The buildup of increasingly complex supply chains, integrated production facilities and the IT systems that control them helps minimise risk for production businesses and supply chain partners.

With increasingly industrialised criminal enterprises, growing numbers of opportunities for gangs and the threat of IT infiltration, every manufacturer and warehouse operation must focus on smart and multi-layered access control and security to protect the business, raw materials, parts and finished products both inside and beyond the factory.

The access control market was worth around $3.8 billion in 2024, and is growing strongly as companies take a proactive approach to their security.

Deploying Access Control in Supply Chain Security

Most production businesses have a high degree of internal security. From fencing, camera systems and advanced IT security to protect their supply chain operations. But access control often remains the preserve of a clipboard and gate guard. In the current environment, smarter and more granular access control is required for commercial security.

Improved access control prevents intrusion at both the physical and digital level, preventing criminals, rivals and the curious from accessing your warehouses, production facilities, factories, and the IT systems within. High-level access control is also a requirement for compliance rules such as ISO 28000, and other regimes.

Criminals will take any advantage they can to find out details about a supply chain business. And once inside the fence, they can find production and delivery schedules to enable off-the-premises theft, identify partners who they can compromise, and more easily commit theft, from products to high-value machinery from the operation.

Adding access control features like vehicle identification, building access, workplace security and other elements at all zones within a facility can reduce the risk of external and insider malicious acts, improving confidence for employees, supply partners and prospective customers.

Blending Access Control and IT Security

Preventing unauthorised access is just the start of keeping bad actors outside the fence. With insider threats growing, granular access control can keep factory floor workers out of administrative and other sensitive areas.

Security access cards, biometric identity locks and similar systems can help keep people with stolen or fake IDs out of key areas. And with cybersecurity systems, you can keep people from accessing information on computers or terminals that they come across. This is key as most businesses look at IT security only from the hacker perspective, but criminals are increasingly focused on physical access to systems to gain vital data.

IT also helps with AI security systems monitoring people’s movements across multiple camera systems, and analytics tools to identify workers, unexpected individuals or other people trying to gain access to off-limits locations.

These technologies have a limited impact on legitimate workers, with their ID card or smartphone acting as a validation of their identity, but they can make gaining access harder for criminals or insider threats. Even those with stolen IDs, if their face doesn’t match the image the system has of a person.

From front gates to office-floor turnstiles, lifts, secure areas and worker sign-on systems, applying access control at each point reduces risk to the business.

Ways Access Control Protects the Supply Chain

Any manufacturing and supply chain business has an endless convoy of vehicles coming and going, which increases the risk of an unknown driver, or person hiding in the cargo entering a premises. While a movie-like heist is a remote risk, they can play a key part in helping criminals egress and exit from your supply chain base of operations.

Similarly, criminals can spot gaps in security camera systems or fencing, or trigger a power cut or other interference to create a short-term access point. Then, there are visitors, from maintenance workers, guests and sales staff regularly roaming any office. Any one of whom could have a bogus ID or simply have turned up.

However they got there, a mix of access control and advanced security locks, biometric access points and identifying systems can keep them out of harm’s way, long enough for security to remove them from the production facility.

Managing the Legal Aspect of Business Protection

Much of these access control efforts protect the business at the sharp end of operations and at the practical level. But access control is also a key part of supply chain legal and strategic levels.

Physical access control technology helps protect a business and their insurance, able to identify legal activity and recognise the types of crime involved. This knowledge helps a company improve its security and maintain their insurance premiums or help them win payouts should a theft occur.

Any business with poor security and access control could have trouble proving how a theft or other crime occurred, giving insurers a route that means they are less likely to pay out. Similarly, supply chain industries must meet increasingly strict security regulations.

From General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ISO 28000 and the legislation, access control systems ensure business compliance. They prevent and restrict unauthorised entry and limit the impact of sensitive data from breaches.

Again, companies that fail to implement security and access control systems can be hit with heavy fines, reputational damage and other legal consequences. And, beyond the physical, across the business, access control can help protect both your own and partners’ sensitive information, intellectual property, business plans and other key assets.

Conclusion

From license plate recognition to capturing images of all visitors and their activities, access control is a key part of the business security landscape, especially for supply chain businesses in an increasingly competitive landscape. One that is highly tempting to organised criminals and international gangs or even unfriendly governments looking for a competitive edge.

All of your access efforts should play a key role across an integrated approach to physical and IT security, with every element becoming data from number plates to photos, video and audio recordings, all of which can be used in an evidence chain to protect the business, secure a conviction, and keep unwanted individuals out of your premises.