How Aldahra moved from manual logbooks to a visitor management system
Entry2Exit deployed its visitor management system at Aldahra, a UAE agribusiness that logs more than 200 visitors a day. We replaced handwritten gate logbooks with digital check-in, ID scanning, and a live security dashboard.
The deployment in short
A quick summary of the client, the site, and what Entry2Exit put in place at the gate.
- ClientAldahra
- IndustryAgriculture and food commodities
- LocationUnited Arab Emirates
- Site profile24/7 operation, 200+ visitors a day
- SoftwareEntry2Exit Visitor Management System
- HardwareAndroid check-in tablet with ID and document reader
- Visitor typesVisitor, subcontractor, truck driver, and custom types
Who Aldahra is
Aldahra is a UAE agribusiness founded in 1995 in Al Ain. The company grows, produces, and trades food commodities and animal feed, including grains, rice, flour, fruit, and vegetables. It operates across more than 40 markets and manages over 100,000 hectares of farmland.
In the UAE, Aldahra is one of the companies the country leans on for grain and food supply. It works directly with the Abu Dhabi government on food security, which makes its sites part of the wider food supply chain.
A site that handles food at this scale needs a clear record of everyone who comes through the gate. Trucks, contractors, and visitors arrive at all hours. The security team has to know who is on site, when they arrived, and why.
Paper logbooks that nobody could search
Before Entry2Exit, the security team logged every visitor by hand. Guards wrote names, ID numbers, and entry times into paper logbooks at the gate. The method held up day to day, but it broke down the moment someone needed to find a record.
Looking up a single visitor from a specific date meant going through pages of handwriting one by one. On a site with more than 200 visitors a day, that search could take a long time, and some entries were hard to read. The data was there. Nobody could find it quickly.
The site also runs around the clock, with several groups arriving: regular visitors, subcontractors, and truck drivers. Paper made it hard to tell these groups apart or pull a clean report for any of them.
| Old method | Main pain | Volume | Record quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handwritten paper logbooks | Finding a visitor's record from a specific date | 200+ visitors a day, 24 hours a day | Hard to read, hard to report on |
The Entry2Exit visitor management system at the gate
Entry2Exit set up its visitor management system at the site and shaped it around how Aldahra works. The setup has three parts.
Android check-in tablet
A tablet sits at the gate. The guard picks the visitor type, then captures the visitor's details in a few taps. No training needed.
ID and document reader
The camera reads the visitor's ID. It captures Emirates ID, passport, and other documents, so the guard does not type long numbers by hand.
Live security dashboard
A real time dashboard shows who is on site right now. The team sees entries as they happen and pulls reports by date, visitor type, or name.
Every record is stored in a secure database. Finding a visitor from a specific date now takes a search box instead of a stack of books. The software was customised for Aldahra, so the screens match the site's own visitor types and gate flow.
Four steps at the gate
The result for the security team
The gate runs the same as before. What changed is what happens to the data after a visitor signs in.
Records are easy to find
A search by date or name returns a visitor in seconds, not pages of handwriting.
Data is secure
Details are captured and stored digitally in one place, not on loose paper at the gate.
The gate is faster
Scanning an ID is quicker than writing out a long number by hand, and it makes fewer mistakes.
Reporting is built in
The team pulls a clean list of any visitor group, by type or by date, in a few clicks.
It can grow
New visitor types can be added as the site changes, with no rebuild.
Live view of the site
Supervisors can see who is on site at any moment, day or night.
Note from the deployment lead
The Aldahra gate was busy from the first site visit. Trucks, contractors, and visitors were arriving together while a guard wrote each one into a logbook by hand. Before building anything, we sat at the gate and watched the flow, so the screens would match what the guards already do.
We kept the tablet to three actions: pick the visitor type, scan the ID, confirm. The reader took out the slowest part of the old routine, which was copying long Emirates ID and passport numbers by hand. Each check-in got faster, and the records came out clean instead of half-readable.
The supervisors cared most about the dashboard. For the first time they could open one screen and see who was on site, by type, in real time. We set up the visitor types they use today and left the list open, so the team can add new ones themselves as the site changes.
Common questions about this deployment
How did Aldahra manage visitors before Entry2Exit?
Aldahra logged visitors by hand. Guards wrote names, ID numbers, and timings into paper logbooks at the gate, which made it slow to find a single record from a specific date.
What problem did the visitor management system solve at Aldahra?
The main problem was finding records. With paper logbooks, looking up one visitor from a specific date meant searching through pages of handwriting. The Entry2Exit visitor management system stores every entry digitally, so a record is found in seconds.
What hardware does the Entry2Exit visitor management system use?
The Aldahra site uses an Android tablet at the gate with an ID and document reader. The guard selects the visitor type, then the camera captures the visitor's identity document and fills in the details.
Can the system read Emirates ID and passports?
Yes. The device reads identity documents through the camera, including Emirates ID, passport, and other ID cards, so guards do not type details by hand.
How many visitors does the Aldahra site handle each day?
The site logs more than 200 visitors a day and runs 24 hours a day.
What types of visitors can the system register?
The system registers visitors, subcontractors, and truck drivers, and Aldahra can add more visitor types as the site changes.
Is the system suitable for industrial and agricultural sites?
Yes. The system was set up for a 24/7 agribusiness site with high truck and contractor traffic, and it can be shaped around the gate flow of similar sites across the UAE and the GCC. You can read more on the visitor management system page.
More Visitor Management System Customer Stories
Want the same setup at your site?
Entry2Exit works with sites across the UAE and the wider GCC. We can scope a visitor management system for your gate, your visitor types, and your reporting needs.
