Every logistics and distribution company faces the difficult challenge of obtaining maximum satisfaction from its customers. Undoubtedly, betting on technology in security issues can greatly increase that degree of satisfaction.
by Raquel Elías Gutiérrez *
Logistics and transport companies coexist in environments where there are a series of associated problems that negatively affect the image generated in the minds of their customers, among the possible causes can be highlighted:
Unknown loss
Due to the mobility of their products, these sectors are susceptible to theft or theft of valuable merchandise at any time of handling of this kind, either at the time of transport or at the distribution headquarters itself. In this sector there is a high risk of internal theft by the employees themselves given the high turnover of personnel.
For the Security Director of any logistics company, it will be necessary to adopt measures that reduce the costs associated with the "unknown loss", and the choice of a comprehensive security system will be crucial to be able to manage all these points from a single control center reducing resources.
Fraud by customers
Is the customer always right? In order to effectively resolve claims filed by customers, physical evidence will often be needed to help discern between an actual claim or an attempted fraud.
On these occasions, it is essential to have images generated by the CCTV system that help verify the real facts. It will also be important to have an important video surveillance management system in order to achieve these images in the most agile way. A well-managed claim reinforces the trust of our customers by building loyalty.
Large influx of people
Any distribution headquarters has multiple accesses of personnel outside the company itself, without identification and with access to a large part of the facility. The control of all these accesses, both vehicles and people must be taken into account to complete your security system.
Labor control
In this type of facilities with dozens and even hundreds of workers with different schedules and accessibility permits whose work shifts cover 24/7 (24 hours / 7 days a week), it is essential to have access control devices to the facilities themselves, in order to avoid the intrusion of personnel outside the installation and control access to restricted areas only by authorized personnel.
Likewise, these access controls are used to monitor working hours and prevent absenteeism, delays or the reduction of the working day by workers.
Thus, having a CCTV system that offers high quality images for the correct identification of each of the packages is essential to correct part of the daily problems described in this sector. But is a high-quality CCTV system enough?
In the event of a loss of a package, theft or claim, there is a laborious search process on all the stored images provided by our CCTV system. The search for specific images, sometimes, can be complex and tedious, so it is very useful to have a system that synchronizes all the data that the sorting machine throws, both input to the sorter, as well as output and during the transit through the tape itself with the CCTV system.
To this should be added the fact of being able to make queries to this synchronization system through data such as delivery or dispatch number, client, weight, time range, etc., so that it automatically shows the different videos of the passage of the package through the different control points of the tape, from its entry to its exit.
With the help of this system the search process completely, it simplifies the return and automates the investment made. The implementation of a solution of these characteristics offers the possibility of carrying out a complete traceability of each of the packages through the visual support offered by the CCTV.
To solve the control of the merchandise in transit, it is necessary to have high resolution cameras installed in the vehicle (whether wired or wireless) with recording on an on-board equipment located in the transport vehicle itself. These equipment, both recorder and cameras, must offer specialized hardware features that comply with the necessary anti-vibration regulations.
Finally, it is important to have an access control system appropriate to the needs of each distribution center. Solutions such as license plate reading systems for the entry of authorized vehicles, access control systems to critical areas of the facility for authorized personnel greatly facilitate the correct protection of the merchandise.
It is very important that all these systems are integrated with the CCTV system, so that each unauthorized event can be supported with their respective images, both in real time and at the time of the event.
Therefore, given the complexity at the level of security involved in this type of facilities, it is necessary to accompany the CCTV system with additional systems: integration system between the data of the logistics center with the recording system that offer the complete traceability of the package through video, license plate reading systems for vehicle access control, or specialized recording systems on board vehicles.
All these subsystems add an added value that CCTV alone is not able to offer, increasing the degree of satisfaction of our customers since it offers a more effective response to the different problems that may arise.
*Raquel Elías Gutiérrez is the Marketing Manager of the company Scati Labs, if you want to write to her you can do it through the email [email protected]
