Cadre partnered with the $700M division of a large construction company to tackle a timekeeping process that had quietly accumulated over $750,000 in annual operating cost. Thirty-five team members were dedicated to managing weekly time entry across the entire employee base, all feeding into the company's ERP system — a process that was manual, fragmented, and overdue for transformation.
Challenge
The timekeeping process had grown organically over time without deliberate design. Every employee in the division was required to complete weekly time entries, and 35 people were responsible for chasing, correcting, and reconciling that data before it could flow into the ERP. The cost to run this process had reached approximately $750,000 annually — a number that had gone largely unexamined because the work had always been done this way. Beyond the cost, the burden on both the dedicated team and the broader employee population was significant, and reporting visibility into labor data was limited.
Strategy and Solution
Cadre structured the engagement around a focused, time-bound model designed to move fast without disrupting the organization. The approach combined proven DMAIC methodology with a Tiger Team structure and targeted Kaizen events to drive decisions and actions in compressed cycles.
We began by identifying the right stakeholders — including the CFO and key C-Suite leaders — and brought them into working sessions to build shared process maps and surface alignment gaps that had been invisible to individual team members. Rather than conducting a lengthy discovery phase, we moved from process mapping directly into root cause analysis, using the full DMAIC toolset to isolate the highest-leverage improvement opportunities.
Kaizen events were used to accelerate solution development, keeping the right people in the room and decisions moving. Once solutions were identified, Cadre shifted into an implementation management role — coordinating across multiple stakeholder groups, sequencing the rollout, and running the transition as a mini-project to ensure changes actually landed and held.
Impact and Results
- Annual process cost reduced from $750,000 to $140,000 — a savings of $610,000 per year
- Headcount burden on the dedicated timekeeping team significantly reduced
- New reporting capabilities introduced, giving leadership real-time visibility into labor data
- Employee time entry experience simplified, reducing friction across the entire division
- Full transformation completed in six weeks, from kickoff through implementation
"Cadre came in, got the right people aligned quickly, and drove results we didn't think were achievable in that timeframe. The savings speak for themselves, but the new process is something the team actually believes in."
— Division LeadershipGoing Forward
This engagement demonstrated what's possible when Lean methodology is paired with strong facilitation and disciplined implementation management. The construction division didn't need a multi-year transformation program — they needed the right tools, the right people in the room, and a team that could drive to outcomes without dragging the organization through an extended process. The new timekeeping system is now embedded in how the division operates, with reporting infrastructure in place to sustain the gains.
Cadre brings this same focused, results-first approach to process improvement engagements across industries. If your organization is carrying the cost of a process that was never intentionally designed, we can help you find it, fix it, and make the change stick.