Manufacturing
Visitor management system for manufacturers
An iPad at reception that signs visitors and contractors in and out, puts your site rules on screen before anybody is let through, and gives your fire marshal a live list on their phone. For the factory that still keeps a paper book on the front desk.
From £599 setup and £150 a month plus VAT, iPad and stand included.
Who this is for
A factory with a front desk, a paper book and people who do not work there
Twenty to two hundred staff, and one reception that somebody covers alongside another job. Contractors arrive most days for maintenance, installs and servicing, and drivers come through with deliveries and collections. The book on the counter was there before anybody asked what it was for, and the answer turns out to be three things: who is on site when the alarm goes, who was here when somebody asks, and keeping the last visitor’s details off the open page.
What gets asked at reception
Four people who ask a factory to show who was on site
The fire marshal
When the alarm goes, the person at the assembly point has to know who else is in the building, visitors and contractors included. A book left on the reception desk does not come out with them.
An HSE inspector
An inspector can ask to see records during a visit, and who was on site and which contractors were working are among the first. The page on inspections sets out what can be asked for.
Your ISO 45001 auditor
Clause 8.1.4.2 is about co-ordinating with contractors and making sure they know your site rules and emergency arrangements. The auditor asks for the evidence that they did.
The next visitor in the queue
A paper visitor book is lawful. The UK GDPR problem is the open page showing the last twenty visitors to the twenty-first, and that is the part a data protection question lands on.
Contractor sign in and RAMSBuilders in for an extension or a shutdown refitIf you make pet food, what the FEDIAF guide says about visitorsEvery standard with a visitor clause, on one page
The same page for one kind of site:Food manufacturingPackaging manufacturingPrecision engineeringAutomotive suppliersAerospace and defencePharmaceutical and life sciencesLogistics and warehousingOffices and professional firms
What the kiosk does
The book’s three jobs, done by an iPad at reception
Sign in and out on an iPad
Name, company, who they are here to see, and a registration if they have driven in. Visitors and contractors sign out on the same screen when they leave.
Your site rules, accepted by name
Your site rules and the privacy notice go on screen, and nobody is signed in until they accept them. Each acceptance is stored against the person with the date, the time and the exact wording they accepted.
A roll call on a phone
When the alarm goes, your fire marshal opens the live list on their phone at the muster point and sees every visitor and contractor currently signed in. Nobody goes back inside for the book.
Your channel told, the record kept
Each sign in posts a message to your Microsoft Teams or Slack channel with the visitor’s name, their company and who they are here to see. Records can be searched by name, company and date, and exported.
A courier who only drops a parcel taps Delivery Drop-off: the courier company is logged with the time and your channel is told. A drop-off is not a sign in and is not on the roll call, so a driver who comes further than goods in should sign in.
Sign in on a demonstration kiosk, then open the fire roll call on your phone. Do not enter real details: everything typed is deleted within the hour.
See it work
A sign in and a fire roll call, in 100 seconds
A visitor signs in on the iPad. The alarm goes. The marshal opens the live list on their phone at the muster point and reads off who is still on site.
The player loads from YouTube only when you press play. Nothing is sent to Google before that. What happens when you do.
What it costs
One price, in public
Setup from £599, then £150 a month plus VAT. The iPad, the stand, hosting and support are included, the iPad and stand are replaced if they fail, and nothing is charged per visitor or per user.
Every price, and what is not charged forThe one page business case, for whoever signs it off
Being straight with you
What this does not do
- It keeps a timestamped record of who was on site and what they accepted. It does not make a site compliant with anything: your inspector or your auditor judges your whole system, and the front door is a small part of it.
- It records people. It does not open doors or replace an access control system.
- It is a tablet in a stand at reception, not a device for the shop floor.
Before you ask
The questions factories ask on the first call
Do contractors sign in the same way as visitors?
Yes. A contractor signs in as any visitor does, accepts the same site wording, and is on the fire roll call until they sign out. Most factories find contractors are a large share of the people through the door, so the same screen for both is the point.
Are delivery drivers on the fire roll call?
Only if they sign in. A courier who just drops a parcel uses Delivery Drop-off, which logs the courier company and the time and tells your channel, but a drop-off is not a sign in and is not on the roll call. If your drivers come further than goods in, have them sign in.
How long are the records kept?
Twelve months by default, or the period your company sets, and then they are deleted. Within that period you can search by name, company or date and export what somebody has asked to see.
Do we need IT involved?
Not really. There is nothing to install on your network and no server to run. You need a WiFi connection and a mains socket where the kiosk is going, and the security page answers the questions an IT manager asks.
Also asked of sites like yours
The other things somebody may ask you to evidence
Each of these is a page about one standard, one duty or one visitor, written the same way as this one: what it actually asks for, what an iPad at reception records towards it, and where it does not help.
- GDPR and the visitor book
- CMMC physical security
- List X visitor control
- ITAR visitor log
- Def Stan 05-138 visitor access
- ISO 27001 visitor access
- PCI DSS visitor log
- AEO visitor access control
- CTPAT visitor log
- TISAX visitor management
- TAPA FSR visitor log
- BRCGS visitor control
- BRCGS packaging visitor control
- BRCGS storage and distribution visitors
- BRCGS unannounced audit
- Visitor control non-conformity
- SALSA visitor control
- IFS Food visitor hygiene
- UFAS feed mill visitor control
- GMP visitors in production areas
- GDP wholesale visitor control
- Fire roll call
- Contractor management
- Construction work in occupied premises
- HSE inspection records
- ISO 45001 contractor control
- Visitor NDA sign in
- Visitor record retention
- What a visitor log must contain
- Standards calendar
- Sign in sheet template
- Visitor health questionnaire template
- Contractor induction template
- Permit to work template
- Hot work permit template
- Fire drill record template
Next step
Tell us how people get into your factory today
Fifteen minutes on the phone. How many doors, who comes through them, and what somebody last asked you to show. We will tell you straight whether a kiosk is worth your time.
Book a 15 minute callNo site visit needed and nothing to install. If it is not a fit we will say so on the call.
Would rather email? [email protected]
Not the person who signs it off? Send them the one page business case