now had five locations, running two different T&A programs. So, we had a decision to make – QTAR, the other T&A application, or something completely new. For me there was really only one choice. We decided to roll QTAR out across all five locations. This meant we needed to upgrade.

“We have found QTAR extremely flexible - it can do anything you require of it. Day-to-day operations are simple. You need additional knowledge of the working of the program when it comes to defining new shift patterns. To be frank, I had very little contact with P&Q support whilst we had the old system in place, because it so rarely went wrong or gave us trouble. But I have worked closely with them during the upgrade. The Support team is well-informed and comprehensive. You come across T & A programs that appear to be almost an afterthought from some software suppliers. But P & Q have kept their focus squarely on T & A - they simply have to be good at it.”

TMD Friction

Manufacturer of Brake friction components

P. A. Rothwell of TMD Friction:

“Our shift patterns are complex – 5-day, 7-day, morning, afternoon, nights and rotating, and we also have people on fixed salaries. QTAR handles these fine. When it was first installed, we were shown how to work it, and then we explored from there. When we upgraded just before Christmas, we also upgraded our computer systems. We had more problems with them than we did with the QTAR upgrade – that went very smoothly.”

Crown Cork and Seal

International packaging company

Christine Wathan of Crown Cork and Seal:

“We've had QTAR installed for quite a few years, and we find it to be a good program. P&Q are very friendly and helpful. If I have a problem or question they are always ready to assist me.”

LEONI Wiring Systems

Manufacturer of Lucas brand electronic vehicle parts

Stella Pepper of LEONI:

“We originally purchased QTAR in 1990 purely for payroll management – we had up to 3000 individuals on the system at one point. We found that using the system was simple, and there are a lot of standard reporting abilities included. But when we realised how QTAR could be expanded, we decided to have special sections written for us by P&Q to report things like absenteeism in different ways that suited our requirements better. We upgraded to the Windows interface a little while ago, and that went smoothly. The few teething problems were quickly dealt with by P&Q on our behalf. We get good support from the P&Q staff. They are easy to talk to, even if you aren't very familiar with computers. They can offer online support for error checking too, if necessary.”

Kraft Suchard

Manufacturer of Chocolate and confectionery

Martin Buckle of Kraft Suchard:

“We have a workforce of about 850 and have used QTAR since 1992 to keep track of shift work, contractor hours and salaried personnel for payroll. But we also use the system for many other things. We have had several modules developed by P&Q to meet our specific needs. For instance, we are heavily reliant on QTAR in our costing processes, and for reporting excessive unauthorised absences for management action. We have about 100 people – mostly managers – who use the system daily to authorise overtime, book employee holidays, enter cost centre changes, and so on. We have the program configured to perform complex functions, and customising a few parts has made it like a bespoke system for us.”

Dunlop Oil & Marine

Manufacturer of Industrial Hosing

Sue Thomas of Dunlop Oil & Marine:

“Dunlop Oil & Marine has been using QTAR for 19 years. We have had no trouble with the system in all that time. Recently we have looked at other systems, but frankly when a thing has never let you down – why change? We have implemented other new systems before and run into problems, wasting time and effort. QTAR does exactly what we need it to do. Because P&Q concentrate on T&A, the system works perfectly.”

To celebrate 20 years of using Q›TAR, P&Q's M.D. Donald Gardiner presented a radio-controlled pendulum clock to Dunlop Oil & Marine's H.R. Manager John Young in February 2005.

British American Tobacco

Tobacco manufacturer

Hans Commandeur at BAT:

“The QTAR Time & Attendance system has been in operation in our factory since 1986 and has been very stable with few issues. P&Q support has been reliable and efficient. The application has outlived a number of HR system transitions, and migration of interfaces has not been problematic. A number of custom modules have been designed to meet our special needs, including absence and overtime reporting. Turn-around time on these has been very good.”

MBM Produce

Foodstuffs

Jenny Hawkins of MBM Produce:

“We have been using the QTAR system about 16 years. It works well. It's hard to make set rules about this kind of factory. Work patterns change often. People work very variable hours. Sometimes they make time up when they need to come in late. I find it easy to go into the system and override it. We upgraded a few years ago, and we found P&Q very helpful. They are happy to talk me through any problems I may come across.”