Komplett Centrally Manages Loss and Multinational Deliveries
Milestone Systems open platform IP video management software is being used to manage shrinkage by Komplett, a major e-commerce company with nine Web shops in Scandinavia selling PCs and computer components, consumer electronics, home and leisure products, appliances, tools, kitchen and gardening equipment.
Listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the company’s Web shops sell to end-users, businesses, public enterprises and resellers. By choosing to pick up the goods themselves at 10 pick-up points throughout the Nordics, Komplett customers can save money on the delivery process. Efficiency of transportation, forwarding and delivery to customers is maintained via operations with logistical partners.
Komplett’s main warehouse in Sandefjord, Norway, is more than 21,000 square meters in size, serving customers in Norway, Sweden and Denmark. During 2010 the group’s Web shops handled a total of 1,289,657 orders which accounted for 4,074,785 products: a product is picked every eight seconds on average, and an order is dispatched every 24 seconds round the clock, every day, all year long.
Operational mission and challenges
In addition to people and vehicle traffic around offices and supply depots, the customer pick-up points require surveillance of incoming and outgoing goods. Especially due to the extensive value of the IT products being stored and transported, the need for parcel tracking is crucial to Komplett’s operational excellence. Theft, mistakes or accidents during the delivery process, even some threats towards staff, are issues to be managed. A reliable video surveillance system is therefore an important business tool to document deliveries and customer pickups—also ensuring safety for the employees.
In 2008, Komplett completely reviewed their security system and made the decision to move from analog to digital video surveillance, to improve the video quality and to store it more effectively while making better use of system bandwidth through new technology.
"With Komplett’s business mission to send deliveries fast at a low price, we have to secure our operations and control shrinkage costs, documenting that shipping, arrival and pickups are carried out properly. The video surveillance is also useful for investigations and evidence of burglary, as well as auditing credit card fraud," said Tor Kiste, security and property manager for Komplett Group.
Networked surveillance solution
For central management by headquarters of video data coming from the country locations, Komplett’s IT infrastructure was already in place to easily move the security solution to a network approach and Milestone IP video management software – a flexible, scalable, open platform solution that lets Komplett continue to grow with new capabilities over time.
"We are all-IP now. Our solution decision was driven by the IT network as the backbone for central control and Milestone makes it easy for us to have the distributed model with scalability across the region. We have ongoing upgrades to the newest versions of the software - automating the administration is important for me," said Tony Bøklepp, senior IT consultant at Komplett.
In 2008, Komplett also expanded their IP security system with megapixel cameras from IQinVision, and in 2010 they added Axis P1346 network cameras with H.264 compression that provide better bandwidth performance from the remote sites.
Long-term solution and partnerships
The Systems Integrator, Vakt Service Teknikk (a division of Nokas Security), is a Certified Milestone Partner working with ComScan, an authorized Milestone Distributor. The partnerships expand on years of professional experience in the industry and training from Milestone Systems to ensure continuing expertise and satisfaction for customers like Komplett.
"The outdoor-ready cameras are good: we appreciate the ease of installation and the remote zoom and focus functionality. I have been able to work in -40 degree weather and fine-tune the cameras with just my T-shirt on – inside a nice, warm office!" said Ole Håkon Norby, account manager at Vakt Service Teknikk Vestfold.
Instant remote alerts, tracking and evidence
Every month, incidents occur at the main warehouse or at the pick-up points around Scandinavia.
"Just last Saturday at 21:45 at a pickup point in Denmark, we had someone stealing something and I could trace it in the video right away," said Tor Kiste.
Tor receives SMS alerts from the Milestone software if such things happen at night. Both he and Bøklepp can easily check the video in XProtect from their homes, to confirm if there is a false alarm or a real incident before calling the security service company – this confirmation saves a lot of time and money.
"This gives us peace of mind – we can see what’s happening during night shifts and on weekends – especially in December which was one of our busiest months," Kiste said. "The images from the surveillance cameras are also useful for investigations and the police are very pleased for the cooperation with Komplett."
He recalls one incident at a pickup point where thieves took a taxi to the local train station, and Komplett was able to quickly zoom in on the video to send the license number to the police - who tracked it down to meet the culprits when their train reached the next destination. Other success stories include investigations of containers at the warehouse that arrived at pickup points minus some goods, and a night-time incident of a transport vehicle driving through a barrier gate worth 15,000 kroner.
Future possibilities for video-enabling operations
The Enterprise Resource Planning system SAP is used at Komplett, which logs the times for every parcel, registered in the system. Video cameras are strategically placed to capture the parcel movement in conjunction with the final production line to the shipping portals. Komplett also is monitoring the ultra-speedy, multi-level assembly line robots picking the goods at the main warehouse. There can be substantial operational savings when the surveillance system is expanded to monitor critical parts of the packaging process.