Turkey’s Anadolu Etap, one of the largest fruit and vegetable juice providers to Europe, faced problems accurately calculating payroll most organizations will never encounter. Each day during harvest season, thousands of employees spread out across seven large fields to pick crops. But it’s the nature of the local workforce that created the first challenge.
New laborers arrive daily seeking work. Once hired, they might work a few days and then leave before returning a week later. Unreliable schedules made standard time cards virtually impossible to manage. The company sought a system with better accuracy and more simplicity.
After much trial and error looking at time-and-attendance solutions, Anadolu Etap chose an iris biometric system. It met company expectations, but the selection process was difficult.
Company officials asked their security integrator, Ergosis Systems, for help in replacing the traditional time cards. A study of smart access controls cards wasn’t much of an improvement as authorizing, printing, distributing and tracking cards for thousands of on-and-off workers continued the human resources nightmare. Also, improper use of the cards threatened to cut into the company’s profits.
Next, Ergosis suggested a fingerprint biometric system. But that was quickly ruled out as fruit pickers receive numerous cuts and scars on their fingers and hands. Those result in inaccurate identification and frequent time-consuming and costly system re-enrollments. Also, some employees wear special environmental suits making a contactless system a better choice.
That led testing facial recognition which was rejected as changes in hairstyle, beards and moustaches, glasses, headwear and other factors can affect accuracy. Finally, an iris-based system was suggested.
“Most of these workers have little education, so what was chosen would have to be very easy to use,” said Ergosis Systems’ Görkem Acarlar. “An iris-based system from Iris ID is very simple to use and is contactless. It’s also very accurate, Anadolu Etap’s other major requirement.”
But there were still challenges to overcome.
- Workers had to show they could effectively use the system.
- The system had to work within bright sunlight and wide temperature extremes found in open fields.
- Electric power to the fields could be erratic, with frequent blackouts.
- The system had to send daily field reports to Anadolu Etap’s human resources in the company’s Istanbul headquarters.
A field test proved the workers could easily use the iris readers. During registration, field supervisors used a specialized video camera to capture the data from each workers’ iris. System software creates encrypted image templates that are stored in onsite computer terminals. These templates authenticate the employees as they arrive for and leave work each day. Readers match employees’ irises with the templates in a process that takes less than two seconds.
To handle the environment concerns, Ergosis built small, three-sided shelters to shield the readers from sunlight. The readers operate in temperatures between 0- to 50-degrees Celsius, but Ergosis installed heaters to protect against occasional cold mornings. Potential fears of electricity blackouts were handled by installing uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units to provide backup power.
Daily payroll reports used company wireless wide area networks installed at each field. These WANs communicated to Istanbul headquarters via satellite. Iris ID supplied the final step with software linking the data to Anadolu Etap’s SAP human resources module, which calculates employee hours and paychecks.
In addition to its speed and accuracy, the iris recognition system also has the smallest outlier population of all biometric technologies. Very few people can’t use the iris-based system as most people have at least one eye. Also, the human iris remains unchanged throughout a person’s life, eliminating the need for re-enrolling as workers come and go.
The system currently has more than 10,000 enrolled workers. Acalar said more are being added on an almost daily basis.
“Once a worker is in the system, it doesn’t matter how often he may leave,” he said. “When he returns, the iris system immediately recognizes him.”
Also, the contactless iris-based technology inhibits the transfer of virus or bacteria as there is no direct employee contact with the biometric readers.
Another system benefit is the elimination of a payroll fraud scheme known as “buddy punching.” Employers using time cards are susceptible to employees clocking in or out for a friend. Even the smallest error in employee payroll can create significant operating costs for any organization. Studies by the human resources consulting firm, ADP, have shown that payroll errors and fraud may add up to 10 percent to an organization’s payroll costs.
The base iris system was completed by Ergosis two years ago, but the integrator continues to update and add readers as necessary. Also, Anadolu Etap is considering installing the system for other company facilities in the near future.
“This project offered some significant challenges, but the iris biometric system met each of them,” said Acarlar. “A difficult problem has been solved. Our customer is very satisfied.”
About the Author: Mohammed Murad is vice president, global development and sales for Cranbury, N.J.-based Iris ID, the world leader in iris recognition platform deployment. For more information visit www.irisid.com.
