LONDON — A renowned German global discount supermarket chain, which ranks as the sixth-largest grocery retailer in the U.K., was facing challenges in managing visitor access to its headquarters location in the Wimbledon neighborhood, because of diverse access requirements and a number of locations.
The chain, which has more than 12,000 stores across every European Union member state as well as in Serbia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the U.S., was also seeking to streamline operations and enhance the visitor experience by implementing a more efficient visitor management system, noting it required integration with their current access control system, Exos.
With these updates and enhancements, they were aiming to address the following challenges:
- Implementing access control for a variety of hardwired and wireless doors
- Installing speed lane control systems at the front and rear entrances to deter unauthorized access
- Integrating Visitor and Contractor Management with the access control system
Customizable workflows based on visitor types were also crucial for the supermarket’s new headquarters campus.
The VAR company collaborated with acre security to implement acre Enterprise Visitor Management, a cloud-based solution that provided a centralized platform for managing visitors across all locations, integrating it with Outlook, Teams and Exos.
This solution not only streamlined operations but also enhanced the overall visitor experience through features such as pre-registration, self-service check-in kiosks, and real-time reporting. It also allowed visitors to conveniently scan badges at turnstiles for site access.
Inside the Installation
Following thorough research on customer needs, the project team implemented the access control system, combining hardwired and wireless online access control points.
The integration of the access control reader, acre Enterprise Visitor Management solution and Exos software and hardware enhanced the visitor experience and streamed visitor details with barcode readers.
The successful integration with Exos and the enhanced visitor experience were pivotal in securing the project. Positive client feedback was received for the innovative approach to product feature enhancements and the variety of visitor kiosk options offered.
The project’s success has led to plans for expansion, with 14 additional locations across the U.K. set to benefit from the implemented solution.
