A new facial recognition tool has been developed allowing fresh produce companies to track their packhouse workers.
Lincolnshire traceability software provider Consus Freshis behind the controversial new feature, which uses machine learning to identify staff and grant permit access.
The company said the feature would enable greater traceability, make clocking on and off a thing of the past, and improve workers’ allocation of tasks and accountability.
But concerns over how it will affect companies’ treatment of workers, and mutual trust between them, have been raised by the trade union Unite, which has a rural and agricultural sector.
The organisation’s acting national officer for food, drink and agriculture Sue Pollard said: “Unite is very concerned that the thought process behind this software starts from totally the wrong place.
“The way the software is apparently being implemented is entirely dehumanising. If companies want to improve productivity, they should treat people as people and properly value their work.”
A spokesperson from Consus Fresh responded by saying: “The motivation behind the new system is that it simplifies the verification process already in place in the packhouse, which is essential for quality assurance.
“Recognising someone by their face is an alternative to using a code on an RFID tag which is another way this is achieved.”
When a person tries to enter a packhouse, the system compares their photo with those of staff from the company’s human resources database. If recognised, the worker is allowed access and can be given a task, which is then logged on the system.
Consus said its system also reduces the burden of staff audits and improves productivity, as well as enabling more accurate costing of products and improved traceability by linking HR records to labour deployment.
The software provider’s co-founder Derek Thompson, who has experience of managing a packhouse, said: “Accurate time and attendance records are vital in a packhouse. In peak season you will have an influx of temporary staff. It is not unknown for staff to clock each other into work or not to turn up at all after the first day.
“Additionally, if there is a product recall further up in the chain, you may need to be able to identify exactly who was working on a specific product line on a particular day if later audited by a customer.
“The facial recognition system works with the procedures that a packhouse will already have in place but instead of RFID tags, it uses a camera to identify the staff. Details are recorded electronically and updates or amendments made remotely.″
While Unite has serious concerns about the new software, it has been welcomed by some.
Craig Bargery, packhouse production manager at organic vegetable grower Pollybell Organic Farm in the east Midlands, said he was looking forward to being the first to deploy the system in the new year.
Meanwhile, Dr Matthew Smith, director of business development at Microsoft research, said: “Consus is meeting a growing need by organisations to harness technologies in order to improve supply chain efficiencies, response times, waste reduction and branding.
“It's particularly exciting to see how they're utilising more advanced analytical capabilities such as face recognition to make the harnessing of the necessary information itself more efficient and effective.″
The Consus system is built on the Microsoft Azure platform, which supports AI applications.
