Category: Case Studies

Glanbia Cheese is the leading mozzarella cheese manufacturer in Europe. Their corporate headquarters is located in Northwich, Cheshire, and they have two manufacturing facilities: one in Llangefni, North West Wales and one in Magheralin, Northern Ireland. Glanbia Cheese employs approximately 350 members of staff, and the vast majority of these work in the manufacturing facilities.

Seven years ago, Glanbia Cheese started looking for “a more sophisticated access control system”, Conor Carville, IT Manager, recalls. Their previous system was key-fob based, and couldn’t give them any centralised information such as the times that people had entered and exited. They wanted an up-to-date access control system that was easy to use and had a robust reporting facility.

After reviewing several systems, Glanbia Cheese decided on Tensor because it was the best match for their criteria. Conor said they particularly liked the detailed, granular ability of the Access Control system. “With Tensor, it is possible to create access permission as specific as ‘this particular person can go through this door at this time on this day, but not on this day,’” he said. This is enabled via the employee’s security profile and access pattern combination. Movements through all controlled doors are recorded on the central .NET software as they happen.

“The Tensor salesperson made a memorable impression when they came to do a product demo,” said Conor. “They were professional and approachable.” The ease-of-use of the Tensor WinTA.NET software impressed them as well.

Tensor Operations Department originally installed the system and there have been a number of upgrades and expansions ever since, such as new turnstiles in their Northern Ireland factory and latest-generation access control readers added in their new visitor reception.

System integration is a key strength and area of expertise for Tensor, so it was possible to incorporate Glanbia Cheese’s old key fobs into the new access control and time and attendance system, saving them the hassle and cost of buying new ones.

Glanbia Cheese make great use of the WinAC.NET software, which not only gives them full control of who goes where and when, but also a perfect audit trail for due-diligence purposes.

They also use the WinTA.NET software, which is the flagship product of Tensor’s range of Windows™ based time and attendance products. It provides total control over the creation of working rules, Access Control, Job Costing and System Security.

Both sites have multiple clocking units providing quick and reliable time and attendance monitoring.

When the WinTA.NET software was first installed, Conor and two other IT members of staff were trained on how to use the new system. This included how to set up employee groups and profiles for the access controlled doors and common troubleshooting tips. “The training was very good; high-quality and well-presented. The Tensor trainer was able to answer all of our questions fully,” said Connor.

When asked whether he thought Glanbia Cheese used the Tensor system to its fullest possible extent, Conor replied that, “Since we focus mainly on the access control parts, we don’t use lots of the features Tensor offers, like the absence planners.”

A popular and often mission-critical feature of the Tensor Access Control system – especially for companies in the food and beverage processing sector – is the automated fire roll call.

This feature enables administrators to book employees to a specific fire assembly point and removes the cardholder from the fire roll-call report to provide a real-time roll call of any cardholders remaining in the building.

Glanbia Cheese have deployed the Tensor .NET fire roll call system to cover both of their factory sites, with 2 printers per site. It has been used successfully many times for emergency and evacuation drills. Connected directly to the fire alarm system, the system automatically prints a list of who is registered on site via the dedicated fast-output printers.

Asked what he liked most about the Tensor Access Control system, Conor said, “It’s very easy to use. For example, we had a new staff member arrive in IT and we could run him through the necessary daily system tasks quickly and easily. He picked it up with no problems!”

The company has called Tensor Helpdesk for assistance on a few occasions. Conor described Tensor’s HelpDesk analysts as “Very helpful and knowledgeable.” Tensor Operations engineers have had to visit Glanbia Cheese to fix some hardware problems; but only twice in seven years. In Conor’s words, “The service was good, and the engineers were also very knowledgeable.”

One of the great advantages of choosing Tensor is that the system is very modular. Once the basic system is in place, it can be configured to expand as a business grows or be re-configured with new sites or other sites amalgamated. The Business and Enterprise editions of WinTA.NET can handle multiple sites and unlimited numbers of employees.

Glanbia Cheese are making plans to expand their Tensor system in several ways into their new visitor centre in Magheralin. The first is to include the visitor centre within their existing Tensor Time and Attendance system, and to extend its Access Control elements. They are also considering ways of using the Self Service Module (“SSM”) in Magheralin.

SSM is an easy-to-use application which can be used by employees for clocking in/out for time and attendance and booking holidays. It can also be used on behalf of visitors to book appointments as part of a visitor management system. It can either be accessed from a browser or from a mobile phone app.

The overall improvement to business processes that Conor has noticed after the Tensor system was installed was in “the enhanced monitoring abilities” offered by the real-time recording of data. He also appreciated “the excellent flexibility and control over adding and removing people from door access. It’s easy to set up temporary access too.”

Summing up his experience with Tensor, Connor said they were: “A professional service from professional people, who are always willing to help in any way they can.”

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Customer Information:

Glanbia Cheese Ltd

4 Royal Mews

Gadbrook Park

Northwich

Cheshire

CW9 7UD

United Kingdom

Web: http://www.glanbiacheese.co.uk

Phone: (+44) 1606 810 900

Ultimate Packaging is the largest independent flexible packaging manufacturer in the UK, supplying a wide range of recyclable, compostable and reduced plastic film products.  

The business is focused on the development of innovative packaging solutions – such as their state of the art ADAPT MAP™ technology that extends shelf life and reduces food waste. In fact, they have received numerous awards for their products, including the 2018 Sustainability Award from International Produce Limited that recognized the company’s hard work on improving the sustainability of Asda’s potato and onion packaging.

Ultimate Packaging employs around 250 people at the company’s headquarters in Grimsby, which is where the Tensor Access Control and Time and Attendance system was installed back in 2006.

“The system has proved very useful for checking our employees’ whereabouts and whether people are taking breaks correctly, while also increasing our site’s security through the access control elements,” Paul Gowing, the Ultimate Packaging ICT manager, told the Tensor reporter.

Ever since the system was installed, the company have never seen the need to look elsewhere because, in Paul’s own words, the Tensor products have always had “good functionality, a helpful support service, and a reasonable price point”.

Originally, Ultimate Packaging used the WinTA Enterprise software suite developed by Tensor, but has recently upgraded to the latest generation flagship Time and Attendance / Access Control platform, Tensor.NET.

Following the upgrade, Ultimate Packaging staff were trained on-site by a member of the Tensor training team, with the company opting for two separate sessions to correspond with two different types of users (administrators / normal users). Asked by the Tensor reporter to comment on the quality of the training, Paul – who attended both sessions in order to have a very good overview of all aspects of the new software version – revealed that “The training was excellent.”

In terms of hardware, the Tensor system deployed at Ultimate Packaging comprises:

• 2 X T32xx clocking terminals. These innovative clocks can read smartcards through non-metallic objects, thereby enabling them to be stored conveniently in wallets or pockets. Their large colour screen makes it easy to confirm clocked transactions, read messages, check holiday balances, check flexi-time hours or book onto jobs. Each clock can store details for up to 8,000 employees.
• A number of smart-card readers for access control, designed to create separate secure areas, only accessible to authorized members of staff. 

Software-wise, Ultimate Packaging opted for:

• An upgrade to the flagship WinTA.NET Enterprise Edition software, which is ideal for total control over the creation of working rules, Time and Attendance, Job Costing and System Security.
• The flexible HR module, enabling secure mass storage of employee information, with customisable input tables and easy-to-create reports.
• The innovative Self-Service Module (SSM) which allows employees to clock themselves in and out from their browser or on their mobile phones, say whether they are going off-site for fire roll call purposes, request leave and even book onto jobs.

Ultimate Packaging use their Tensor system for both Time and Attendance and Access Control. The door controllers and clocking terminals are operated by radio frequency smart-cards. These are contactless and approximately the size of a standard credit card. They are very durable and long-lasting, while still thin and flexible enough to be carried in your wallet or pocket.

The Tensor.NET software platform is modular and offers many different features that can be added in order to maximise a company’s efficiency, such as the HR module. According to Paul, Ultimate Packaging would like to make more use of the HR module in the future, “in order to store their employee records more safely and reliably.”

Are Ultimate Packaging using the Tensor Access Control and Time and Attendance system to its full potential yet? Paul certainly thinks so, but there are still some areas of improvement, as they would like to “take more advantage of the fine-tuned granular possibilities of the Tensor Access Control system, which allows admins to assign access patterns specific to individual doors, individual people, and certain times of day”.

Due to the specific nature of their activity, which involves flammable materials, Ultimate Packing have decided to fully leverage the popular Fire Roll Call functionality provided by the Tensor Time & Attendance system, capable of controlling up to two printers for evacuation reporting purposes. On activation of a fire alarm panel, automatic roll-call reports are printed listing the names and departments of cardholders who remain on-site, while doors can also be configured to open automatically on fire alarm activation and lock automatically once the fire alarm activation condition has ceased.

The system enables administrators to book employees to a specific fire assembly point and removes the cardholder from the fire roll-call report to provide a real-time roll call of any cardholders remaining in the building.

Ultimate Packaging have been successfully using the Tensor Access Control and Time and Attendance systems for more than 13 years and have occasionally required the assistance of the Tensor Helpdesk and Operations departments to fix a couple of hardware and software issues.

When asked what he thought of the quality of the Tensor aftercare service, Paul responded ”The level of support from the Tensor Help Desk has been consistently very good throughout the years. As for the Tensor Operations engineers, they were very helpful and knowledgeable.”

However, these occurrences have been few and far between. And that’s because, in Paul’s own words, “Once the Tensor system is configured, it works and rarely has an issue. When it does, the problems are usually resolved quickly. The engineers that visit site are friendly and extremely helpful; I can’t fault them.”

A very satisfied Paul summed up his experience of Tensor by saying: “We recently upgraded our Tensor software to .NET and the improvements have helped us become more efficient in all aspects of the system. We should have upgraded sooner!”

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Customer Information

Ultimate Packaging Ltd,

Flexo Centre,

Pegasus Way,

Europarc,

Grimsby,

DN37 9TS, UK

Phone: +44 (0)1472 255400

Email: sales@www.ultimate-packaging.co.uk

Web: http://www.ultimate-packaging.co.uk/

Twitter:@DigitalandFlexo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ultimate-packaging-ltd/

Tradebe is one of the largest multi-national specialist waste management treatment companies in the United Kingdom. It specialise in offering quality innovative environmental services, such as Hazardous Waste Management and Treatment, High Temperature Hazardous Waste Incineration, Pharmaceutical and Clinical Waste Disposal, Management and Treatment and Total Waste Management Services.

One of their site’s is a Thermal Treatment Centre at Fawley, near Southampton. This plant incinerates up to 105,000 tonnes of pharmaceutical, chemical, agricultural and industrial waste every year, reducing its volume by up to 85% with a resultant reduction in landfill requirements.

The waste management plant was initially the property of Pyros Environmental Services, who had an extensive Tensor Time and Attendance and Access Control system installed 2008.

Unfortunately, Pyros went into administration in the second half of 2009, with the business & certain assets being acquired by Willacy Guinard Holdings Limited, part of the Tradebe Group.

Despite the change in ownership, the Tensor system remained in place, due to the potentially mission-critical role it played.

”We keep a lot of hazardous materials on site, so having a very secure and reliable access control system, complete with high-performance Fire Roll Call function, is vital to our business. Plus, whenever one of our customers visits our premises, the Tensor system gives them further peace of mind regarding the high standards of security we uphold as part of our daily activity.” said Edward Hutton, IT Support for Tradebe Fawley.

Mr. Hutton explained that they are using the Tensor Smart Card system to its full potential and that it has proved its worth. When asked what he liked most about the Tensor Smart Card me pointed to one feature they simply couldn’t live without – Fire Roll Call.

”Fire Roll Call is a very important feature for us. In fact, I’d say it’s vital, considering the specific nature of our activity – waste disposal via incineration. We trigger fire alarms to test the Tensor system weekly and there were also a few occasions when it was put through its paces in real-life situations. It passed with flying colours, rapidly printing out the list of people that were on-site at the time.”

The Tensor Fire Roll Call software automatically generates and prints out a report in case of an emergency, containing critical information regarding who is on site at any given moment and recent movements. Most importantly, unlike most other systems, the Fire Roll Call function is executed directly from the clocking stations, not requiring access to a PC or computer infrastructure that might be affected by fire, explosions, or similar catastrophes.

For optimum reaction speed, Fire Roll Call is triggered automatically via a direct wired connection between the site’s Fire Alarm and the Tensor Access Control system’s clocking units – a potentially life-saving approach! Lists of people on site is printed on two ultra-fast printers, one located in the main Admin Building and the other in the Gatehouse.

As employees, visitors or contractors use their Smart Cards or Smart Key Fobs to gain entry they area automatically logged onto the Fire Roll Call. If an emergency happens, then they are “ticked” as safe as they present themselves at their pre-determined fire assembly/muster points. This is a speedy process using either their Smart Card or Fobs, or by simply being checked off the printed list.

Asked what has impressed him most about Tensor, Mr. Hutton answered, “It’s a very reliable system that works fine all the time.” He also added “The Tensor Access Control system is certainly extremely easy to use, and the same goes for the Smart Cards – we’ve never had a problem with them.”

Our reporter then asked Mr. Hutton about the quality of the after-sales service supplied by Tensor. “Very good, very good. We have a maintenance contract with Tensor and we’re very happy with the level of service both the help desk and the engineers in the Operations team have provided” was his reply.

“In fact, we recently experienced a problem with one of the system’s keypads. I called Tensor’s help desk and they were very helpful in determining what the problem was and booking an engineer’s visit to our site. The engineer arrived on site the following day and sorted out the problem very quickly and in a very professional manner.” he added.

Would Mr Hutton recommend Tensor to other companies? “Oh yes, certainly” he replied “The Tensor Access Control System is very simple and reliable, and works just fine. Plus, Tensor is a very good company that provides excellent after-sales support”.

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Customer Information

Tradebe Fawley

Fawley Thermal Treatment Centre

Charleston Road

Hardley

Hythe

Southampton

SO45 3NX

Phone: 0238 088 3000

Fax: 02380 883 010

E-mail: uksales.fawley@tradebe.com

Web: http://www.tradebe.co.uk/