The Challenge
A luxury resort with over 2,500 employees across housekeeping, security, and maintenance came to HonestWaves with a problem that had gotten out of hand: they couldn’t keep track of their devices.
With staff spread across multiple buildings and operating in three overlapping shifts, the resort was managing hundreds of iPads, radios, portable printers, and tools – without a system to assign, track, or even confirm whether they were returned in good condition.
Devices were:
- Housekeepers grabbed whatever was left in the charging room
- Staff often waited for someone to “return a device” to start their shift
- Due to devices being left uncharged, housekeeping staff would share a single device
- Security had radios unaccounted for – sometimes for days
- When devices broke, no one claimed responsibility
The process was unscalable – and costing the resort time, money, and guest satisfaction. The problem had gotten so out of control that housekeeping teams were missing room-ready deadlines, simply because they couldn’t communicate with supervisors-their radios and iPads were either missing, broken, or dead.
The Discovery
The HonestWaves team visited the resort to observe shift changes, equipment handoffs, and department workflows across several days. We also conducted interviews with housekeepers, security staff, shift managers, and IT personnel to better understand the challenges on the ground.
What we uncovered was consistent across all three teams:
- Housekeepers grabbed whatever was left in the charging room
- Maintenance staff often waited for someone to “return a device” before starting their shift
- Security had radios unaccounted for – sometimes for days
- When devices broke, no one claimed responsibility
The process was unscalable – and costing the resort time, money, and guest satisfaction.
The Solution
We deployed a custom Smart Locker system built specifically to handle multi-department, multi-shift environments like this one.
Here’s what we delivered:
- Badge-Based Checkouts: Staff scanned their existing company-issued HID badges to check out and return devices – no PINs, no shared access, and no manual logbooks.
- Next-Most-Charged Logic: The system always dispensed the most charged device available, so no one started their shift with a dead iPad or radio.
- Role-Aware Dispensing: Devices were mapped by department, ensuring that housekeeping didn’t accidentally take a radio meant for security, or vice versa.
- Time Tracking & Overdue Alerts: Devices not returned within a set timeframe triggered automatic alerts to supervisors.
- Camera-Based Condition Logging: Upon return, each device was photographed capturing visible damage and creating a chain of custody.
- Admin Dashboard: Managers could see, in real time, which employee had which device, for how long, and whether it was returned on time and in good condition.
- Custom Paychex API Integration: Employee access was automatically updated with on-boarding and off-boarding events – no need for manual intervention.
The Impact
The results were immediate. The resort saw a dramatic shift in how their devices were managed – not weeks or months later, but from day one:
- Zero unaccounted-for devices
- Fully charged equipment on every shift
- No more guesswork about who had what-or who broke it
- Managers no longer wasting time tracking down gear
- Onboarding and off-boarding fully automated via Paychex API integration
Summary
- Luxury resort with 2,500+ employees
- 3 shifts across 3 departments: housekeeping, security, maintenance
- Hundreds of shared devices: iPads, radios, printers
- Results: No more lost gear, no more manual handoffs, fully charged devices every shift
- Integrated with Paychex for automatic access control
- Solution: HonestWaves SmartLocker with role logic, charge-level sorting, and visual return verification
