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Thumbs Up For Biometrics

"Hi Bob, its Harry. Listen, I’m still in bed…yeah, yeah I know it’s the second time this month, what can I say, it was a wild night! Listen swing by here and get my card…give me a chance to get my act together…I’ll be there in an hour…don’t worry no one will notice. You're a pal I owe you one buddy…yeah, yeah, I know, spare me the lecture…O.K. see you in a few, bye."

For most organizations, labor is the largest expense they have. These costs are increasing in many companies still using the old punch/swipe card technologies because the temptation to buddy-punch is just too great. Buddy-punching is when an employee punches in for an absent or late co-worker. More and more of these organizations are turning to biometrics as a way to eliminate this problem. Although biometrics is a viable solution for management, they have found that it is raising concerns for their employees.

Although the conversation above is purely fictional, buddy-punching at Ryobi Die Casting (USA), Ltd. was a fact. Ryobi is a progressive manufacturer of aluminum die casting products for the automotive, power tool, and printing press industries. Management knew it was happening but were unable to place a true percentage on the extent it was occurring or what it was costing them in labor costs and lost production. Morale was low amongst hardworking and honest employees. Frustration was mounting for supervisors who were supposed to be accountable for the whereabouts of their employees. Finally, in 2000, upper management had had enough; it was time to make the delinquent employees accountable. Ryobi turned to biometrics that use face, fingerprint, hand geometry and other biometrics identifiers to verify that you are who you say you are, to solve their buddy-punching problem.

In 1883 Alphonse Bertillon was the first person to use body measurements to help him with his criminal cases. Then in 1893, after realizing the reliability of using fingerprints found at the crime scene to solve "who done it", the British Home Ministry put into effect the first fingerprint database. You could hear the term "booking" being whispered throughout the criminal community. The less-than-upstanding citizens had begun to realize, their lives had taken a turn for the worst. Using fingerprints for time and attendance is now moving into the industrial arena. But more than a century later, having your fingerprints taken, for any reason, can still make even the most honest and upstanding person feel like a criminal and is the most common source of employee resistance.

Fortunately, for Ryobi they did not have to deal with this particular problem. They first introduced biometrics using the Hand Punch 4000 that uses hand geometry as the biometrics identifier. By the time, they switched to the finger-scanners, the employees were sufficiently comfortable with biometrics that this concern never became an issue.

Even though the Ryobi employees had very little say in the matter, management luckily had done their homework. They realized that introducing biometrics was not going to be as simple as just installing the equipment. Hand geometry may not have the same criminal connotation as fingerprints but it still does raise privacy issues. A major issue for the employees was who would have access to their private and personal information.

In today’s society, there is a real concern that "Big Brother" already has too much access to personal information. The media covers stories about people losing their life-savings or having large purchases suddenly appear on their credit cards, because someone has stolen their identity. It is understandable people are afraid of becoming the next victim to this type of crime.

Management at Ryobi was sensitive to these types of concerns. It was also important that the transition from the old system to the biometric one went smoothly for both the organization and the employees. The Ryobi project team knew, if the project was going to succeed, they had to have complete and open communication throughout the process.

The first step was to introduce biometrics to the supervisors and their role and responsibilities within the program. Next management outlined the plans that they anticipated would help ease the employees concerns. Once the supervisors were on board the next step involved enrolling all the employees. Enrolling entailed making a template representation of one of the employee's hands into the biometrics units. It was important for Ryobi to allow employees the choice of which hand they preferred to enroll. Otherwise, they ran the risk of treading on someone’s religious beliefs.

Before enrolling each of the 647 individuals (in groups of 15) the Payroll Supervisor outlined what was going to take place and exactly what was going to be stored in the units. The hand scanners only capture time and attendance data, in other words when the employees clock in and out. The system tries to "authenticate" that the person is who they say they are. Unlike forensic science where an entire print is needed in order to find an exact match, time and attendance systems only need to match the salient features of your hand. These are known as minutiae. Therefore, someone interested in stealing the handprint/fingerprint would not be able to make sense of the template. What they would find is something akin to a scatter plot. In the end, the would-be thief would come away empty handed. On the other hand, if caught, they would have their own fingerprints taken by the police and a search for past criminal activity would begin.

Hygiene was another concern raised. Today, we are more conscious then ever of where we place our hands, especially when we hear about communicable diseases like SARS, or the latest fear – germ warfare. To help with this issue and to raise the employee’s comfort level, Ryobi placed Handi-Wipe stations next to each biometric unit. Individuals have the option of wiping their hands before and after placing them on the scanners.

In the end, through Ryobi’s diligence, the project was a great success. Ryobi eliminated the buddy-punching system and minimized the number of concerns raised by the employees. As a benefit for the employees they no longer pay to replace lost cards. A cost that ranged from $15 – $100 per month for some employees. In addition, supervisors do not have to keep track of the time and attendance data manually for employees who have forgotten their cards at home. But, the biggest unanticipated contribution by biometrics was yet to come.

Biometrics had automated the time and attendance process and in so doing whet their appetite for more. Ryobi at the time was running the BLIS-400 ERP system by B&L but hadn't implemented the BLIS-DC module (data collection) yet. Now, three years later they have changed from the expensive hand punches to the newer and more affordable finger-scanners. Ryobi also asked B&L for their assistance implementing the BLIS-DC module whom in turn contacted Nutech Systems, their partner in the development of the BLIS-DC module. Nutech was up to the challenge and interfaced the finger-scanners with the BLIS system. The benefits were immediate. Gone were the days when it took a special trip to the Human Resources department to get answers about an employee’s absentee points. Once trained the supervisors were able to get this information as easily as logging onto the BLIS system. "The supervisors love being able to have the data in real time. It saves time for the employees, supervisors and the human resources department," said Sylvia Waters, Project Leader at Ryobi.

However, now, Management had to take the necessary steps to ensure that "privacy" did not become an issue again. "We have been very careful, because we know that if the supervisor on the floor is going to look-up employees punches there is a potential that other employees may be around. So any information that comes up is commonly known and wouldn’t cause any privacy issues," said Waters. Management continued to protect confidential information by not linking it to the individual’s biometric template. In this way, no one other than authorized human resources personnel had access to any sensitive data.

Ryobi are now planning their next project - implementing data collection to include production and maintenance. Supervisors are looking forward to the day when they will have immediate knowledge when an individual is not performing at the same level, on the same task, as another employee. The solution may be as simple as scheduling additional training for the individual. Or perhaps the person may be better suited at a different task. "Now that they have had a taste of the possibilities they are thinking about all the different ways they can use it…it just opens it up to a whole group of issues you can think about and resolve," says Waters. Whatever the issue, the supervisors will be in a better position to work with the employees towards a win-win resolution.

Has biometrics helped the relationship between the supervisor and the employee? According to Waters, "the supervisor and the employee can look at the punches together and resolve any issues before the payroll is generated…it’s common that if you mess up someone’s pay they aren’t going to be very happy. Now it is easier for the supervisor, the employee is happier and everything is running smoother."