Kanpur-based two-wheeler maker LML is one of the biggest enterprise-wide smart card users in India. The company has provided smart cards to its employees, vendors, distributors and service stations. Globally, Benz (Europe) and Nissan (Japan) have implemented similar projects.

While over 2,000 executive employees at LML’s Kanpur plant use smart cards to log in their attendance, a more dramatic application has been the introduction of smart cards for the 100-odd just-in-time (JIT) vendors who deliver more than a dozen truck-full consignments per head per day. A similar smart card-based system has been used for vehicle dispatches. The company is also using smart cards for maintaining service station data.

Smart card terminals have been provided at the various gates of the factory and office, where the time-in and time-out is logged and then transmitted to a central server for instant integration with the personnel MIS and payroll systems. At certain locations, the smart card also acts as a means for authentication and secured access control. Employees also use this smart card at the canteen, simplifying the canteen accounting and linking it to the various cost centers for improved accounting. Shortly, the same smart card will be linked to in-house cash-dispenser facilities for employees to draw wages and allowances.

LML has provided JIT vendors with compatible software, which enables them to encode the details of consignments onto smart cards that is sent along with the delivery trucks. By inserting the smart cards at the entry gates, the vendors can ensure that the consignments are correctly identified, directed to the correct unloading bay and the material receipt documentation is instantly prepared. This has resulted in substantial space saving by minimizing the turn-around time of the incoming vehicles. Thus, a truck that used to spend about 60-80 minutes waiting for entry and documentation now does so in less than 15 minutes. The smart card goes back with the empty vehicle as proof of receipt and thus of payment processing.

LML’s decision to use a smart card-based system for vehicle dispatches has been triggered by the typical nature of its consignment containing hundreds of two-wheelers of different models and colors. Also, it is necessary to send the individual details of each vehicle consisting of engine and chassis numbers. This system is used for dispatches to the company’s own depots, as well as to dealers’ locations.

The company is also evaluating the possibility of providing smart cards along with each vehicle as a service and
warranty card.