Suprema - Experts & Thought Leaders

Salisbury Poultry Limited is a pioneering UK poultry processing company with a strong reputation for quality and efficiency. Established over 30 years ago, the company operates a state-of-the-art facility, supplying fresh and frozen poultry products to major retailers, wholesalers, and the food service industry. With a commitment to innovation and high standards, Salisbury Poultry continues to invest in advanced processing technology, ensuring excellent product quality and compliance with the highest food safety and welfare regulations The Challenge - Salisbury Poultry faced challenges in accurately tracking employee attendance across multiple shifts, leading to inefficiencies in workforce management and payroll processing. Manual processes made it difficult to monitor lateness, manage overtime, and ensure compliance with working time regulations. They needed a reliable, automated time and attendance solution to improve accuracy, streamline operations, and enhance overall workforce efficiency. Overall workforce efficiency The solution - Salisbury Poultry needed a robust, efficient, and GDPR-compliant time and attendance solution to manage their workforce of over 1000 employees. Their key requirements included accurate time tracking, a streamlined authorisation process for overtime, and a comprehensive leave management feature to monitor holiday entitlement and identify sickness patterns effectively. timeware® Professional was the ideal choice due to its advanced functionality, reliability, customisation capabilities and the ability to integrate seamlessly with Salisbury’s existing workforce management processes. The software ensures that all attendance data is processed quickly and accurately, minimising disruptions and enhancing operational efficiency. Additionally, timeware® provides the necessary GDPR features, ensuring data security and compliance with strict regulations. For attendance points, we recommended Suprema’s BioStation 3 face authentication device. With over 1000 employees clocking in and out daily, speed and accuracy were crucial. Improved workforce management The BioStation 3 offers fast, contactless face recognition, eliminating bottlenecks at shift changes and ensuring a seamless experience for staff. Enrolment is simple, fast, and efficient, allowing new employees to be registered quickly without delays. Suprema’s hardware is fully GDPR-compliant, providing Salisbury Poultry with the reassurance that all data is encrypted and secure. This ensures both the protection of personal information and the integrity of Salisbury’s security infrastructure, making the BioStation 3 the perfect solution for their needs. KEY BENEFITS Since adopting the timeware® solution with Suprema BioStation 3, Salisbury Poultry has significantly improved workforce management. Sensitive workforce data Accurate time tracking has streamlined payroll processing, eliminating errors and reducing the administrative workload. The leave management feature now efficiently tracks holiday entitlement and identifies sickness patterns, ensuring better resource planning. Suprema’s fast and secure face authentication has improved clocking-in efficiency, reducing queues and preventing attendance fraud. The automated overtime authorisation process ensures compliance and enhances productivity. With GDPR-compliant security features, Salisbury Poultry now has a reliable, efficient system that supports over 1000 employees while safeguarding sensitive workforce data.

Doncaster Knights are a professional rugby union club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. They play in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English rugby. The club was originally founded in 1875 as Doncaster RFC and rebranded to Doncaster Knights in 2006.   The Knights are known for their impressive record of promotions, having achieved eight promotions in fifteen seasons. They play their home games at Castle Park, a 22-acre site that features state-of-the-art facilities and can accommodate up to 5,000 spectators. Castle Park is not only a rugby venue but also a top conference and function center in Doncaster. Increased operational costs THE CHALLENGE - The customer relied on a manual entry system using handheld ticket scanners to check each ticket individually. This process was slow and inefficient, leading to delays and increased operational costs. They wanted a system that enhanced fan experience, gave an accurate count of people entering the ground and something easy to manage with their existing ticketing platform, without the need for large scale changes & upgrades. THE SOLUTION - To modernise Doncaster Knights' access control and ticketing system, OLS integrated Suprema’s X-Station 2 and CLUe platform with the Future Ticketing system to provide a seamless, efficient, and secure entry solution. This upgrade replaced the club’s manual handheld ticket scanning process with two automated turnstiles featuring QR code and barcode scanning technology. Barcode scanning technology Seamless Ticket Validation: Fans purchase tickets online through the club, generating a unique QR code or barcode for each entry. At the stadium, Suprema’s X-Station 2 scans these codes within milliseconds, eliminating manual verification delays. Automated Entry via Turnstiles: When a valid ticket is scanned, the turnstile unlocks, allowing a quick and controlled entry. If an invalid or duplicate ticket is scanned, access is denied, preventing unauthorised entry. Together with providing a response to the customer, attend ticket office, duplicated ticket etc. Real-Time Monitoring & Data Collection: The Future Ticketing application provides stadium staff with real-time entry tracking, offering an instant and accurate count of attendees. Security teams can monitor entries remotely, enhancing stadium oversight and allowing swift responses to suspicious activity or operational issues. Key benefits Enhanced Fan Experience - Supporters enter the stadium faster, reducing queues and eliminating frustration at peak times. The automated system allows for a more streamlined, contactless, and hassle-free matchday experience. Increased Operational Efficiency - Eliminating the need for manual ticket scanning reduces staffing requirements and operational costs. Improved Security & Fraud Prevention - Real-time validation of tickets minimises ticket fraud, including duplicate or fake entries. Security teams can receive live data updates, allowing for better crowd control and event safety management. Scalability & Future-Proofing - The system is designed to support future upgrades, including integration with RFID/NFC/Facial recognition technology for contactless ticketing. Doncaster Knights now have a scalable solution that can expand to more turnstiles or different venues as needed.

Suprema, a pioneer in intelligent access control and physical security solutions, will showcase BioStation 3, its best-selling biometric terminal to date, and debut its newest flagship terminal, BioStation 3 Max, in India for the first time, at the Fire & Security India Expo (FSIE) 2026. Suprema will also present its access control platforms, BioStar X and BioStar Air. The event will take place September 3–5, 2026, at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai, where Suprema will exhibit at Booth A15. India's enterprise security market continues to expand, driven by the development of new airports, transit systems, data centers, and corporate campuses. As these facilities modernise, organisations increasingly require access control solutions capable of scaling alongside them. In response, Suprema will present its largest FSIE showcase to date, featuring an expanded booth and its most comprehensive hardware and platform lineup for the Indian market, reflecting Suprema's growing brand presence in the region. Robust data protection BioStation 3 is recognised worldwide for its competitiveness, built on three strengths: highly accurate, stable AI-powered facial authentication; a user experience optimised for real-world operating conditions; and robust data protection. Building on that global recognition, with demand that has been especially strong in India, Suprema will present BioStation 3 Max, its newest flagship terminal, to customers in India for the first time. BioStation 3 Max is Suprema's most advanced biometric terminal, featuring enhanced platform security with a CC EAL6+-certified secure element and a full range of authentication methods: face and fingerprint biometrics at its core, alongside RFID, mobile credentials, QR codes, and PINs, all integrated into one hardened, identity-first platform. Campus-wide deployments A large touchscreen display and integrated VoIP intercom support verification workflows at main entry points while Power over Ethernet (PoE) simplifies installation and reduces deployment costs. Rounding out the hardware lineup, XPass Q2, Suprema's intelligent QR/RFID reader, will also be on display for fast scanning at stadium entrances and coworking spaces. Suprema's security platforms offer customers and integrators flexibility to deploy and manage access control in whichever way best suits their business, on-premises or in the cloud by choosing between BioStar X and BioStar Air without compromising on performance. BioStar X, the on-premises platform, integrates access control, video surveillance, and third-party system integrations into a single system. It scales from small sites to large, campus-wide deployments. Faster incident response A unified monitoring console provides real-time visibility into access events and video feeds through interactive maps, enabling faster incident response. BioStar Air, by contrast, is a cloud-native platform built for organisations seeking to expand without maintaining on-premises servers. Additional readers can be deployed within minutes across multiple sites using a single network connection. Mobile credentials are included as standard, saving organisations time and deployment costs. Both platforms run on the same biometric, RFID, and mobile-ready hardware. Additionally, Suprema's Access Control Units (ACUs) let system integrators build either centralised or distributed architectures, allowing customers to select the deployment model that fits operational and IT requirements today and adapt as those needs evolve. Public safety scenarios Suprema is also introducing Q-Face Finder, an AI-powered facial authentication solution designed to identify suspects and locate missing persons in public safety scenarios such as police deployments and across private-sector facilities, including department stores and casinos. By easily integrating with existing CCTV infrastructure, it identifies missing persons and suspects in real time, enabling operators to respond quickly and effectively. Leveraging a Geographic Information System (GIS), the solution visualises a movement path on a smart map, allowing operators to understand the overall situation intuitively and coordinate resources more efficiently. Video management systems To show how seamlessly Suprema’s technology fits into broader security environments, live demonstrations will highlight how Suprema hardware and software integrate with leading global access control and video management systems, such as Genetec and Milestone. Visitors to the booth will also be able to meet local partners in India. “Strong technology alone doesn’t build a market position; a strong ecosystem does,” said Sachin Chadha, Country Manager of Suprema India & South Asia. “At FSIE, we are building exactly that: integrating with the access control and video management systems our customers already rely on and standing alongside partners who understand this market. That is how we will grow Suprema’s brand presence and footprint in India’s physical security industry, starting with proven hardware like BioStation 3 and BioStation 3 Max, and backed by the ecosystem that puts it to work for our customers.”

One of the best business lessons I learned didn’t come from business journals or the boardroom. It came from a biography: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. If you haven’t read it, you should! The book covers the full arc of Jobs’ career, and while many of the most talked about lessons center on his entrepreneurship, perfectionism, and brand building, the one that has stayed with me is his philosophy of design. Digital music player market I don’t mean design in the sense of aesthetics, although Apple certainly became famous for that. I mean design as an understanding of how people interact with technology. Examples of Jobs’ design philosophy appear throughout the book, but the chapters about the birth of the iPod are particularly compelling. If you’re too young to remember the era of downloading songs from Napster and loading them onto MP3 players, here’s the context. By the early 2000s, Apple was entering a crowded digital music player market. Companies like Sony, Creative and Rio had already introduced devices that were packed with technical innovation, and they were growing in popularity among college students, commuters, and early adopters who preferred the solid state devices over larger, glitchy portable CD players. Yet Jobs believed the entire MP3 player category possessed a fundamental flaw: all the products were too complicated. More intuitive experience In envisioning the iPod, Jobs became obsessed with creating a more intuitive experience Actually, Jobs used more blunt language. He said they all “were deeply flawed.” They held only a handful of songs, and users struggled with frustrating menu trees to access their most basic functions. As for the software managing the devices’ music libraries? To quote the book, “Only a genius could figure out half of their features.” Jobs saw something the existing manufacturers didn’t. Their MP3 players weren’t offering the one thing that consumers wanted the most, an easier way to listen to music. In envisioning the iPod, Jobs became obsessed with creating a more intuitive experience. He challenged his team to eliminate unnecessary complexity and established a simple rule for the user interface: if a person wanted a song or a function, they should be able to get there in no more than three clicks. Incredibly sophisticated technology The result was a product that felt completely different to use. Apple took an incredibly sophisticated technology and made it approachable. The complexity didn’t disappear; it was just moved behind the curtain where the user didn’t have to think about it. Despite being a late entrant to the MP3 industry, Apple quickly became the dominant manufacturer in the category because of the iPod’s unmatched usability. Plenty of successful companies cared about usability, but Jobs made simplicity a strategic priority. While competitors were adding features and complexity, Apple was asking, “How do we make this easier?” Twenty years later, I still think that’s one of the most important questions any technology company can ask, and one that is shaping the next generation of security technology. Stronger security practices Making a system more secure meant adding steps, procedures, and user responsibilities Which brings me to where I spend most of my time these days: Identity verification. For years, the security industry viewed convenience and security as competing priorities. Making a system more secure meant adding steps, procedures, and user responsibilities. What’s exciting about modern biometrics is that we’re increasingly able to improve both simultaneously. In many ways, we’re applying Jobs’ three click philosophy to identity verification, reducing the interaction required from the user without compromising the strength of the underlying security. And by reducing friction, organisations can implement more frequent identity verification that supports stronger security practices. Biometric authentication experience The simplicity of the biometric authentication experience can make people underestimate the sophistication of the technology behind it. Just as iPod users didn’t have to think about file formats, manually transferring songs to their device, or navigating cumbersome menus, users of modern biometric systems don’t have to think about how their faces, palms, or fingerprints are converted into encrypted, mathematical templates that cannot be reverse engineered. Or how the system verifies that a live person, not a photo, is standing in front of it. Or how AI quietly adjusts for the naturally occurring, gradual changes in a person’s appearance, whether from age, lifestyle, or a few extra pounds. Interacting with a biometric identity solution is like listening to music on an iPod or today, an iPhone. You don’t even think about the incredible technology working in the background that makes the experience possible. For example, with facial authentication, the most frictionless form of identity verification, you look at a reader without even stopping. In a fraction of a second, the system accurately matches you to your digital identity with a false match rate as low as 1 in 10 billion! I consider that more like a ‘zero click’ solution. Providing better protection The challenge for manufacturers will be resisting the temptation to make them more complicated As our industry embraces AI, we can expect to see a new generation of products that can automate more tasks, synthesise more data, and deliver more functionality than ever before. The challenge for manufacturers will be resisting the temptation to make them more complicated. Product teams should take a page from Jobs’ playbook. Instead of focusing on what the latest technology makes possible, they should be asking, “What do our customers genuinely want? And how can we use technology to make that experience better? Easier? Simpler? As effortless as using your face to access your phone?” That’s the lesson of the iPod, and why a guy who never developed a security product has provided one of the most important lessons for our industry. Companies that build products people want to use will also be creating solutions that are adopted more broadly, used more consistently, and ultimately provide better protection.

Biometrics today provide better security and frictionless user experiences. Biometric identifiers like fingerprints, facial recognition, and iris scans are unique and difficult to forge. They eliminate the vulnerabilities of traditional authentication and streamline secure access control. Identity verification reliably protects sensitive digital information and physical entry. We asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: How is the role of biometrics evolving in physical access control?

If AI is the dominant buzzword in the physical security industry, it is the second letter (I for intelligence) that is having the biggest impact. Simply put, intelligence transforms computer systems, including those used for physical security, from rigid, rule-following calculators into adaptable, problem-solving partners to human operators. We asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the changing role of intelligence in physical security?