A Taste of Innovation

A Taste of Innovation

Up-to-date technology provides high-level security for Crider Foods

Privately owned and operated, Crider Foods represents a commitment to high-quality products, food safety and customer service. The Georgia-based supplier of fresh, frozen and pre-packaged food has been in business for six decades and is a leader in the food industry.

The Crider Foods Canning Facility was built in Stillmore, Ga., after a fire destroyed the company’s original Augusta plant. In 2003, a “fully cooked” plant was added to the site. As part of their commitment to being a leader in canning proteins and in its fully cooked operation, Crider places high priority on investing in equipment and expertise to ensure continuous improvements.

Securing the Food Supply

After completion of the canning plant, Crider needed an effective way to provide security for its large production and processing facilities. They contracted with Vanderbilt Industries, a global leader providing state-of-the-art security systems, to set up a high-level security system that would monitor operations throughout the expansive facility.

Today, the Vanderbilt SMS system manages access for more than 500 employees and contractors at approximately 150 contact points spread over 11 locations at the Stillmore campus. Locations include the fully cooked plant, company headquarters, visitors’ lodge, canning plant, cooler building, transportation building,warehouses and other sites. Tutela Inc., out of Brunswick, Ga., is the integrator and installer on this long-running project.

The Vanderbilt system helps management to control employee access throughout the plant, ensuring that only authorized individuals can access each individual area.

“The Vanderbilt system enables us to manage employees so that they can access only the areas where they have been scheduled to work, when they are scheduled to work,” explained Ron Sasser, Crider’s IT Director, who also oversees security. “We also have the flexibility to easily change those access privileges as needed, at any time.”

Crider also uses their Vanderbilt access control system to verify time and attendance information. If an employee doesn’t punch in, Sasser and staff can use the system to verify when he or she has entered the property. In addition to controlling access to buildings and within buildings, Crider employs guards at the facility’s road entrances to verify that all vehicles coming onto the property are authorized to be there.

Achieving Full Compliance

While asset protection is always an issue, for Crider Foods the No. 1 priority is maintaining full compliance with food and safety regulations in order to achieve the highest level of Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. Crider has succeeded in gaining SQF Level 3.

“We are committed to an extremely high level of access control management to prevent any cross contamination of our products,” Sasser said. “Only a few companies reach [SQF Level 3]. To reach such a certification level, we carefully control the movement of all individuals within the complex, and this means, for example, restricting access to chemicals and to the roofs of our buildings, among other sensitive areas. Our security system is absolutely critical to helping ensure compliance to all the health and safety rules and regulations we have in the food production industry. ”

An Integrated Approach

In addition to the access control solution, Crider also deploys 100 IP video surveillance cameras to keep any eye on operations.

“Cameras are helpful,” Sasser said, “but you have to start with access. My access control system tells me who I’m seeing on the video. Now, I know who someone is, because the access control system puts them in that location. Without access control, the cameras are only so good.”

Over the years, the Vanderbilt SMS system has helped Crider Foods to reach and maintain their strict access control goals.

“The Vanderbilt system is working well,” Sasser said. “It’s doing everything it is supposed to do. We’ve used it for so many years, and Tutela has been very good taking care of any issues and system expansion needs along the way. If we have a need, this team gets it taken care of. “

The Vanderbilt system, under Tutela’s watchful installation and administration, provides a layered level of security starting from the minute each employee or visitor steps onto the Crider property, down to limiting access to chemical storage.

The system supplements time and attendance data and provides documentation for OSHA reporting. But, at the end of the day, Crider’s high-level security system also provides management the tools they need to achieve one of the highest Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification levels in the industry, and that’s worth a great deal in proof of product quality and company reputation.

This article originally appeared in the April 2015 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • Pragmatism, Productivity, and the Push for Accountability in 2025-2026

    Every year, the security industry debates whether artificial intelligence is a disruption, an enabler, or a distraction. By 2025, that conversation matured, where AI became a working dimension in physical identity and access management (PIAM) programs. Observations from 2025 highlight this turning point in AI’s role in access control and define how security leaders are being distinguished based on how they apply it. Read Now

  • Report: Cyber Attackers Continue to Turn to AI-Based Tools to Avoid Detection

    Comcast Business recently released its 2025 Cybersecurity Threat Report, a comprehensive analysis of 34.6 billion cybersecurity events detected between June 1,2024 and May 31, 2025. Now in its third year, the report offers business leaders a unique perspective into the evolving threat landscape and provides actionable insights to help organizations strengthen their defenses and align cybersecurity with business risk. Read Now

  • Axis Communications Creates AI-powered Video Surveillance Orchestra

    What if cameras could not only see the world, but interpret it—and respond like orchestra musicians reading sheet music: instantly, precisely, and in perfect harmony? That’s what global network technology leader Axis Communications set to find out. Read Now

  • Just as Expected

    GSX produced a wonderful tradeshow earlier this week. Monday was surprisingly strong in the morning, and the afternoon wasn’t bad at all. That’s Monday’s results and asking attendees to travel on Sunday. Just a quick hint, no one wants to give up their weekend to travel and set up an exhibit booth. I’m just saying. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX
  • NOLA: The Crescent City

    Twenty years later we finds ourselves in New Orleans. Twenty years ago the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina forced exhibitors and attendees to look elsewhere for tradeshow floor space. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • GSX

New Products

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame.

  • Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden CV-7600 High Security Card Readers

    Camden Door Controls has relaunched its CV-7600 card readers in response to growing market demand for a more secure alternative to standard proximity credentials that can be easily cloned. CV-7600 readers support MIFARE DESFire EV1 & EV2 encryption technology credentials, making them virtually clone-proof and highly secure.

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.