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Tube
and Pipe keeps growing
October 2005
Project scope
To control the access and monitor time
and attendance of 600 users at Macsteel
Tube and Pipe, using one enrolment station,
17 biometric readers at the main factory and
two at remote sites, and eight turnstiles.
The history
This company has experienced tremendous growth
and at each stage Timewatch Systems was able
to expand the original card-based access and
time management system to meet the new demands.
Eventually a Keymaster controller and software
was added using the existing readers, to provide
improved control. Recently, more and more problems
were occurring with communication links, many
of which were lengthened with factory expansion.
RS485 lines were very long and communications
became unstable. The electrical noise from the
large machinery and welding was probably causing
most problems. At the same time the readers
were ageing and the card technology in use was
becoming obsolete.
The company had a few requirements that were
only partly being met:
1. The access control was to be as secure as
possible.
2. The clocking data had to be reliable and
loopholes had to be eliminated.
3. The time workers spent in change rooms had
to be monitored.
If changes were made, they wanted to avoid having
to learn new systems and to recapture all employee
data.
The solution
The communications network needed to be upgraded.
All card readers were replaced with Sagem fingerprint
readers linked via LAN to the controlling PC.
The Keymaster access control system was retained,
adding door controllers where necessary. The
existing Clockwatch time and attendance programme
was known and worked well so that was also retained.
A new program (CWEXPORT) was used to combine
data from the Keymaster database and Sagem data
from remote readers. Readers were added at two
remote sites.
Obstacles and concerns
Concern was expressed regarding the dirty environment
and that the rough work damages workers' fingerprints.
Speed of access was thought to be slow compared
to card-based systems. Employee resistance was
considered.
Tenders, specs and implementation
The proposal was made by the suppliers of the
existing system, due to the problems of the
ageing and over-extended system. The number
of upgrades over the years resulted in a situation
that was becoming less and less reliable. They
also pointed out that other companies in the
group were successfully introducing fingerprint
time clocks and the technology we
had was becoming obsolete. For us it would reduce
the cost and effort needed in issuing and replacing
cards, and give us the controls that were lacking
in the card-based system. Due to our experience
of many years of good service, and that the
proposals were cost effective and our needs
were well understood, the upgrade project was
awarded to them.
The results
A dramatic improvement has been made in the
stability of the core access control system.
The use of fingerprints has simplified the whole
management process and has resulted in a genuinely
secure system with few loopholes. There were
a few people with problematic prints, but after
recapturing the images with assistance from
the suppliers, all employees are successfully
registering at a surprisingly fast pace. (One
employee whose prints have deteriorated is being
investigated.)
The other big impact has been in time saved
with corrections. Somehow with the card-based
system there were often missing clockings which
meant much extra work investigating and correcting
each omission. This problem has been virtually
eliminated. Vanessa Sanders adds, "The
remote readers that were added are a huge advantage,
as we can now control their clockings from HR
and ensure consistency."
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