Iris ID biometric system solves payroll problems in Turkish fruit fields

16 May 2018

Turkey’s Anadolu Etap, one of the largest fruit and vegetable juice providers to Europe, faced problems accurately calculating payroll which most organizations will never encounter. Each day during harvest season, thousands of employees spread out across seven large fields to pick crops. It is the nature of the local workforce that creates the largest challenge.

New laborers arrive daily seeking work. Once hired, they might work a few days and then leave before returning a week later. Inconsistent schedules made standard time cards virtually impossible to manage. The company sought a system with better accuracy and more simplicity.

Next, Ergosis suggested a fingerprint biometric system. But that was quickly ruled out as fruit pickers generally have soiled hands, and often have numerous cuts or scars on their fingers and hands which result in inaccurate identification and time-consuming re-enrollments. Some employees wear special environmental suits making a contactless system a better choice.With fingerprint eliminated , that led testing facial recognition which was rejected as changes in hairstyle, beards and moustaches, glasses, headwear and other factors can reduce accuracy. While sometimes less expensive, the accuracy of facial recognition is much less then iris recognition. Finally, an iris-based system was suggested, said the integrator’s Görkem Acarlar.