Picture this: Your frontline workers are suited up in full personal protective equipment (PPE) and ready to tackle their tasks, but first, they need to authenticate with multiple programs. This often means they’ll be pulling off gloves, flipping up face shields, removing masks, and removing other pieces of equipment to stand there and press a bunch of buttons to log in.
How much time is that taking? You know the answer — way too much. Now, multiply that by every employee over every shift, and you could have a real-time suck on your hands.
Traditional authentication methods make workers enter usernames and passwords, and we don’t even want to talk about what will happen if a letter, number, or character is pressed on accident or a password is forgotten. This has the potential to add an incredible amount of downtime for every employee over each and every shift.
That's where tap-and-go authentication comes in, revolutionizing how industrial workers access secure systems while maintaining safety and efficiency.
Tap-and-go technology is a contactless authentication method that enables users to verify their identity and access secure systems with a simple tap or wave of a card or device. You probably recognize it from when you’re at the grocery store or gas pump and tap your debit or credit card for contactless payments.
This technology has quickly crept into our daily lives seemingly overnight. It seemed like a lifetime of swiping has, within a year or so, been almost completely replaced with tapping. But the truth is, this technological advancement has been in play for some time.
The key is that once everyone realizes that tap-and-go technology is easier and faster, it takes off quickly. This disruptive tech eliminates the friction of traditional methods — like entering usernames and passwords that users can easily forget — making it extremely valuable in industrial environments where workers often wear PPE or operate in challenging conditions.
Tap-and-go cards use advanced technology to create a quick, easy verification process. Here's how this authentication method works:
The entire process occurs without physical contact, using sophisticated encryption to safeguard sensitive information, such as personal credentials, access logs, and system data. This works because each authentication generates a unique code, reducing the risk of unauthorized access through credential copying, data breaches, or replay attacks.
Industrial organizations implementing a tap-and-go system report significant improvements in daily operations, from enhanced security to streamlined workflows. Let’s dive deeper.
Traditional authentication methods like security keys or PINs are vulnerable to observation or sharing. Tap-and-go devices, such as smart industrial radios, use encryption that can't be easily duplicated and detailed access logs with immediate credential management if cards are lost or stolen. That means in a world where there are smarter ways for data to be stolen, NFC technology essentially keeps your data hidden, so there is no way to access it mid-stream.
Every minute spent logging into systems is lost productivity. By reducing authentication time to mere seconds for hundreds or thousands of workers, you’re not only saving an incredible amount of time, you’re giving employees precious minutes to focus on critical tasks instead of wrestling with login procedures. This gain in efficiency compounds throughout the day, especially in situations requiring multiple authentications per shift.
Digital transformation has its dos and don’ts, and improving user experience is definitely a do. Industrial environments present unique challenges for old-fashioned authentication methods. Heavy gloves, face shields, and other PPE can make entering passwords or PINs frustrating and time-consuming. Tap-and-go technology eliminates these issues, allowing workers to maintain safety equipment while quickly accessing necessary systems.
When authentication is easy and doesn't require removing equipment, workers are more likely to follow safety protocols. Tap-and-go technology also minimizes contact with shared surfaces, reducing contamination risks while maintaining high safety standards.
You can find tap-and-go solutions across many industries, and the number is growing rapidly. The global NFC market size was valued at $30.85 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.3% from 2025 to 2030. That means the industry will be worth over $61 billion in just five years. To take full advantage of this upswing and boost in capabilities, here’s how each industry can benefit from the ease and simplicity of NFC:
|
Industry |
Use Case |
|
In industrial plants or warehouses where workers are often wearing gloves while operating machinery, tap-and-go authentication makes accessing critical systems quick and easy. |
|
|
Multiple shifts. Rugged environments. Cold weather. Gloves, mud, and grime are always part of the equation. Tap-and-go makes the technology aspect of the jobsite seamless. |
|
|
Warehouses and Logistics |
There are a lot of moving parts, and technology plays a huge role in keeping things running smoothly. Simple authentication takes one extra roadblock out of the way so workers can keep moving. |
|
Guests’ time and experience are everything. Waiting to log in or access information could be the difference between a good and a bad experience for everyone involved. |
|
|
Retail |
Any hurdle that stands in the way of selling products and engaging customers and time and money lost. Streamlining securely logging across multiple locations can add up quickly. |
|
This is a tough business. Long days, often harsh working conditions. There’s no room to mince words or fiddle with a device that can’t get you connected quickly. |
|
|
Safety regulations, time management, high output numbers. Food and beverage production can be very complex, and everything must run smoothly. Quick and painless authentication is just part of that system. |
|
|
Corporate Offices |
Office workers already have enough one-time codes, emails, and password reset links as it is. Tap-and-go can go a long way toward boosting efficiency and keeping workers sane. |
Keep reading: Check out 10 reasons to give every worker an industrial radio
The weavix platform, paired with the tap-and-go authentication of the walt Smart Radio, transforms every single benefit above into a reality for industrial organizations. Our purpose-built system is designed specifically for frontline workers in manufacturing, construction, hospitality, and more to bring robust security and unmatched ease of use to their everyday.
Key weavix features include:
The weavix platform extends beyond basic authentication to provide an advanced yet simple solution for industrial workforce management. Our integrated approach ensures that tap-and-go authentication is just the beginning of a more efficient, secure, and productive operation.
Our system delivers measurable improvements across key metrics:
Are you ready to revolutionize your frontline authentication process? Reach out to weavix and book a demo today to learn how tap-and-go technology can transform the security and efficiency of your operation.