For Over 7 Years, the Largest Family-Owned Metal Business in the U.S.A. Uses Biometrics for Access Control and Time & Attendance

“We find hand geometry to be less intrusive and the best functioning biometric in a harsh environment. ”
– Bill Burks, Network Specialist
  O’Neal Steel

Summary

O’Neal Steel, a full-line metal service center headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., is using Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems biometric HandPunch terminals in 35 locations across the United States to input time and attendance. O’Neal Steel is the largest family-owned metals service center in the United States, employing 2500 workers and operating multiple locations across the nation.

Business Need

Instead of re-implementing a new system of badge readers, O’Neal Steel wanted to avoid past experiences of employees losing their badges or buddy-punching, in which one employee punches in or out for another.
As a result, O’Neal Steel selected the HandPunch, which automatically takes a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand and verifies the user’s identity in less than one second. These biometric readers eliminate the need for employees to carry a badge, thus purging the problem of lost or forgotten badges. HandPunches provide more accurate information about who, where and when employees are
working and eliminate buddy-punching.

Challenges

“People lose their badges. Fingerprint does not function well in the dirt and dust so the HandPunch was the answer for us,” said Bill Burks, network specialist with O’Neal Steel. “The best thing of all is that there are no badges involved and employees simply can’t lose their hands. Most of the 46 original biometric hand readers are still in service seven years later and need very little maintenance.”

Solution

The HandPunch terminals operate in a warehouse setting where there is an abundance of dust and oftentimes water leaks from the corrugated metal roofs. The units are installed in enclosures at the entrance to the buildings and at the break rooms. In order to clock-in, employees plug in their employee number and then present their hand.

Results

Being online, O’Neal Steel can monitor who is at different locations throughout the day. In addition, employees can transfer from one cost center to another, using the HandPunch to record the time it takes to complete a project or make repairs. When needed, payroll can be done from a home office on the weekend because all data is transferable and accessible via the Internet.

O’Neal Steel’s time and attendance solution was implemented by Gorrie Regan & Associates of Birmingham, Ala., O’Neal Steel is using Attendance Enterprise software for time and attendance.

HandPunch® is a registered trademark of Ingersoll Rand Recognition Systems. All other trademarks are the property of their owners.