Securing the manufacturing environment using biometrics

Over the past decade, there has been substantial growth in global business, of which the manufacturing industry plays a large part. This, accompanied by an increase in intelligent manufacturing equipment, increased connectivity of equipment and software both internally within a company, and with external partners has led to an increase in the probability of attacks and threats to these systems. Combine this with the current events and the additional requirements of governmental regulation, and several businesses in advanced manufacturing have to increase both physical and logical security. This paper outlines a unique application of biometrics and computer integrated manufacturing systems as part of providing an applied solution to solving security problems for manufacturing and control systems, and adhering to government regulations related to the manufacturing industry.