Most mid- to large-size organizations today in nearly all industries leverage employee ID badges to authorize automated access to the premises. However physical access to a building is just one way employee badges can be used to address challenges faced by these organizations. Employee badges partnered with RF IDeas readers and solution applications can also help ensure strict compliance to quality processes, increase accountability, and improve workflow efficiency.
Recently a large paint manufacturer in North America found itself routinely throwing out numerous bad batches of paint, costing the company thousands of dollars per week. Suspecting that unauthorized and untrained employees had been logging onto the mixer, the plant manager wanted to strictly limit access to only those who had been trained, certified and qualified to operate the machinery. Upgrading the old key pad entry system on the mixer to RF IDeas’ pcProx® Plus Readers, employees used their existing employee badge system, which had been RFID-retrofitted, to simply tap their badge on the reader mounted on the machine. The information embedded into the employee ID was then sent to a database that verified the employee’s qualification to operate the machinery.
pcProx Plus readers perform as a keyboard wedge interface by interpreting the embedded combination of commands, username, and password that complete a more sophisticated log-in sequence. The data is sent through a programmable controller, which then receives the information, checks it against a database, and authorizes the qualified employee to complete his or her task.
RF IDeas’ readers are also critical in hospital environments where employee access must be monitored closely dependent upon their level of authority. For example, mobile drug carts with locked drawers are used by various levels of nursing staff. Some staff members are authorized to open all of the drawers, others may only be allowed to dispense medications located in a limited number of drawers. Tightly controlled access depends upon the reader’s ability to recognize and authorize only those who have the appropriate level of clearance. This not only increases the quality of care and safety of patients, but also ensures the highest level of accountability.
Proximity and contactless enabled badges save thousands of employee hours a year and improve workflow efficiency by eliminating the necessity of entering passwords on a keypad or performing multiple swipes with worn-out stripes of magnetic readers.
Many of our customers tell us that they have saved up to 15 minutes per day per employee per week, which can add up to thousands of hours a year in time saved.
- 100 employees, each who sign on an average of 15 times a day
- Assuming 15 seconds per manual sign-on vs three seconds per badge tap
- 3 minutes saved per employee per day; 25 hours saved per week company-wide; over 1,000 hours per year saved just by using RFID reader/ID tap technology.
From door access to beyond: RF IDeas’ pcProx Plus readers are an integral part of a solution that makes it possible for manufacturers to leverage existing employee badge systems, shorten employee time to log in, improve safety and security, and significantly reduce cost.
