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Cutting costs and increasing security

Cosira extends the proven business benefits delivered by fingerprint-based access and T&A solutions.

The Cosira Group is one of South Africa’s largest privately-owned structural steel companies. Operating from three sites, the group employs a skilled workforce of more than 2000 staff members, supplemented by long-term and approved sub-contractors in specialist fields for turnkey projects.

Luigi Muto of Cosira says there was a need to gain more control over physical access at the factories and to improve how attendance was monitored for payroll purposes. Muto explains, “The company has grown rapidly in recent years with a substantial increase in the size of our workforce. This meant we were hard pressed to continue efficiently with our existing processes and wanted an automated solution to streamline our time management process and gain more control over labour charges.”

Experience with Morpho fingerprint readers at other Cosira sites dates back over seven years and the company wanted to build on the established results delivered by the technology. High levels of satisfaction in terms of Morpho’s performance was supported by solution provider, Timewatch, who has several years’ experience in working with Morpho fingerprint readers and strongly recommended extending their use within a comprehensive access and time management system.

Muto says, “We wanted to empower our employees to control their own timesheets and to know when they are getting paid and when not. They are allowed to take breaks whenever they want, but outside the normal lunch and tea breaks, these are on their own time and they do not get paid for them.”

Dani Taback of Timewatch says, “Due to the complexity of the solution, it required diligence from the client in the following departments: operations, HR, IT, security and payroll. The complexity of the required solution raised concerns within Cosira about its stability and overall integration.

“By liaising with an appointed representative from each of the project’s key stakeholders we were able to manage communications effectively and devise an SLA that covered performance criteria across all elements of the integrated solution.”

Access is handled on Saflec access control software linked to turnstiles located at the site’s perimeter and at entrances to the offices and factory. All these turnstiles are fitted with Morpho fingerprint readers. Within the factory, Morpho clocking stations are linked to CW Bio and Clockwatch software to manage time and attendance.

Security was also reinforced by monitoring guarding patrols on Morpho readers sited around the premises that provide time-based reports on the guards’ presence at specific locations.

Muto says, “Integration of the access and time management functions means that you cannot exit the premises or the factory unless you have selected that you are off-duty. Time and attendance is fully integrated with the access control system, and only allows or disallows access based on T&A information.”

To achieve optimum levels of performance from the Morpho readers in terms of speed and accuracy, Tabac stresses the importance of instituting a strict process for enrolling people on the fingerprint system. “Enrolment is certainly not difficult but, it must be handled in a professional manner by people who have the necessary training.”

“This professional approach pays dividends”, says Muto who points out that the Morpho readers perform perfectly across the entire workforce. “Morpho works all the time, every time even in the dirty factory environment of steel fabrication.”

Fact file

Sector: Manufacturing: steel fabrication and construction

Scale of project: Enterprise, 1300+ personnel

Key elements: Fingerprint-based access control and workforce time management, guard monitoring

Benefits: Cost reductions in time management processes, reinforced security through accurate access control

Solution supplier: 93 Morpho terminals in total, CW Bio Software, Clockwatch time management, Saflec Access Control, Dani Taback, Timewatch, +27 (0)11 440 3563, danit@timewatch.co.za

Client details

Company: Cosira

Contact person: Luigi Muto

Business sector: Manufacturing: steel fabrication and construction

Tel: +27 (0)11 817 6600

E-mail: Luigi.muto@cosiragroup.com

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