Access Control Case Study

Johnson Tiles

The Company

Johnson Tiles is the UK’s leading manufacturer of ceramic tiles and boasts over 100 years’ experience in delivering distinctive new products for both the contract and retail markets internationally.

Johnson Tiles logo

Johnson Tiles has an in-house design team and UK-based production facilities. Its tiles have been used on all manner of projects, including housing, schools, universities, hotels, hospitals, industrial developments and the leisure industry.

Johnson Tiles offers the widest choice of ‘on-trend’ products, backed up by industry-leading logistics and service.

Challenges

As an existing customer of TouchStar, Johnson Tiles decided that an upgrade to its access control solution was required.

The legacy system had been developed for Windows XP, but Johnson Tiles wanted to be able to run their system on a virtual server. Johnson Tiles required a future-proof, modern system was that would work with the latest operating systems.

Johnson Tiles uses access control at all entrances to control admission to offices, factories and IT rooms. Each access point requires specific permissions before unlocking.

Solutions

As part of the upgrade, TouchStar installed new RX4 Proximity readers. The ELITE series RX4 mullion style reader is suitable for surface mounting to most plain wall finishes and is quick and easy to install. It is designed for the most demanding access control applications.

The RX4 is capable of reading standard Clock/Data, Weigand and Mifare. The reader features an RGB LED with which allows each door to be set with a colour coded access level. The unit is moulded using tough PC/ABS plastic, and includes an innovative shadow-line backplate making the reader appear to float against the wall.

TouchStar also installed its Evolution Door Controllers. These universal door controllers are housed in metal cases with integral PSU and battery back-ups as standard. The controllers also benefit from re-designed PCBs, utilising a faster processor and the ability to control all previous standard media types without hardware options, configuration or part number derivatives.

This means that the controller no longer needs to be ordered for specific barcode, magnetic stripe or proximity applications as it can be used for all purposes.

Microtrak Evolution Software, a modular based access control system designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, was also installed. Microtrak Evolution puts the power of control in the hands of the user with clear, simple to use screens that provide an intuitive understanding of the application.

The system is designed around the IP addressable Door Controller, which plugs directly to a clients existing TCP/IP network. The Evolution software communicates with the controller via a LAN or WAN. This method of door connectivity provides a modular and competitively priced solution not only for small sites but large multi-site systems.

TouchStar continually invests in this solution to ensure that it work with all new operating systems, thereby efficiently future-proofing the system.

As well as installing new readers, TouchStar was able to use all of Johnson Tiles’ existing readers as they were a known format. TouchStar also reutilised all existing cabling and migrated Johnson Tiles’ existing support package to new hardware.

TouchStar is able to make it extremely easy for legacy customers to upgrade, and also cost effective, as access points can be upgraded in turn so that the whole system does not need to be taken down while upgrades are taking place.

Implementation

With all four manufacturing sites producing up to 1.4 million tonnes of sugar, 365 days a year, both TouchStar and British Sugar were looking to ensure a smooth rollout of the proposed system upgrade. As the long-term incumbent supplier to British Sugar, TouchStar had experience of not only the legacy system, but also each of the manufacturing sites to be upgraded. Lynden Jones, Managing Director of TouchStar ATC continues, “We were delighted to have had the opportunity to work alongside British Sugar on the upgrade project. We worked closely with both Clive and the British Sugar IT Team, specifying the system requirements, confirming both the site layouts, and wiring structure so we could plan for a staged upgrade with minimal disruption”.

Results and Benefits

The new system has been a success, running smoothly on Johnson Tiles’ virtual server and achieving their main goal as well as minimising any associated downtime.

Steve Truman, Johnson Tiles IT Support Manager, commented: “The upgrade was smooth and there were no gaps in security during the upgrade process. The solution is now running well and doing exactly the job we wanted it to do.”

TouchStar Technologies has been fantastic in how they’ve tailored the solution to Flogas. The pace at which they can adapt the system to meet our need to continuously improve our service has been instrumental in adding so much value into our service proposition.

The company has been essential in providing real-time delivery data so that speed of rescheduling, and information about whether we have or haven’t delivered, is key to our service offering.

Flogas

Tim Eaton

Head of Logistics and Supply Chain, Flogas

TouchStar is recognised as the best in the industry

TouchStar Calor Gas Testimonial Logo

David Brown

Fleet Asset Manager, Calor

“The TouchStar solution has created a live link between the meter, the driver, the transport office and the accounts office. This link increases the visibility and control of our operational resources and has streamlined our internal admin processes significantly.”

WP Group

Dan Hedges

Group Business Intelligence & Systems Manager, WP Group

Thanks to TouchStar we are now able to have more informed conversations, plan better and offer an improved service to our customers. The solution also guarantees compliance and gives us a greater degree of accuracy in our conversations with our sales team and of course our customers.

TouchStar Certas Testimonial Logo

David Hauff

Head of Logistics Services, Certas

It was important to ensure a smooth rollout, particularly as the upgrade did partially coincide with our busiest time of year. TouchStar worked closely with us throughout the whole upgrade process, helping ensure a successful rollout with minimum disruption. Not only that, TouchStar upgraded us to a great system, which is what we have come to know them for. We are thrilled with the potential the system now offers us for additional enhancements and look forward to working with TouchStar on future upgrade projects.

Clive Gray

Technical Transformation Analyst, British Sugar

The team we work with is extremely professional, knowledgeable and adapts to our needs well. Due to our positive working relationship, it has never been too much trouble for TouchStar to come to the site to scope out our requirements or to provide support during installation. We have a good system in place for ongoing support service requirements and know that any additional support or new device needs can be met with just a phone call.

Chris Aitken

Head of Logistics, Damart

“I have worked with a variety of hardware and workforce management software providers across my 8 years at Calor Gas, however none have provided the depth of knowledge and expertise on the successful integration of gas metering systems and auto-order reconciliation into Calors ERP system.

The implementation of the ‘Hawk’ devices, across both bulk and cylinder, has been extremely smooth and Calor have experienced the instant benefit of a modern, rugged, TouchStar-manufactured device running on a feature-rich software platform.”

TouchStar Calor Gas Testimonial Logo

Adam Bolitho

Supply Chain Project Manager, Calor Gas

“The proposed use for the system was to manage entry around the perimeter of our manufacturing plants with additional controls in place to restrict staff access to specific areas on site.  Having worked with TouchStar ATC on previous projects, we knew they would be able to offer us a reliable and quality solution, something that is fundamentally important to us here at Cepac. With plans for more growth, we knew we had to look at a system that was both futureproof and scalable and it made sense to talk to TouchStar about how we would achieve this.”

TouchStar Cepac Testimonial Logo

Wayne Cusworth

Chief Information Officer , Cepac

The overall system implementation went extremely well.  TouchStar worked closely with us throughout the whole process and the more recent upgrades, testing the new system with respect to our agreed specification, this resulted in a successful rollout of the systems.

Wayne Cusworth

Chief Information Officer, Cepac

“We were operating from several systems, some of which were nearing 30 years old. As a group, we knew our CCTV was not fit for purpose and that the latest technology would offer us so much more by way of safeguarding our people, premises, and assets. Furthermore, the latest systems also provided us with the opportunity to streamline our production processes meaning we would see much more benefits to the business operations by way of process and production efficiency improvements.”

TouchStar British Sugar Testimonial Icon

Steve Pritchard

Senior IT Business Partner , British Sugar

“Our TouchStar contacts worked hard to understand the requirements of our business and relay the best options available with our business needs in mind. We chose the TS8000 rugged handheld and TS7000 rugged truck mount to facilitate the flexibility needed between the pick face and bulk storage function. The versatility of the devices ensured that were able to scan larger pallet and carton labels as well as individual product labels within the different operation areas and various functions within the Distribution Centre.”

Damart TouchStar Testimonial Icon

Chris Aitken

Head of Logistics, Damart

“We were operating on old legacy systems, in some cases these were now over 20 years old. Whilst the systems had served us well in the past, they were now essentially unsupported, so we knew we had to upgrade. As a business we were looking for a solution that would span all our operational processes, from manufacturing and sales, through to HR and Warehouse Management, we needed it to provide additional functionality plus have the scalability to allow for future growth and enhancements”.

Ian Ashton

Operations Manager, Fragrance Oil’s

“Having made the jump from 80,000 sq ft facilities to a 200,000 sq ft state of the art facility, we knew we had to make the investment in the IT infrastructure that would help sustainably manage our growth. Ensuring that we have an efficient and streamlined supply chain in place is fundamental, we needed to ensure that we continued to provide a reliable and cost-effective service to all our UK and European based customers. We knew that real time data capture would offer the solution “.

Indie Bhatoa

Owner, P&B Foods

“The benefit of the system means that we always have real-time information to hand on every facet of the operation such as allocated tasks and stock location. All this information helps provide our customer with a speedy and responsive service which is critical in ensuring our customers have a great shopping experience.”

Lakeland Testimonial Logo TouchStar

Alex Rea

Systems Manager, Lakeland

“The implementation was very successful, TouchStar had a wide range of technical knowledge and experience and have been invaluable in their support during the testing phase and go live. The user feedback on the devices has been great, they are both ergonomic and easy to use, perfect for our scan intensive environments.”

Chris Ramsden

Warehouse Operations, Systems Manager

“TouchStar’s Android solution provides DCC Energi with a highly flexible, streamlined and cost-effective operation, eliminating mistakes which arise from a paper-based system and ensuring staff spend their time providing excellent customer service.”

TouchStar FuelStar DCC Testimonial Logo

Michael Olesen

Distribution Manager, DCC Energi

We expect to avail ourselves of many additional benefits to the business based on the Android OS and the new FuelStar application. The system creates a great opportunity for RIX to expand the connectivity and visibility between the truck, product, driver and the planning office

Rix TouchStar Testimonial Icon

Duncan Lambert

Managing Director, Rix Petroleum

“TouchPC has helped BP’s UK LPG operations achieve less stops and bigger drops!”

Ian Turner

Project Manager, BP

“Based upon its expertise and knowledge of the fuel and gas business and its reputation for delivering robust systems, TouchStar claim to be the best in the industry. On the basis of our experience of working with the company, we are happy to concur with that opinion.”

Vincent Brouard

Logistics Manager for the LPG Operation, TotalGaz

“We made the strategic decision to partner with Touchstar long term as their electronic POD system provided the best solution to meet our operational requirements. Implementing this system during a period of significant business change has been seamless, thanks to Touchstar’s expertise and commitment to supporting us over the past 18 months. The flexibility of the devices has enabled us to integrate third-party applications, giving our drivers access to more tools and information than ever before. The level of training and support provided throughout the implementation process has been exceptional, ensuring our drivers were fully prepared to utilise the system and realise its benefits from day one.”

Luke Armitage

Operations Director, NWF Fuels

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