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KFC franchisees implement fingerprint biometrics

September 19, 2011

Two KFC franchisees, West Quality Food Service Inc. and KBP Foods, have implemented DigitalPersona U.are.U. Fingerprint Readers in their restaurants. In total, the two franchisees operate 135 KFC restaurants throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

The biometrics system was added to their existing NCR Advanced Restaurant (formerly Compris) point-of-sale (POS) software.

Employees at these units previously used PINs at POS terminals to access time-and-attendance systems, while managers used PINs to authorize discounts, voids and overrides.

The biometrics system, however, eliminates the ability to share PINs to inappropriately clock one another in, boosting labor costs. Similarly, staff could use managers' PINs to authorize fraudulent transactions, driving up the cost of food. Since integrating DigitalPersona fingerprint biometrics, franchisees are able to tie transactions to the specific employee that performed them, holding employees more accountable for discrepancies.

"When using PINs, it is difficult for a restaurant to quantify the impact of unauthorized transactions," said Mike Servolini, director – south operations at West Quality Food Service. "With the DigitalPersona fingerprint solution, we have been able to track each manager's and employee's actions more closely, and have recognized a near-immediate reduction in food costs. This is directly attributed to the elimination of false voids and overrides."

Chris Elwood, area coach, for KBP Foods Omaha, added that buddy punching has been completely eliminated since switching to fingerprint biometrics.

"Everyone is required to use their fingerprint to get into our systems, and anyone clocking in early or staying late has to get a manager's fingerprint for approval," he said. "This gives us peace of mind that our labor costs are accurate."

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