Supporting Manufacturing and distribution sites

If you are a manufacturer, operate a distribution centre or have been contracted to design or build a new manufacturing site or large warehouse in south-west England or South Wales then we can ensure you have the latest security and monitoring for the building and surrounding area.

By having effective intruder alarmaccess control and CCTV systems for your industrial site you will ensure your machinery and products are protected properly. We can offer manufacturers and distribution centre operators our complete range of expertise in installing in providing IP networks, access control, surveillance and intruder alarm systems as well as offering real-time monitoring which is important in ensuring you maintain IT continuity.

Effectively managing access to your building

Access control allows people to move freely about a building, whilst also allowing specific areas to be managed with higher risk or higher security. The advanced access control solutions from our main access control partner, the UK-based designer and manufacturer Paxton Access, allow you to both manage access to the building and to particular areas within your site.

If you have visitors entering the site you can install video door entry allowing you to communicate with them before granting them access to your building. You can also restrict access to expensive or dangerous machinery within your factory or to your server room appliances which will protect your IT systems. This protects the health and safety of your staff as well as ensuring your machinery and systems are maintained.

Net2 and Paxton10 are Paxton’s comprehensive access control solutions. If you have a large site and need to manage access from different locations then you can view events and alerts remotely on your smart device with the Paxton Connect app with both Net2 and Paxton10.

If you have visitors, contractors or temporary staff you can provide them with a token that has a time restriction, granting them access to the site for a specific time range. The Paxton key app, available with Paxton10, is also an advanced way to provide access via a smart phone which is easy to administer if you have temporary staff.

For areas of your manufacturing site or warehouse that need additional security you can require dual authentication, for example a key fob and a pin or a biometric authentication. Storage areas can be made more secure with the use of wireless door handles.

Meanwhile if you have Net2 installed you can lock your site down in the event of an emergency by disabling valid user access through selected doors at the touch of a button.

Managers of multiple sites can do this on a single system if you have Paxton10. With this system only one server is required for up to 1000 doors. Paxton10 has the added advantage of being a fully integrated CCTV & access control solution and you can additionally manage up to 1000 surveillance cameras on this system.

CCTV: Providing safety and security

On a large manufacturing or distribution site CCTV can provide a range of purposes, including security to prevent break-ins and vandalism; meeting health and safety compliance; monitoring sensitive zones on your site and keeping your car park safe to protect staff.

Our parent company, Ecl-ips, has worked with a Midlands-based manufacturer since 2015 integrating and improving its original analogue-based CCTV system. We have replaced analogue cameras with IP cameras and provided new cameras by using the flexible Avigilon CCTV and video management system.

The initial project in 2016 involved installing an Avigilon server and analogue encoders so that the analogue camera images could be viewed as part of the video management system.  Some new high resolution CCTV cameras were also added at this time, both internally and externally.

Ecl-ips was able to develop the network required for the IP cameras using existing dark fibre cable links and adding new POE switches as required. Access to the CCTV system was provided both to users in the main reception and in the site’s security office.

Avigilon CCTV cameras were put into the reception and the production areas. Over time high resolution cameras have also replaced analogue cameras in the loading bay, car parks and vehicle entrances. As the company’s site is large multi-sensor cameras were an ideal solution in many places as they can be positioned to monitor virtually any area. You can choose between either three or four individually configurable camera sensors, which can provide up to 360-degree coverage.

Subsequently Ecl-ips installed CCTV cameras in the factory’s paint shop. The manufacturer adopted an automated system for painting its products and these cameras monitor the process. This allowed the company to be quickly made aware of machine failure or blockages.

The innovative company also now uses automatic forklift trucks which steer with the use of lasers. This is cutting-edge labour-saving technology but employees at the site need to be vigilant around them. This led to more Avigilon cameras being fitted where the forklifts are operating to provide health and safety monitoring for staff.

Meanwhile the analytics embedded in the latest H5A cameras and the Avigilon Control Center 7 video management software will bring a whole new dimension to your camera system. This will allow you to free up your time and others around you who may be monitoring various parts of the day to day running of your business. 

For instance, a CCTV camera with analytics will be able to tell you when someone is going into an area that is strictly forbidden.  Analytic cameras, like the Avigilon H5A cameras, can tell the difference between humans and vehicles, and can now also distinguish between specific individuals and types of vehicles.

When your business is at its most vulnerable, maybe out of hours, your analytics camera will be able to alert you should you have anybody loitering in a specific area.

To provide maximum flexibility for managing security and protecting your distribution or manufacturing site the Avigilon system can be accessed remotely using the ACC3 mobile app with Avigilon Cloud Services providing more flexibility if you have an internet connection.

Protecting your machinery and stock

Intruder alarms are the first level of protection for any property and getting the level of security right is particularly important for a large distribution centre or manufacturing site.

Before we install an intruder alarm, our surveyors will visit the premises to assess and review requirements since each alarm system is unique. We will install a system that is designed for you and meets the requirements of the property and your insurance company.

We offer intruder alarm solutions from HKC SecurityOrisec, Honeywell and Texecom which allow us to provide hybrid wired and wireless systems making installation flexible and extendable so we can adapt it to the size of building and wider premises. We also have a large range of powerful detectors that can add to the security throughout your site. The advanced mobile and cloud solutions also mean that the alarm systems are easy to manage remotely which will give you added peace of mind if you are operating a large distribution or manufacturing site.

Additionally, as a SSAIB-certified we meet high compliance standards in respect of the alarms systems we install and work with a standards-compliant Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) so we can provide 24/7 monitoring of your intruder alarm system, if required so key holders and, if necessary, the police, can be alerted if an alarm is triggered. This could be particularly important if you have high value products or expensive machinery to protect.

To add an extra layer of protection to your security system we now offer Density Fog Generators which allows you to take instant action when an intruder gets into your warehouse.

By creating thick fog within seconds, they will stop intruders in their tracks so they are unable to get further inside your property to approach your machinery or stock. Instead, their only option will be to escape outside which will save you money from further attempts to find a point of entry and prevent them reaching your goods.

The Density 14000 has been produced specifically to protect large areas of up to 14000 m³ which is ideal for large logistical warehouses and manufacturing plants. To make their use easier you can manage the fog generators remotely through Density’s Active Cloud platform.

Integrating your security systems to make management easier

We pride ourselves on offering advanced security solutions that allow you to integrate your access control, CCTV, intruder alarm as well as fire alarm systems so they can be managed from single platforms.  Here is the functionality of Paxton access control’s solutions:

  • Intruder alarm – control your intruder and access systems from one user interface across different areas of your site and minimise false alarms
  • Fire alarm – program your fire doors to automatically open in an emergency
  • CCTV – link footage to specific access events
  • Lift control – utilising I/O boards the system can be configured to control users access into lifts and individual floors

We can integrate the Avigilon CCTV system into our other security offerings and our intruder alarm systems can also be integrated with other services such as heating, lighting or an electric gate which you can also control through the mobile apps.

By having an integrated approach for your security and safety systems in a manufacturing plant or distibution centre it will make managing your them easier.

Real-time monitoring: Making your systems more effective

Running your business and maintaining building and security functions will require IT infrastructure. Ensuring they are maintained will ensure business continuity. Manufacturing sites and warehouses require effective server room monitoring systems to make sure that all of the support systems are running efficiently. Early warnings of potential issues are essential to ensure that the business can operate both efficiently and effectively.

Although cloud and wireless solutions are increasingly common within a building there is still likely to be some infrastructure and hardware necessary to ensure they work whether they are part of controlling your security, air conditioning, lighting or heating systems.

Maintaining power supplies, ensuring temperatures in comms and server rooms are kept constant and humidity does not build up are all important elements that can be monitored and the information on this can be made available at your fingertips. These solutions can be integrated with other building management systems and third-party devices.

We are specialists in APC Netbotz monitoring appliances; APC UPS Systems which provide power protection by instantly responding to outages and support equipment until mains power is available or a generator is active as well as Schneider Electric’s Data Center Expert software which allows you to access your real-time monitoring information easily.

Contact us to find out how we can help you

If you are managing a manufacturing site or distribution centre protecting your staff, machinery and stock is very important. Having advanced solutions that allow you to manage this on the move, remotely, or from a single platform where possible will make this so much simpler.

For all these reasons looking at the latest solutions and taking the time to replace and upgrade previous systems will be invaluable in the long-term. We can provide a complete security and a server room audit to ensure that CCTVaccess control and intruder alarms are covered along with assessing how effective your real-time monitoring solutions currently is.

If you are based in Bristol, south-west England or South Wales and want to discuss your security or real-time monitoring needs then please contact us, we will be delighted to help.