星空传媒

NWL's distribution centres provide a fully-integrated logistics service with high security bonded storage facilities for a host of top brand customers across a broad range of household names 鈥� including Blockbuster Video, Casio, Epson, GlaxoSmithKline, Jenks, Olivetti-Lexikon, Philips, Pioneer and Sanyo.

In addition to its warehousing and distribution operation, NWL offers its customers an extensive range of value-added services that enable it to supply specialist solutions, fashioned to suit the individual requirements of its client base. This comprehensive portfolio of support services includes high security warehousing, next day delivery and complete logistics/supply chain management.

With no less than 1.7 million square feet of space spread across nine warehouses throughout the UK, the largest of the company's facilities are situated in Milton Keynes and at Grange Park, Northampton.

Integration from the outset
Following NWL's recent expansion into three individual warehouses at Grange Park (a greenfield development located just beside the M1), the company's security manager Howard Smith decided to implement an integrated security plan that would reveal a level of planning and detail right down to the specific operational requirements of each and every installed camera.

"Securing high-value stock within a warehousing and distribution environment calls for a thorough examination of all the key security and site management factors that could affect the smooth operation of the business," explains Smith. "At the highest level, we clearly need to secure access to the sites in order to prevent unauthorised intrusions. To do that, we need to secure 'the box'. By this, I really mean making the site's perimeters watertight, so too the entry and exit points and internal areas."

Smith continues: "The requirement to monitor warehouse stock and the distribution process itself is divided into different scenarios, addressing issues such as the possible theft of stock from within. To support claims of variation on a delivery into us, or distribution out from the warehouse, we also need to secure video footage of the precise nature of incoming and outgoing stock.

"The quality of this video information needs to be very high so that we are able to effectively evaluate the precise quantity of stock and its condition in any particular distribution movement 鈥� perhaps as evidence to confirm a customer query or an insurance claim."

Smith's experience of working with Panasonic Premier Installer OCS Security Services led him to ask the company to assist with the specification and design of a fully-integrated security system that would provide the solution he was looking to deploy.

"When an end user is committing a company resource of over 拢500,000 spread across two financial years, they need to be confident in their choice of business partner," he adds. "The level of knowledge and experience displayed by OCS in its ability to provide us with practical, cost-effective solutions is reflected in the firm's Premier Installer status. The company's accreditation means that its engineers, surveyors and installation managers attend compulsory regular training for technical support and service."

What are the advantages for the end user? "The benefit to NWL has come in the form of product advice we have been able to obtain. This high level of technical support has given us peace of mind," comments Smith.

Potential solutions at Grange Park
Initially, Smith met with Roger Noakes from OCS to conceive and evaluate potential solutions for NWL at Grange Park. "We discussed every security and management scenario NWL faced, and audited the degree of threat posed by each potential situation," explains Noakes.

"NWL's sites operate on a round-the-clock basis, so we needed to provide them with a solution that would cater for this. It was all about getting the balance of security equipment and the level of integration absolutely right, while allowing the company's daily business activities to flow smoothly."

NWL鈥檚 security systems can be described as being in a constant state of development,鈥� states Howard Smith, 鈥渨ith additions and restructuring being undertaken on an ongoing basis to meet our evolving business and security needs. At the mo

Overall, the OCS solution supplied to NWL integrates the CCTV, access control and intruder alarm systems to provide an extremely high degree of protection.

As a matter of course, OCS Security Services provides dedicated project managers for its customers. Steve Hodges 鈥� who's ultimately responsible for the NWL contract 鈥� oversees all technical aspects from the point of sale through installation to full system commissioning and training.

Although each warehouse at Grange Park features a stand-alone security system, fibre optic links to the site's main Control Room enable 24-hour monitoring for all three facilities plus other remote sites via the NWL network. At the central Control Room, all security sub-systems are controlled from a purpose-built operational environment designed by OCS to maximise system potential.

Using a WJ-SX550 camera switching matrix and WV-CU550 controller, operators may readily select any of the site's 110 colour CCTV cameras to secure high resolution surveillance of the main entry and exit roads, microphonic alarmed perimeter fencing, 50 loading bays, 450 car parking spaces and internal warehousing areas. A mix of WV-CS854 colour/mono dome cameras or static cameras are used to provide surveillance coverage of the packaging and loading bay areas.

A different type of camera was required at the loading bay doors, where natural backlight can be a problem. Highly contrasting light conditions mean that the background can 'white out', and the foreground details appear as a silhouette. This often makes the identification of equipment or a person difficult for standard CCTV cameras to resolve. OCS specified Panasonic's WV-CP474 Super DII cameras, which are specially designed for these types of lighting conditions and have the ability to render a clear picture full of essential detail.

To log the passage of NWL's own fleet of 250 lorries, along with other visiting delivery trucks, the busy Grange Park warehousing complex makes use of WV-CL834 480-line resolution colour cameras to capture crystal clear images of vehicles, their drivers and the registration plates. The system's 2.8 Terabyte digital recording system is programmed to meet the security risk assessment needs of each individual camera and its particular area of surveillance coverage. This intelligent use of the digital recording media helps to make the most of the system's valuable digital storage capacity, maximising system performance and, hence, reducing the amount of media storage required (which in turn leads to a welcome reduction in capital outlay).

As with the system's CCTV cameras in the warehouses, differing categories of stock have also been risk-assessed and allocated differing levels of security risk. For instance, in the wines and spirits section, where individual stock items are more accessible and therefore perceived as being more vulnerable, zoned areas are guarded by the additional use of cameras linked to 'dual tech' motion detectors.

On activation of a zone sensor, a triggered alarm activation is sent to the system's recording equipment to initiate an instant start-up recording, or switch a time-lapse recording mode into a more useful 'real time' mode.

Such a degree of system planning and detail pays real security and site management dividends 鈥� and is the direct result of the work put into consultation with the installation company to create a thorough site security audit and specific threat analysis.

Management provides the answer
As part of NWL's warehousing and distribution service to its customers, the deployment of effective site security and management is paramount. These systems also play a major role in attracting new business.

In what's a very competitive marketplace, NWL is able to show prospective new customers that not only can the company deliver a quality storage and distribution service, it can also provide a full audit trail of operational activity via the amalgam of computer tracking and CCTV surveillance to keep the customer's products totally secure.

Another operational benefit of running the highly effective security system is to keep a check on the ongoing insurance premiums. Again, a factor which, if it weren't for the depth of security measures taken, would undoubtedly lead to an increase in operational costs for NWL. With this in mind, the capability of the installed security system even allows CCTV video footage of an incident to be e-mailed directly to an insurance company in aiding the fast-track resolution of any claims.