While the US Department of Homeland Security`s new biometric security system has been much maligned, a local business has been using a similar system to a far more welcome effect.
A biometric time and attendance system, developed by Cape Town IT company, Transmetrix, has been in use for the past couple of months at De Wet Thirion`s grape farm near Upington.
The farm uses the company`s SuperVision product to scan the fingers of over a hundred workers on a daily basis, in what Thirion claims is a more cost-effective and accurate system than the token-based systems previously employed by the farm.
"The system identifies each employee and the time at which they scanned, enabling the prompt and accurate calculation of their weekly wage, while also alerting the employer to any absentees, allowing additional labour to be brought in if necessary," says Charlie Stewart, marketing director at Transmetrix.
"The system also eliminates time fraud - when an employee punches in for a late running or absent colleague - which is estimated to cost the South African economy millions of rands each year.
"Instead of filling out or punching timecards, employees simply place their finger on the fingerprint scanner, which identifies them instantly."
He says the system exports data on all the hours worked directly to the employer`s payroll program, reducing the administrative time taken to calculate payroll and the management time spent supervising the process.
It also removes the need to buy an ongoing supply of punchcards, swipecards or other tokens required by traditional non-biometric time and attendance systems.
"Transmetrix has done quite a bit of biometric work with major organisations, including Lucky Strike, Ratanga Junction and the Cape Town City Council, but this is the first time we have developed a product for the lower end of the market," he says.
"The general impression people have of biometric devices is that they are hugely expensive and therefore only within reach of the large corporates, but costs fall as the technology develops, so it is great that we can now fit into the lower end niche and open up a new market."
Stewart says the cost of the SuperVision system is not far different to that of a standard time and attendance system, and the company is in discussions regarding its installation with several small and medium enterprises.
Thirion says the biometric fingerprint scanner is simpler for employees to use and is far more cost-effective for the farm.
"Even having one member of staff arrive late can disrupt the whole packing line, as we need to pack and distribute our grapes as quickly as possible, to ensure they are fresh when they arrive in the shops," he says.
"Transmetrix`s system alerts us if people haven`t appeared, ensuring we are able to bring in replacement labour quickly, thus helping us to optimise the farm`s supply chain."
Related stories:
US uses biometrics to counter terrorism
Biometric technology solves time, attendance problems
Share