Flexitime Pioneer to Solution Provider for New Work 50 Years On
Interflex is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The specialist company for workforce management and access control has marketed its products since 1974. These days, Interflex provides customized hardware and software as well as support service – with work balance and digitalization deep in its DNA.
Being able to work at a chosen time – no matter when and where – has become quite normal for many of us today. Offering a work-life balance and flexitime makes employers more attractive in these times of skilled labor shortage.
Five decades ago, though, it was all very different. Fixed working hours were the norm, with very little opportunity to take time off flexibly in lieu of accumulated overtime. One person who recognized the benefit of flexitime for both employer and employee was Wilhelm ‘Willi’ Haller.
As an expert on flexible working hours, he wanted people to have more options with their time, and to go to work when they wanted to. To put his ideas into practice, he founded the Interflex company 50 years ago on 9 July 1974 in Durchhausen. The first milestone was an electromechanical timer for time recording.
Customized Solutions Right from the Start
Interflex grew quickly and obtained its first international orders. The company expanded its portfolio with access control solutions in 1986 when it fused with its long-standing business partner Interlock.
Both companies used a secure and patented infrared card reader that had been developed by Interflex. The company looked further abroad at the start of the 2000s – Interflex has belonged to the international Allegion group since 2013.
“Right from the start, Interflex always offered customized solutions to meet the requirements of its customers and to develop them further”, says Bernhard Sommer, the company’s CEO. “That still applies today and our customers appreciate it.” The Workforce Management (WFM) and Access Control divisions are changing through digitalization and increasing networking.
Smartphone Updating of Own Working Hours
“New technology and a close relationship with our customers are deep in our DNA. Interflex made an early move from mechanics to electronics using microprocessors, which provided much more functionality,” explains Sommer.
“We learnt back then how to use current technological developments for our solutions. Today we have a broad competence spectrum: from our own hardware, and a central software platform to in-house service through which we support our customers with the choice of a suitable solution, right through to commissioning and maintenance.”
People will also be at the center of things in future at Interflex: more than ever before, it is becoming necessary to relieve valuable specialists and to strengthen their individual responsibility with efficient solutions – and in the process to consider their personal life situation in the sense of ‘new work’. That improves employee loyalty and motivation.
The trend toward collaboration tools in workforce management, as well as the digitalization of HR processes, is playing an important part in including employees in worktime planning and encouraging their participation in decisions.
For example, staff can organize their working hours regardless of their location using their own smartphone. Interflex offers the native teamtime app for this (iOS und Android) that has been conceived for easy operation. Interflex bought the plano company in 2023 that is specialized in WFM so that they are well positioned for future developments.
More Digital HR Processes and Physical Security
Physical security will also be more important in future – and not just because of the cybersecurity laws such as NIS2, DORA etc and the KRITIS law on critical infrastructure. It is all about considering security as a mix of digital and physical protection measures.
But the lack of skilled staff can also lead to security risks in companies if security and IT specialists cannot be found. That is why Interflex is investing further in its cloud services. This is particularly helpful for medium-sized companies because they then need fewer personnel for on-premise solutions.
A new generation of terminals will soon provide more security: Interflex will progressively equip its cabled access control readers with new security features that were only available in the battery-powered locking devices of the Opendor product family until now.
Interflex is thereby meeting the wish of some of its customers for networked access control and system integration into building and security management systems.
