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Business Intelligence
Many industries have successfully implemented video
surveillance and management systems in their
manufacturing facilities as a way to reduce the risk
of theft or vandalism. Making these changes has
helped businesses improve facility security through
monitoring and recording activities but also with advanced features
that can be used to deter or prevent incidents from happening in the
first place.
Along with the security aspect of video surveillance and management
systems, these security solutions are also used for wider business
purposes in a manufacturing environment including measuring
efficiency and ensuring that the facility is in compliance with various
state and federal regulations such as OSHA.
John Baird, president and CFO at Highland Packaging Solutions
Inc. of Plant City, Fla., said the video surveillance and management
system installed at their manufacturing facility helps enforce operational
procedures to ensure safety protocols and compliance with
regulatory codes. The recorded video images also provides detailed
information for forensic review of a worker’s compensation claim as
well as for reviewing overall human resource management for employees
on the shop floor.
“From a business standpoint, the system helped us save time and
money in a countless number of ways,” Baird said. “Our workers’
compensation rate is down by almost 50 percent because we have
the video backup to refute bogus claims. We can also better enforce
safety procedures because the cameras are always watching.”
Highland Packaging Solutions is a thermoforming packaging
supplier for the agriculture sector, manufacturing clamshell packaging
for berries, tomatoes and eggs. The process involves extruding
PET resin into sheets and then placing the sheets into the oven for
heating. After the sheets are heated, they are brought to the form station
where the parts are formed into clamshells and then advanced
to the trim station. The high tech thermoformers are controlled
through the latest process control systems, which provide machine
and motion control as well as precise and consistent repeatability
and continuous diagnostics. Highland incorporates interchangeable
tooling systems and quick-change technology to provide customers
with product when they need it. The company also manufactures labels for a full-service solution.
In 2012, the company moved to a new
250,000 square foot facility in Plant City.
Manufacturing of the clamshells runs 24/7
with approximately 100 people assigned
to each of the three shifts. With the larger
space and added number of staff at the new
facility, an upgraded surveillance system
was needed to ensure that plant management
and safety policies and procedures
were adhered to and security of the facility,
assets and people was maintained.
OnSSI’s Ocularis 5 Enterprise Video
Management System (VMS) played a key
role in the project as did the technology solutions
provider, Redd Ash Technologies.
The project involved designing and building
a dedicated robust network infrastructure to
support the highly integrated solution which
includes surveillance, access control and
voice over IP communication. Approximately
100 Axis 360 degree IP cameras are installed
throughout the facility and grounds, including
the parking areas and gated entrance. The
video surveillance system is integrated using
Ocularis 5 VMS for seamless control and is
further integrated with the HR and communication
systems. A similar security system
and Ocularis Recorder located in a second
facility in nearby Mulberry, Fla., is also tied
into the Plant City networked system.
The camera feeds are recorded and are
often used for safety training and as a manufacturing
tool to help ensure overall safety in
addition to conventional security monitoring.
According to Rommel Roberts, CTO/
CEO of Redd Ash Technologies, the performance
of the Ocularis engine has been
instrumental in the efficiency of the central
processing units (CPUs).
“Servers would normally run at about
peak load with that many cameras and that
much bandwidth which is typically a big
worry for us,” Roberts said. “With Ocularis
5, our CPUs are running in the high teen,
low twenties percentiles because of the efficiency
of the Ocularis engine. That’s a huge
advantage with 360 degree cameras and HD
and megapixel camera systems as well.”
Baird said the processing power of Ocularis
5 displays the 360 degree images.
“We use the 360 degree cameras to get
maximum coverage of the shop floor at the
most economical cost,” Baird said. “The Ocularis
software takes the fisheye images and
dewarps them so they can be displayed as
four separate pictures. That makes the video
easier to watch and we don’t miss anything.
We also like the accuracy of the Time Slicer
feature of Ocularis because it allows us to
slow down the video and then slice out a portion
for review. If there has been some type
of altercation, we can very quickly do a time
slice of the incident to see who was involved
or how it started.”
“Overall it’s been a great investment and
we couldn’t be more pleased with our investment,”
he said.
The surveillance and management system
is also in control with conventional security
applications. Ocularis gives multiple operators
full control over video including PTZ
presets, joystick control and digital zoom.
This gives operators the advantage they need
to make the right decision when an alert is
sent because they have “eyes at the scene.”
At Highland Packaging, authorized staff,
including guards from Securitas, the on-site
security guard company, have access to the
live video through the intuitive user interface.
While video from the shop floor is not
readily available to the security guards, video
from shift changes and activity in the parking
lots is. In one instance, guards observed
video of an employee who should have been
tending to a machine on the shop floor was
instead washing his car in the parking lot. Securitas
brought the incident to the attention
of Highland management and the employee
was subsequently let go.
Data security is also enabled with Ocularis.
There is encryption between clients and
servers as well as HTTPS support for end-toend
encryption for all data. It also randomizes
the recorded video database to prevent
information from being manipulated and
reinserted. By incorporating encryption into
the product, the software can save customers
substantial time and money, as well as the
cost and inconvenience of adding third party
encryption software to their systems.
The open architecture of Ocularis allowed
Redd Ash Technologies to integrate a
technology solution they developed in-house
that monitors the health of every device on
Highland’s network. The proprietary design
in the servers uses artificial intelligence to
perform basic repair tasks and can remotely
correct approximately 90 percent of problems
that arise, alerting support personnel at
the Redd Ash call center only if additional
intervention is required.
“If the software reports that a camera
stream is not presenting itself to the recorder,
the artificial intelligence will check
the cause and reboot the camera,” Roberts
said. “When the situation has been
resolved, usually within two minutes, the
system sends a notification that the camera
stream is back online.”
The integrated technologies provide a
substantial savings in service and maintenance
contracts for Highland
Packaging and helps
protect the partnership
between Redd Ash and
Highland Packaging.
This article originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of Security Today.
About the Author
Brent Dirks is senior editor for Security Today and Campus Security Today magazines.