Companies are confronted with countless visitor processes and guest administration on a daily basis. The challenge here is to maintain an overview, comply with all legal requirements for security measures and relieve the burden on existing staff through efficient processing.

Visitor management involves the administration and coordination of activities relating to external persons on a site or building. It must be possible to track every movement of people who do not belong to the company in compliance with the GDPR. Particularly in sensitive areas in food production or in high-security areas, visitor management is essential and involves a great deal of effort.

External persons are, without exception, all persons who do not belong to your own company. These include, for example, potential business partners, applicants, guests, tradesmen, suppliers and external companies. The topic is complex and comprises many components that have an influence on visitor and process handling in a company. The sheer number of groups of people to be managed entails many individual processes.

External company employees who enter production facilities must be sensitised to different dangers through security training than applicants who are only in meeting rooms. Other tasks that fall under the management of external persons include recording personal data, managing access rights and checking access bans and sanction lists.

The different reasons for visits pose many challenges for the reception staff and plant security. As soon as there is a high visitor and delivery frequency or there are several entrances to the company, it is difficult to keep track of all the people actually present. In an emergency, an evacuation list must be easily available at the touch of a button so that everyone can be protected quickly and safely.

As different as the reasons for visits are, as specific training must also be provided for external persons. This means that the safety instruction for the protection of people, premises and products must take place in an audit-proof manner in accordance with the visit. As soon as the legal requirements and data protection regulations are included in the visit process, simple visitor management, which can be done manually using an Excel list, becomes complex management of external persons.

Software for optimised visitor management

Above all, the digital solution saves time. The process is simplified and streamlined for employees and all authorisations and procedures are processed within the VISIT software from ASTRUM IT, which reduces the workload on staff and saves costs. With VISIT, the activities of external persons and vehicles on the factory premises can be efficiently managed, monitored and tracked at all times. The process method creates smooth workflows, from coordinating appointments and registration to saying goodbye.

A kiosk system, smartphone or PC can be used, for example, to easily automate the registration and instruction of external persons, if desired also without a person or remotely. The software offers the option of handling both pre-registered visits and spontaneous registrations and takes into account different scenarios in the visit process in an audit-proof and GDPR-compliant manner. Thanks to the continuous recording of all data and information, the visit processes can be tracked and analysed retrospectively at any time.

Matthias, how do the topics of visitor management and transport & logistics fit together?

The parallels between the challenges in both areas mean that the topics can be combined well. Broken down to the lowest denominator, all visitor management and transport requirements relate to the same target group: external persons who need to be coordinated simply and efficiently. On the one hand, the aim is to ensure that the visitor process is as smooth and traceable as possible, which relieves the burden on existing staff. On the other hand, security-specific requirements on the factory premises must also be met. For example, suppliers can add relevant master data in advance via online check-in, store information and carry out the necessary safety instructions. Possible language barriers are easily eliminated by our system.

In summary, it can be said that optimised management of external persons is the basis for functioning processes on the factory premises, both in visitor management and in logistics processing.

To what extent can VISIT manage delivery traffic management and ramp scheduling on the factory premises?

VISIT offers a range of effective options and functions that can be utilised depending on the requirements on the factory premises. The central system overview in the delivery traffic cockpit provides an overview of all current and expected visits at all times, so that loading and unloading processes can be clearly coordinated. VISIT immediately shows which vehicles are currently in the waiting area or already on the company premises. A confirmation function can be used by the respective dispatcher to mark proper deliveries of goods and their acceptance. As a result, lorry traffic on the premises is handled quickly and, above all, is recorded transparently and comprehensibly. This in turn forms the basis for minimising standing and waiting times for suppliers and therefore minimising costs.

How can logistics processes be optimised through automation and digitalisation?

A ‘classic’ example here is a pager system or a display system, which is often used in the logistics sector for call-offs. At the gate and at the start of the visit, the driver is assigned a pager and a parking space to wait for a free unloading bay at a loading ramp. The advantage for logistics staff and plant security is that all lorries on call can be seen in a list in the system. If the employee responsible for his load and the corresponding loading ramp are free, the driver receives the number of the ramp via pager and drives there. After unloading, the lorry drives to the exit gate and drops the pager in a designated container. This concludes the visit process. Automated vehicle call-off is also possible via SMS or display board and is always an effective tool for reducing idle and waiting times.

How can an unmanned gate have a positive impact on logistics management processes?

This is very easy to answer: with the help of self-service kiosk systems, people from outside the company can log in independently, store master data and, thanks to an automated approval process, access authorisations can be granted in the background. The terminals can be placed outside the factory premises so that a car park outside can be used until the vehicle is called to a loading ramp. Bottlenecks and waiting times are reduced or eliminated and provide relief at the company gates. Standing and waiting times can be significantly reduced and at the same time the actual attendance times are documented to the minute. Security-related requirements can be communicated, checked and documented smoothly in the language required for the specific visit. The bottom line is that there are only advantages for everyone involved.