Solas – Induction System
Technologies: IIS, ASP.NET, SQL Server
Customer Profile
Solas, the Training and Employment Authority was established in January 1988 under the Labour Services Act 1987. Its functions include the operation of training and employment programmes, the provision of an employment/recruitment service and an advisory and support service for business.
Solas has a staff complement of almost 2,400 people and a network of offices and training centres throughout the country.
Business Situation
Solas were redeveloping and re-engineering their existing Apprentice IT system, as a major in-house project. This was a large and complex process, and had a high impact on IT resources, so FÁS decided to outsource the “Apprentice Induction Presentation” module of the application development.
Engine Solutions responded to the tender and were awarded the contract after presenting to Solas.
Solution
The new system will allow authorised Solas users to create induction presentations or “briefing sessions” in the system. Details on the session date, venue, time, capacity etc. can be entered and users can also schedule apprentices to the briefing session by choosing from a pool of appropriate apprentices for their region.
Users that are scheduled receive a letter notifying them of the briefing session and prompting them to confirm their attendance to Solas by phone. When an apprentice rings Solas to confirm whether they will be attending the session or not, the Solas user can perform a search in the system to find the apprentice and the briefing session they have been scheduled to. The user can then enter whether the apprentice will be attending or not.
On the day of the briefing session, FÁS users will be able to generate and print a list of all apprentices that were scheduled against a particular briefing session. All apprentices will appear on this list regardless of whether they have confirmed their attendance or not. At the briefing session itself, this sheet can be marked with whether the apprentices attended or not and then this information can be inputted into the system at a later stage.
Solas users will also be able to transfer apprentices between the different region pools to facilitate more convenient scheduling of apprentices.
Results
The Apprenticeship Services section in Solas now has a centralised online scheduling system for induction courses which seamlessly integrates with the main Apprenticeship Services system within Solas. This system drastically increases productivity and allows Apprenticeship Services to meet their strategic target of scheduling all apprentices to an induction course within a calendar month.
Testimonial
"At all times I have found Engine to be an organisation with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity, from a customer service perspective I have found them to be without equal. Engine has consistently delivered every project and project component on time and within budget, with an unquestioned commitment to the quality of what they produce. I would recommend Engine Solutions without hesitation to any other organisation as our experience has always been very positive and worthwhile."
Ray Kelly | Manager Apprenticeship Services
FAS
www.Solas.ie