As a result of COVID-19, artificial intelligence (AI) has become table stakes for factories. Google’s 2021 Cloud Manufacturing Report found that 76% of manufacturing executives increased their adoption of disruptive technologies, including AI, during the pandemic.
AI-based facial recognition technology
AI has long been used in the sector to monitor the pace of work and anticipate machine failures, a trend that is expected to continue this year as factories look to optimise operations. However, ongoing pandemic-related challenges such as persistent labour shortages, the inability to work remotely, and lingering concerns about virus transmission are pushing factory operators to install AI in newer applications outside of production.
To address these emerging obstacles without impacting the pace of production, and boosting modernisation, many factory operators are implementing AI-based facial recognition technology (FRT). From access control to worker health and safety, FRT can make factories more secure, COVID-safe, and convenient workplaces.
Your face is the key to security
FRT is used in factories as a means of access control to seamlessly secure restricted areas
FRT is used in factories as a means of access control, not only to streamline the worker clock-in process but also to seamlessly secure restricted areas. For large factories, clocking in thousands of workers a shift can cause a bottleneck and hamper efficient production.
On top of this, workers who must take a picture when clocking in now have to remove their masks to be identified, further slowing the entry process and risking exposure. To meet this challenge, manufacturers are implementing FRT at entryways and key access points.
Facial recognition solution, FaceMe
The most advanced versions of these tools can instantaneously identify workers in the company’s database with an extremely high level of accuracy – even while they are wearing face coverings such as helmets and goggles.
CyberLink’s facial recognition solution, FaceMe, for example, does so by pinpointing unique vectors between the eyes of the subject around the bridge of the nose and comparing those to an encrypted template in the company’s database. Beyond their high accuracy, these solutions are scalable, meaning they can read more than one person’s face at a time to allow factories to clock in whole groups of employees as they walk through an entry area.
Multi-person facial recognition clock-in tool
We recently helped a factory based in Taiwan with over 20,000 employees and contractors implement facial recognition to cut down on clock-in fraud. Originally, workers were using access cards for entry and attendance, and some were abusing other employees’ cards. This was allowing workers to cheat the attendance system and, in some cases, commit payroll fraud.
With the installation of our multi-person facial recognition clock-in tool at two key entry points, the factory eliminated this problem while getting employees to their stations faster.
Identity verification
Facial recognition boost the safety of the factories, gives operators greater visibility into who is present and when
Factories can also employ facial recognition tools to control access to restricted areas. More accurate and easily installed than iris or fingerprint scanners, FRT is integrated into the operation of doors to allow seamless entry to protected areas. At the same Taiwan factory, we installed facial recognition for single-person identity verification at two other locations on its campus, creating restricted areas with a high level of security, and preventing unauthorised access with our anti-spoofing capabilities.
Not only does facial recognition boost the safety of the factories, but it gives operators greater visibility into who is present and when cutting down on costs and uncertainties in managing labour. However, even more, important than a well-managed labour force is the mitigation of virus concerns that threaten its safety.
Use in virus mitigation
Arguably the timeliest use case for FRT in factories is virus mitigation. In a profession where most employees cannot work remotely and many work in close quarters, concerns about virus transmission abound.
Heath checks during employee clock-in can help, but these typically require a mounted temperature kiosk that does not link health information to worker identity, or an employee taking temperatures with an infrared thermometer, risking their exposure as they come into contact with scores of workers.
Prioritising employee health
Facial recognition simplifies the health check process by connecting identity verification tools to temperature cameras and logging an individual’s health status.
FRT tools that identify masked subjects can also reduce exposure by eliminating the need for employees to remove their face coverings. These tools can also read when a person is wearing a mask improperly and report the issue to an operator to be addressed discreetly.
Facial recognition software
With the installation of our facial recognition software, the factory can rapidly and accurately identify gloved employees
We recently installed FaceMe at a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant to conduct identity verification for employees wearing protective gear in ultra-clean spaces. Originally, the factory was using a finger vein scanner for authentication, but this was not conducive to a new requirement that employees always wear gloves.
With the installation of our facial recognition software, the factory can rapidly and accurately identify gloved employees through masks and protective gear, maintaining employee health and the sanitary conditions of the factory floor.
Health monitoring
As a bonus, AI tools can cut down on health monitoring personnel costs, helping factories meet their bottom line without sacrificing employee well-being.
AI-based tech also creates a neutral third party to report an employee’s health status and inform them to stay home, reducing any tendency an employee might have to fight through an illness that could endanger the entire workforce.
The future of AI in securing factories
AI-based FRT helps factories become smarter beyond the production line, ensuring secure access control while streamlining health and safety processes. With its myriad of uses, facial recognition tools are on track to become more integrated into the factory setting, especially as solutions to persisting pandemic challenges.
The forward-thinking factory operators will be those who look beyond the assembly line to incorporate AI-based tech into every corner of their factory, and facial recognition will be key to realising this vision.