Overview
McDonald’s made its debut in the United Arab Emirates in 1994 under the operation of Emirates Fast Food Company LLC, the official local licensee. Since then, the brand has achieved remarkable growth and now operates over 245 restaurants across the UAE, serving millions of customers with consistent quality, service, and convenience.
Challenges
McDonald’s faces a range of operational challenges in managing its large workforce. These include monitoring attendance for hundreds of employees, delivering real-time updates to HR, and maintaining accurate daily rosters. With many outlets operating 24/7, the company must also efficiently allocate staff across multiple locations, track delivery team attendance, and manage complex multi-shift schedules. Moreover, all attendance and scheduling processes need to be seamlessly integrated with the company’s HRMS platform.
Solution
McDonald’s deployed 250 units of AC2100RF biometric devices across its UAE branches, supported by real-time, two-way integration with their HRMS software. This ensures that any HR updates—such as employee transfers or access changes—are instantly reflected on all devices. The system, powered by the UNIS server-based application with a SQL backend, enables reliable time and attendance management even in demanding 24/7 environments. Employees use 1:1 card and fingerprint authentication, providing both speed and security. Fingerprint registration is handled through a USB enrollment device at HQ, with templates uploaded via UNIS or directly through HRMS. This integrated setup allows supervisors to efficiently manage rosters and manpower allocation across all outlets. The proposed solution has been successfully deployed and is operating smoothly, achieving a high level of customer satisfaction.
Value Delivered
Through this project, McDonald’s successfully streamlined workforce management across its nationwide network, ensuring accurate attendance tracking, real-time HR synchronization, and flexible shift operations. The solution demonstrates how biometric technology can effectively support large-scale retail and F&B environments, where high staff turnover, 24/7 operations, and rapid deployment demand both reliability and scalability.
