Revlon Facility Gives ID Cards a Makeover

Dec 1, 2005 12:00 PM

Hodgepodge is not the newest Revlon eye color. It's how Security Manager Thomas Hillery described the variety of ID cards used at Revlon's North American facilities. He knew it was time for a makeover at the flagship manufacturing and distribution plant in Oxford, N.C. With a little imagination, he upgraded the ID cards in Oxford to be more functional, more economical and easier on the eye.

In the late 1990s, most of the Revlon locations had begun migrating toward digitally printed PVC cards for access control, but the ID badging system at the Oxford facility was still antiquated. “We would die-cut an employee photo for the front of the card, add a taped label and laminate the whole thing,” Hillery says. “It was labor-intensive. At one time, we thought we had something really great. Coming into the 21st century, though, we knew we had to get better, smarter and more efficient.”

Unfortunately, there was no migration plan from his original ID software package to anything newer. Also, his old printer was “no longer supported by the company.” Hillery had to start from scratch. He began the process by conferring with peers at other companies and doing research. Hillery chose the Fargo DTC500 Series printer and purchased it from Lamination Services, a manufacturer and distributor of photo ID equipment and supplies in Bartlett, Tenn.

“[The printer] was not cost-prohibitive,” he says. “I wanted dye-sublimation printing, and I [liked] the color reproduction. It looked like a natural transition for us. I also wanted something that was easy to clean and maintain.”

Hillery had a pleasant surprise when it came to moving his data from the old system to the new. Using IVIS software from IDenticard, all he had to do was make a CD copy of his existing database and file photos. Identicard sent back a CD with the information in a new format. “It was simply a matter of establishing links to data in the new format,” he said. “We were up and running within a week.”

Hillery works for a company that trades on glamour, so he wanted to put a little sparkle in his ID cards, too. He redesigned the template to accommodate a number of icons to enhance the value of the card as a source of information. The card starts as a standard white card with an employee's photo, name, department and the company logo. From there, special features can be added to identify certain categories of employees, incorporating a combination of options that are added with simple keystrokes when the card is created.

Forklift operators, for example, wear a green badge so others can tell from a distance if the person operating a forklift is qualified to do so. If someone is required to wear corrective lenses while operating machinery, his or her card carries the graphic image of safety glasses. “This gives us more of an enforcement tool to ensure safety,” Hillery says.

The Revlon manufacturing and distribution facility has a number of volunteers on each shift who are qualified medical first responders, willing to help with in-plant emergencies. Their ID cards are so distinct that if an unusually large crowd surrounds an incident, officers can look at employee badges to determine who should be there and who should not.

While it was tempting to create separate colors for each distinction, Hillery knew there were only so many different combinations of colors before an ID badge became aesthetically unappealing. “We were toying around with creating blue badges for bilingual employees,” he said, “but what if a forklift operator were also bilingual? What color would we use? We did not want to make it too confusing.”

Revlon, a world leader in cosmetics, skin care, fragrance and personal care products since 1932, cares about its employees and is going through a “Great Place to Work” certification. An employee suggested that length of service should also be part of the company's ID badges so colleagues could offer congratulations to each other as appropriate. Now, under an employee's photo, Hillery notes length of service milestones.

Revlon's one million sq. ft. Oxford campus employs approximately 2,500 employees. The ID badge program is separate from the access control system and is used primarily for visual identification at security checkpoints. Bar codes are included on the cards of hourly employees to track time and attendance. HID proximity cards are only issued when needed. “This is more cost effective for us right now,” Hillery says. “Eventually, we will migrate to cards that combine identification with proximity features, and we will not have to maintain two kinds of cards. The Fargo printer will accommodate both.”

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