Ichiban UK is a leading food manufacturer specialising in its own branded sushi, supplied to retailers and supermarkets across the UK. Operating from its main facility in Earl Stonham, Suffolk, the company employs around 350 staff and has relied on Tensor's Time and Attendance, Access Control, and HR systems since 2008.
To understand the impact of Tensor's system on the business, we spoke with Andrew Lambert, HR Manager at Ichiban.
Reflecting on the system's history, he said, "I've been here for 12 years, and the system was installed before I arrived." He added, "From what I've seen from old paperwork, the system was installed with the purpose of Time and Attendance capturing and Access Control"
Regarding the training he received during his early days at Ichiban, Mr Lambert recalled: "I've had half a day of training from Tensor, it was quite some years ago, but from what I remember, it was good."
Over the years, Ichiban have used Tensor's systems for "Keeping employee records, Time and Attendance, Access Control and holiday management through the Self-Service Module." When it comes to using Tensor.NET, Mr Lambert tells the reporter that he found the system "relatively easy to use. Some of the things like configuring work patterns and a few other aspects were self-taught, but if I understood it better, I could get a lot more out of the system."
When asked about his favourite feature, he was quick to highlight holiday management. "The self-service module has been great for us! It's streamlined our holiday management process."
The biometric fingerprint-based Time and Attendance and Access Control systems at Ichiban have proven highly effective: "It has worked 99% well, we've got the occasional person where the biometric system does not work for them." In such cases, Tensor smartcards can be used with readers as a backup. He told us that the Tensor smartcards worked "fine" but explained, "We tend to only issue them to staff whose biometrics don't work."
We asked Mr Lambert how he found our helpdesk service, jokingly he replied, "It depends who's on", but clarified "generally the service has been good." In terms of the operations team repairing their system, he said "over the years, we have had some repairs and the service was good."
When discussing potential improvements, updates stood out as an area for development: "Updates, sometimes you guys could assist us better with them." Our reporter then asked if Ichiban were considering extending their system, to which he replied, "Not at the minute, we're quite happy."
To conclude, when asked if he would recommend Tensor to others, Mr Lambert's response was clear "Yes, I would", and overall, he said that Tensor, from a Time and Attendance point of view "is a reliable service".
Ichiban UK Ltd
Church Farm
Earl Stonham
Stowmarket
IP14 5EE