How a Wisconsin Manufacturing Facility Improved Delivery Check-In with Gate Sentry

The Challenge: Security Didn't Always Know Who Was Coming

At a manufacturing facility that operates around the clock, deliveries don't stop when the day shift ends. Truck drivers, vendors, and contractors arrive throughout the day and night, and security needs to know who is expected.

At this Wisconsin facility, departments typically notified the guardhouse about upcoming visits through phone calls or emails. Sometimes that information was never passed along.

When someone arrived without being on the expected visitor list, guards had to call or email the department to confirm the visit. If the right employee wasn't immediately available, the driver or contractor had to wait at the entrance.

The facility was also recording arrivals and departures by hand. Finding information about a previous visit meant going through paper logs, sometimes from a different shift.

With three shifts handling security, the facility needed a more reliable way to share visitor information and maintain records.

The Solution: Departments Register Their Own Visitors

The facility implemented Gate Sentry to give departments a direct way to notify security about expected arrivals.

Authorized employees can register deliveries, vendors, and contractors through the Gate Sentry portal or app. Once someone is registered, their information is available to guards at the entrance.

For example, if a department is expecting a contractor for equipment maintenance, an employee can add that visitor ahead of time. When the contractor arrives, security can look up the registration and complete check-in without having to call the department to confirm a visit that's already been approved.

If someone arrives without being registered, guards can still contact the appropriate department for authorization.

Replacing Handwritten Logs

The facility also moved from paper logs to digital check-in and check-out records.

Guards can record arrivals and departures using the Gate Sentry tablet, and authorized management staff can search previous visits by visitor, company, or date.

That makes it easier to find out when a particular contractor or delivery driver was on the property without searching through handwritten entries.

The digital records are available across shifts, so officers aren't relying on paperwork left behind by the previous guard.

Working With the Existing Gate

Gate Sentry's tablet-based software works at the facility's staffed entrance.

There was no need to replace the existing gate or install a visitor kiosk to use the software.

Security officers can check visitors in, review registrations, and record departures from the tablet while continuing to follow the facility's existing access procedures.

How Delivery Check-In Works Today

When a department is expecting a delivery or contractor, an authorized employee registers the visitor through Gate Sentry.

At the entrance, the guard can find the registration, confirm the visitor's information, and record the arrival.

If the visitor wasn't registered, the guard contacts the department for approval before allowing entry.

When the visitor leaves, security can record the departure in the same system.

The process is straightforward, but it addresses the issue the facility was having before: expected visitors can be registered in advance instead of relying on a phone call or email reaching the right security officer.

The Results: Less Back-and-Forth at the Gate

The biggest improvement for this facility was communication between departments and security.

Previously, a delivery driver could arrive at the gate before security had been told about the visit. Guards then had to track down someone in the department to confirm whether the driver should be allowed in.

Now, departments have a way to register expected arrivals themselves. Guards can see that information when visitors arrive, reducing the need to make routine confirmation calls.

The facility also has searchable digital records instead of handwritten logs. If management needs to review a previous contractor visit or delivery, the information can be found through the system.

For a facility operating across three shifts, having expected arrivals and visitor history available in one place also means security officers can work from the same information, regardless of who's on duty.

Managing Deliveries Across Three Shifts

This Wisconsin facility didn't need to change how it approved visitors. It needed a better way to get that information to security.

Gate Sentry gives departments a place to register expected deliveries and contractors, while guards can check those visitors in and maintain digital records.

For a 24-hour operation, that means less time tracking down approvals for scheduled visits and less paperwork when someone needs to review who was on the property.