Linde Material Handling uses LEGIC technology for secure access control and time & attendance
02 November, 2005
category: Biometrics, Contactless, Corporate, Education, Financial
One LEGIC smart card grants the 700 employees of a UK materials handling company access to the 9.5 acre plant while at the same time clocking them in. The card, which replaced an aging mag stripe system, must be presented to a reader at one of the company’s four main entrance turnstiles.
Linde Material Handling UK Ltd. has installed a state-of-the-art access control and time and attendance system using the latest LEGIC contactless smart card technology.
The company’s manufacturing facility in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK is set in nine and half acres is one of the most modern of its type in Europe. It has been producing innovative materials handling equipment for over 50 years and bespoke handling solutions are available for every type of industrial and commercial application with products including electric counterbalance trucks, reach trucks and tow tractors with capacities from one to 52 tons.
ID Credentials are the primary means of access control for the seven hundred employees at the plant, and these are presented to readers at four main entrance turnstiles. The same passes are also used to clock in and off shift as the plant operates on a 24/7 basis depending on manufacturing demand.
Linde’s previous access control system used a simple magstripe swipe card but while this worked well within its design parameters, the technology was aging fast and the installation company announced it was ceasing to support the system. This necessitated the sourcing of a replacement technology and as the plant now wanted to add additional security capabilities the decision was taken to review the whole access control function.
A project team under the leadership of IT Systems Analyst Alison Pilcher began talking to people who used the system to get their views and requirements, and key findings were that the new system had to provide highly secure encryption options, scalability, all-in-one-card support and application flexibility whilst offering reusable cards and versatility.
Having evaluated the market, the team selected LEGIC’s contactless smart card technology which fulfils all the specific requirements of Linde. Contactless readers have no moving parts so they are more robust, and smart cards can provide for almost lifelong use – a big plus over magnetic swipe cards.
Contractor Kaba UK supplied new readers and reader controllers using LEGIC contactless smart card technology. Linde’s new LEGIC based credentials were configured to provide for pedestrian access control as well as for time and attendance recording.
The LEGIC technology provides an integrated, universal platform for modern authorization management for access, time & attendance, cashless payments and IT access, right through to biometric applications. Its modular system gives Linde Material Handling the desired level of security, flexibility and independence, and LEGIC based system solutions can be freely configured and extended as required to meet individual demands and needs. These extensions can take place without operational interruptions.
Alison Pilcher comments: “We’ve now got the LEGIC contactless system up and running and we are very pleased with it. We’re using it for access control and time and attendance and also for job recording, where employees use their cards to log time spent working on individual projects. It’s versatility means that we can also add on additional applications at any time in the future should our needs change.”
Klaus U. Klosa, Managing Director at LEGIC Identsystems, concludes: “We are delighted that Linde Material Handling UK Ltd chose LEGIC technology. Our contactless smart card technology now provides the basis for the company to have increased access control and time & attendance security for a long time to come.”
About LEGIC Identsystems Ltd.
LEGIC, with headquarters in Switzerland, is the world leader in the design and manufacture of 13.56 MHZ contactless smart card technology. The LEGIC product portfolio includes highly integrated LEGIC RF Standard, ISO 15693 and ISO 14443 compliant read/write chip sets, security modules and transponder chips.
LEGIC Identsystems currently works with over 200 external co-operation partners world-wide who offer compatible LEGIC all-in-one-card applications including access control, cashless payment, parking, e-ticketing and other multi applications. More than 1 million readers and over 70 million credentials are successfully integrated in more than 50,000 work and leisure places worldwide.
