Summary: A massive workforce, a nationwide sales network, and products exported to nearly 20 countries and regions — for a National Key Leading Enterprise in Agricultural Industrialization, issuing payslips is a “small” job that’s anything but small. This piece revisits a frozen-food producer’s full journey, from its first inquiry in October 2018 through a multi-vendor evaluation and into a long-term partnership. Its experience offers practical lessons for other food manufacturers.
When a Routine Payroll Step Meets National Scale
This Henan-based company is a major producer in China’s frozen-food industry. It is a major Chinese professional frozen-food producer and a National Key Leading Enterprise in Agricultural Industrialization; its brand influence, production capacity, and total sales all rank among the industry leaders.
Its sales network covers all of China, and its products are exported to nearly 20 countries and regions including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. What scale brings is not just capacity and channels, but a mature, sprawling organizational structure.
A massive workforce is one of this company’s defining traits. For the HR or finance colleagues responsible for payroll, that means every month sending hundreds or thousands of payslips — accurately, on time, and confidentially — to people spread across different roles and regions. It sounds like “handing out a piece of paper,” but at a leading enterprise, the margin for error here is close to zero: the numbers can’t be wrong, the timing can’t slip, and no one can be missed.
The Risks Hidden Inside a Large Payslip Run
What really makes payroll heavy are the problems that come with “scale.”
First, “more people means a heavier process.” With a large and varied workforce, monthly payslip distribution itself becomes a long, multi-step task. Whatever the method, “getting it to each person” is a steady drain on manpower.
Second, “confidentiality risk runs high.” Payroll data is sensitive in any company, and at a large leading enterprise that sensitivity is amplified. The more hands a paper slip passes through and the more nodes it moves between, the higher the risk of a leak. And when it goes wrong, it affects not just one person’s mood but the whole company’s atmosphere.
Third, “selection can’t be taken lightly.” As a National Key Leading Enterprise, procurement isn’t something one person can sign off on. Whether the product has the required features, is easy to operate, protects confidential data, and includes responsive support — each item has to pass multi-vendor comparison and thorough evaluation before it enters the decision process.
For the payroll team, the problem was never about “trying harder.” It was about finding a “better fit” tool.
Why the Team Compared the Whole Service, Not One Feature
This company’s selection process reflects the caution and decisiveness of a mature leading enterprise.
October 2018: first contact. The company reached out on its own about digital payslip software, with a clear direction: solve payroll distribution at scale while meeting the demands of confidentiality, efficiency, and long-term service.
Then, a multi-vendor comparison. This time, the company didn’t narrow the selection to any single feature. It put product features, ease of use, confidentiality, and service capability all on the table for a full review. For a leading enterprise, this is both a procurement requirement and a way of being responsible for the company’s risk.
Finally, a decision. After multiple rounds of comprehensive evaluation, the company chose to adopt Ant Payslip. What stood behind the choice wasn’t one flashy feature, but the fact that the complete workflow met the evaluation criteria.
A More Consistent Process Across the Network
In day-to-day work, the changes were concrete.
No more reformatting spreadsheets. The existing Excel payroll file can be imported and sent without being reformatted. For a company with complex pay items and a large headcount, the checking time saved here is the most tangible gain.
Reach now covers the whole country. With secure email delivery, employees at headquarters, branch plants, or regional sales offices all receive their payslips right away — no more hand-delivering slips one by one.
Confidentiality is supported by clear controls. Staff acknowledgment tracking can be enabled so only the intended person can view the slip; viewing and acknowledgment records are visible in the admin dashboard, making it clear who has viewed and who hasn’t. This provides practical support for the company’s confidentiality requirements.
Questions are now resolved and documented. During the partnership, whenever an administrator had a question while issuing payslips, contacting the Ant Payslip team brought a prompt reply and resolution — no dangling threads, nothing falling through the cracks.
What Food Businesses Should Test Before Choosing
Looking back at this national enterprise’s evaluation process, there are four takeaways for food-industry peers.
- Large workforces should look first at “can it distribute uniformly.” Once headcount grows, “not reaching people” becomes the biggest risk. Focus on: does it support secure bulk email delivery, is there a centralized admin dashboard, and does it cover headquarters and branches?
- Confidentiality is a must-have, not a nice-to-have. Food industry leaders have complex org structures and frequent turnover, which raises the bar on payroll confidentiality. Identity controls, acknowledgment tracking, and auditable records — these three belong on the checklist.
- Compare thoroughly — and compare well. This company weighed features, operation, confidentiality, and service together rather than judging on price or a single feature. For food companies, that kind of “full comparison” avoids repeated missteps down the road.
- Choosing a tool is also choosing long-term service. Food businesses have pronounced peak and off seasons, and staff changes are frequent. Payroll will evolve as the company scales. Whether you can always reach someone and get problems resolved promptly determines how long the tool will last.
Issuing payslips has always been the kind of job at a food leader that’s “easy to overlook but impossible to get wrong.” This customer story offers a practical example for other food manufacturers.