Every day, thousands of workers, managers, and other staff members come in and go out of factory premises. As safety and security concerns emerge, it becomes crucial for factories to control the access of the workforce into and out of the premises. But traditional access control mechanisms have several loopholes. 

With people moving in and out throughout the day, each with different clearance and authorization levels, just checking their ID cards or having them manually register their entry and exit is unworkable. Read on to learn how facial recognition and computer vision software can strengthen access control for factories. 

The Growing Trend of Biometric Systems for Access Control

Factories, in general, witness a high footfall of people every day. Appointing a single security detail at the main gate or providing keys, fobs, or swipe cards to everyone visiting is not a practical or scalable solution. With visitors ranging from employees and contractors to delivery people, visitors, inspectors, and others, access cards pose a huge security risk. If they fall into the wrong hands, it can result in several security risks. 

With an array of different people visiting factors daily, establishing a robust system that gives each visitor appropriate access without being costly or confusing is extremely important. This realization has many factories now investing in biometric systems for access control. According to a recent study, the access control market is expected to be worth $12.8 billion by 2025. By that time, biometric systems are expected to suffice a market value of $68.6 billion. 

So, what’s making biometric access control so popular? Well, there are many reasons for this: 

• For starters, biometric access control systems ensure proper and accurate identification of people. Unlike manual signatures or digital access cards that can be easily forged or transferred, biometric access validates and confirms the identity of the individual – to provide access.

• They are extremely user-friendly, reliable, and easy to maintain. The workforce just has to walk past a facial recognition camera or scan their fingerprint to enter or exit the premises.

• Because biometric access systems don’t involve passcodes or cards and are impossible to clone or hack, there is no risk of theft or loss – which ensures around-the-clock safety and security of equipment, goods, and people within the factory. 

• Biometric systems also help in maintaining an updated and accurate audit trail. Since all entries are saved digitally, system administrators can easily connect a visitor to a specific action. 

• These systems also make it easy for factory administrators to centrally manage entries and exits. Administrators can easily view information about which people have what level of access to the premises and update access levels on a case-to-case basis. 

The Popularity of Facial Recognition and the Role Computer Vision Plays

When it comes to verifying the identity of people in factories via biometric systems, facial recognition technology is becoming a popular way. By automatically scanning people entering or exiting the premises and comparing their features with a database, facial recognition systems give factories the ability to limit unauthorized entry, protect assets, and defend the business from internal and external threats. 

But despite the features offered by facial recognition technology, several challenges impact the accuracy of access control. For instance, poor lighting, low-resolution cameras, variations in pose or expressions, the aging process, or the presence of a face mask or sunglasses can cause authorized personnel to be denied entry – or, worse still, unauthorized people to be granted entry. 

Computer vision technology helps overcome all these challenges posed by standard facial recognition software. By leveraging a range of automation, AI, neural networks, and deep learning capabilities, computer vision can enable intelligent access control. The technology can identify human faces in general and recognize facial features – regardless of lighting or occlusion.  

Using artificial neural networks, computer vision carries out several mathematical calculations to detect faces in an image, video, or real-time stream, calculate a mathematical model, and compare models to training sets or databases – in real-time. 

And although the technology plays a huge role in biometric identification, it isn’t just limited to identifying and verifying people entering and exiting your factory premises. Computer vision can also be used to:

• Capture accurate dimensions of parcels and detect alphabets, numbers, and shapes from visual data
• Evaluate if employees in the factory are wearing hard hats and following required safety protocols
• Monitor the position of heavy machinery and other equipment while also detecting unidentified objects and unmanned gates 
• Use real-time visual data from CCTV cameras and alert managers when there is a perimeter security breach
• Capture and analyze barcodes from data captured by CCTV or IP cameras
• Automate and streamline the process of workforce timekeeping with advanced facial recognition technology

Bottom Line

As crime rates go up, basic measures for access control are no longer enough to protect your workforce and assets. With advancements in technology, the tactics of criminals have also evolved, compelling businesses to always look for new ways to improve security and stay ahead of new threats.

If you’re looking to level up your access control systems, you need to invest in facial recognition systems that are powered by computer vision technology to have the eyes and the brains needed to thwart security attacks – before they happen.

Contact us today to learn how KamerAI can help you transform your access control game by identifying loopholes, preventing unauthorized access, and keeping your teams and factories safe 24/7.