Managing Automation - December 2007 - (Page 14) managingautomation FREE E-NEWSLETTERS Sign up Today! news managingautomation.com maonline Go online for daily news updates in perspective two acquisitions, including the purchase in October of Deploy Solutions Inc., a provider of Web-based talent management and recruitment applications for field-based organizations. Kronos is now integrating the Deploy offerings with the Web-based talent management offerings of Unicru Inc., which Kronos acquired in 2006. Those acquisitions brought to 58 the number of companies Kronos has purchased over the past 30 years. It has bought 25 companies in the past five years. “Some people thought that, after going private, we would slow down acquisitions because of the increased debt load. That is not true,” Ain said. “This market is going to continue to consolidate. If you are not in the top one or two in your market space, you are exposed. Customers just don’t have the resources to evaluate five or six potential vendors anymore.” Kronos’ strategy has paid off handsomely. In fiscal 2007, Kronos’ revenue rose 15% to $662 million, thanks to a global expansion effort and customer adoption of new products such as Workforce Central Version 6, the company’s latest release. For the year, Kronos saw earnings before interest, tax, and amortization (EBITA) grow by 20% to $111 million, the company announced at KronosWorks. Ain said he expects Kronos’ 2008 revenue to top $700 million, and his target is for 20% to 25% of the company’s revenue to come from customers outside of the United States in five years. Besides its ongoing acquisitions and global expansion, Kronos plans to continue to enhance its Workforce Central workforce management suite for specific vertical industries, such as manufacturing. In the next release of Workforce Central, due in January 2009, for example, Kronos plans to extend the product’s data model to allow it to track manufacturing equipment utilization, as well as worker activities. That will allow Workforce Central to provide manufacturers with overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) analysis, says Gregg Gordon, Kronos global manufacturing practice leader. Some customers, such as hydraulics equipment manufacturer Bosch Rexroth AG, already are using Workforce Central for OEE after having customized the Kronos applications on their own. “I hope they hurry up and support this in the products directly,” said Phil Hobel, Bosch Rexroth project manager. — Jeff Moad Alliances, Executive Appointments, Mergers & Acquisitions, Products transaction matching, and journal creation. The Microsoft .NET-based application is offered on an on-demand basis or in an enterprise version, Tucker said. Blackline has about 50 licensees, including AT&T, Del Monte Foods, Chrysler, Monsanto, and Northrop Grumman. AT&T estimates that it is saving $40,000 in labor costs per month using the Blackline system. The communications company performs 22,000 balance sheet reconciliations a month, 73% of which are automated using the Blackline software. Tucker said Blackline, with 20 employees, is “very profitable” and growing quickly. Some venture capital may be in the company’s future, she hinted. Meanwhile, Blackline recently joined the Oracle partner network. Tucker said Blackline is considering joining other ERP provider partner programs in the future. — David R. Brousell Newsletters Include: MA Daily News Alert Hot off the press news exclusives written by MA Editorial KRONOS CHIEF IS BULLISH ON ACQUISITIONS MA Membership Alert The latest industry research, products, news and web events T Progressive Manufacturer Compete in the new global economy for years to come Viewpoint Provocative and inspirational, features the opinion columns in print with exclusives online www.managingautomation.com/ newsletters Subscribe Today! ® he acquisition last year of human capital management software leader Kronos Inc. by private equity investors won’t slow the company’s plans to continue to grow through acquisition, according to Aron Ain, the company’s CEO. In an interview with Managing Automation at Kronos’ annual KronosWorks customer conference in Las Vegas, Ain said the company will be free to pursue new acquisitions under its new private ownership structure, and he added that Kronos will most likely next seek an acquisition in the corporate staff Aron Ain recruiting software sector, where Kronos currently has a partnership with London talent management software provider Mr. Ted Ltd. Kronos, now marking its 30th year, was itself acquired in June 2007 by private equity investment firms Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners and JMI Equity for $1.8 billion. Prior to that, Kronos’ shares had been publicly traded. Since going private, Kronos has pulled off http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/newsletters http://www.managingautomation.com/newsletters
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