Identifying a hidden problem in your operations

Applications involving Identification Cards (ID Cards) have traditionally aimed at the Retail market for marketing purposes such as membership cards and loyalty cards. Most warehouse managers or manufacturing supervisors would never consider ID Cards to have a benefit to their supplychain and yet many hidden or unresolved issues can be addressed by implementing this technology.

A recent US Chamber of Commerce investigation however found that 30% of American companies failed due to employee theft of stock and loss of equipment rather than market competition and the global financial crisis. ID Card solutions are now available in Australia to tackle these critical statistics and are typically easy and cost effective to implement.

Workplace Security;

How many non-authorised staff can access areas within your premises literally opening the door to encourage theft? Issuing staff and visitor ID Cards that include either a basic magnetic stripe or RFID chip with a specific ID number embedded provides total control of who has access to each key area of your business. By placing card readers on key access points within your workplace you can program individual staff access authority to specific areas and automatically record their movements.

This application can limit staff access to areas that contain valuable stock, equipment or unsecured exit out of the building. Reducing the number of staff that could have the opportunity to pilfer is a major step forward in both reducing theft and identification.

OH&S;

Companies today are required to take responsibility to know the location of visitors and staff at any time so in the event of an emergency everyone on site can be accounted for and guided to safety. ID Cards are a perfect solution to the otherwise logistical minefield of tracking employees, visitors and contractors movements.

Automated solutions that can scan the business cards of your visitors and produce personalised ID Cards on the spot including a photograph are readily available and are compatible with any quality brand of ID Card Printer providing quick, simple card production. Now as the visitor moves around key points within your premises, their location is recorded and instantly available on a networked central computer in case of any emergency such as a fire.

Asset Tracking

Many workplaces require employees to collect equipment necessary for their work duties, including anything from shovels and picks to more expensive rugged data capture equipment and computers and even sensitive documents. This has always been a weak point in asset control as equipment is often not signed for, kept for longer than required or left somewhere without any paper trail to identify who last took possession or where it was used.

ID Cards used for security Introducing an ID Card system can enforce each employee to log their employee ID Card against what they take by simply scanning the ID Card and then a barcode on the item. This action will automatically log who has what item, when it was taken and when and where the item was returned. If the next employee to use the item finds it in poor order, data on the last person that used it and what it was used for is available. A simple process that delivers instant and significant financial returns.

Payroll;

Time cards are the traditional method of recording hours worked by employees. This system however requires a lot of manual handling by the payroll department in taking the time sheets, re-recording the information into a payroll program and re-issuing new time cards for each staff member. When large numbers of staff are employed, this process becomes unreliable and very costly to maintain. Today there is a choice of time and attendance solutions specifically designed for ID Card applications and can work across a workplace network communicating directly with your payroll.

Using ID Cards eliminates the costly labour intensive processes and instantly updates your payroll system as the staff either swipe in via their ID Card or are automatically recorded as they enter the work area via their RFID tagged Card depending on which technology you choose. Removing the manual input of each employee’s hours also removes the opportunity for mistakes in data entry and improves staff moral as they develop confidence that their hours are being accurately recorded.

Which Technology to Choose?

There are two main choices for an effective ID Card system; Magnetic Striped Cards and RFID Chipped Cards, both have their own value points and you need to choose wisely.

Magnetic Striped Cards offer lower cost ID Cards and lower cost access readers, however this system requires the manual process of swiping the card at each security point you nominate. If the card swiping process isn’t a problem then magnetic striped cards are a reliable solution that will work for you.

RFID Chipped Cards and RFID access point readers are slightly more expensive and do add to the cost of implementation however deliver the more efficient solution. Visitors and employees simply walk through the access points and wireless readers immediately record the action without disruption providing they wear the RFID Chipped card.

Gen2 RFID technology has increased the typical reader range from 2-10 cm to up to 6 meters removing the need to “wave” the card across the access point to get a read.

Getting Started

Like any other piece of equipment the system is only useful if it runs reliably and ID Card printers are no exception. Cheap imported brands tend to have short life spans and software and networking issues bringing the whole solution to a standstill. Choose a single point of contact solution provider of the quality brands that can provide not just the ID Card printers, but also supply and install the software, ID Cards, print ribbon consumables and perform manufacturer authorised after sales service and support.

“With all of the printer, consumables and software brands available in the Australian market today, Peacock Bros. has chosen to support just a few that have proven themselves in the long run.” “Because it’s our responsibility to deliver a fully functional and reliable solution to the customer we have chosen Zebra Technologies ID Card Printers along with Jolly technologies and Redbeam software packages.”

Peacock Bros. provide complete end-to-end ID Card solutions and are Zebra Card Authorised Service Partners. For more information on these solutions, please contact us on 1300 723 282 or email pbsales@peacocks.com.au.