Falfish is a Cornwall-based fish wholesaler, established in 1979 in Falmouth, expanding to another site in Redruth. They were acquired by Morrison’s in 2021 and are now looking to open another factory in Redruth expanding their existing Tensor system across 3 sites.
Falfish installed the Tensor.NET system back in 2011. Our reporter spoke with their IT Manager, Carl Gill to find out more about how they have been getting on with the Tensor equipment for the last decade. Mr. Gill tells us “the Tensor system was here before I arrived, I believed the main objective for installing the Tensor system was to have better control over Time & Attendance”
We asked Mr. Gill about his experience with the training on our software, Mr. Gill said “my training was internal (at Falfish), it was quite straightforward” Additionally he stated “prior to myself joining, the people before me received the training from Tensor and they seemed to know the system very well”
When we asked if he felt that Falfish was using the Tensor system to its full potential, Mr. Gill replied “in hindsight, I know what the system is capable of, but we don’t, we don’t use any of the HR software but we know it’s there”. He mentioned that the company was only using the Tensor system for Time & Attendance and Access Control and he says the system was “reliable because it does what it says on the tin”
We asked if Falfish uses any of Tensor’s biometric products, Mr. Gill tells our reporter, “we have the biometric readers on the front door, but we don’t use it because the smartcards work just fine, and especially during COVID we didn’t particularly want people using the same fingerprint unit”.
He also told our reporter about how Falfish adapted to the pandemic by replacing locks and keypads with the Tensor Smartcard scanners. “During COVID since we had to change the layout of the buildings, we removed our keypad key locks on the door, replaced it with the Tensor scanners and redirected it to the controller unit”. With enthusiasm he said “and now we have a lot of areas on site using Tensor’s access control!”
We wanted to find out what Mr. Gill liked about the system, and he tells our reporter “I love how easy it is to expand the system, as compared to before instead of having an engineer come down to perform the installations, I can do the wiring and installs myself.” He clarified by stating “should there be a new department or anything that requires an extension, it’s so easy to configure the hardware and the system just works”
The reporter asked about how he finds the system in terms of ease of use and Mr. Gill tells us “From an IT Manager’s point of view, it’s very easy to use, it takes a bit of time to configure it, but it’s been quite easy for me.”
We asked whether Falfish used the Tensor fire roll call system he said “Yes, the clocking terminals connect to our fire roll call printer”. He also pointed out “every Friday we do a fire alarm test to check if everything is working and sometimes you’d find out who’s clocked in when they’re not on-site/supposed to be there because they forgot their clocking card.”
We asked if Mr. Gill found the Tensor Smart Cards easy to use to which he replied, “very easy” and told us that when it comes to ordering new cards and assigning the access rights and employee information, “the process is simple”
We asked Mr. Gill if he had any feedback on the operations department. He said “before I started doing the wiring and installation myself, we used to get an engineer down to help install new equipment such as clocking machines or readers”, and that the service they provided was “spot on”.
Asking where Tensor could improve its services for Falfish, he tells us “you guys have been spot on, I haven't had many issues at all with the system or the company”
Seeing whether he or Falfish had plans to expand the Tensor system he said “we’re always expanding, we acquired a factory across the road on the industrial estate and commissioned a new Tensor access control system and clocking system and it should be coming live in the next week or so”. He also mentioned “as all our networks are entwined with one another, we do it like for like with the Tensor system and the systems communicate well with each other”.
Mr. Gill told us his favourite aspect of the Tensor system was “the practicality of the system, it stores all the information we need, employees get paid accurately and the information we can get out of the system”
To conclude, we asked if he would recommend Tensor to other companies to which he said, “I would for anyone that asks us what time and attendance system we are using”. To summarise he described Tensor as “Time & Attendance maestros!”
