Green Island Cement(GIC),the only integrated cement plant in Hong Kong,recently deployed a smart card access control system to improve its overall operational efficiency and existing management system. The system consists of FingerTec smart card readers plus time and attendance management software.
Green Island Cement (GIC), the only integrated cement plant in Hong Kong, recently deployed a smart card access control system to improve its overall operational efficiency and existing management system. The system consists of FingerTec smart card readers plus time and attendance management software.
Modern machinery and equipment contribute towards a high-efficiency production line, but staff management issues often become a stumbling block for sustainable development. GIC deploys its machines both indoors and outdoors of its premises. “There were cases where the staff were misplacing and abusing the machines,” said James Wai from GIC's Maintenance Department. “There was also once where an employee from an outsourcing company used our forklift after office hours and caused an accident.” Wai explained that they were facing difficulties in keeping track of their staffs' movements due lack of records. This has led to the urgent need of employing control over the machinery after office hours, and inspired the company to seek a smart card access control system.
The company decided to employ smart card readers devices for its warehouse access control management and to control the switches of the machine controller. The data obtained from the transactions are then stored and analyzed using time and attendance management software. Wai explained that the FingerTec products used enables them to limit access to authorized employees, and keep track of its usage. This is important in determining the machinery's relative wear and tear, as the data is then analyzed to ensure efficiency in using all available resources.
The time and attendance management software can provide detailed usage information, while being flexible enough to accommodate different environments with corresponding adjustments. Through different settings, the software can specify the period of use by an authorized person to further improve the efficiency of resource usages. In addition, software capacity to support integration with third-party software has saved GIC departments from redundancies as they are employing third-party software in the main applications of the plant. This compatibility has also enabled the company to practice a more efficient access control, machine usage control, security patrols, canteen meal tickets and other central group operations.