Colombia. Seguridad Nacional, a company that provides surveillance services and electronic security installations, shared its experience providing solutions for Ara stores, a grocery store chain that is among the largest in Colombia.
With a presence in 250 Ara stores and three distribution centers of the same chain nationwide, the service provided by Seguridad Nacional is projected to cover between 30 and 70 more stores within a year.
For the time being, Seguridad Nacional is in charge of most of Ara's stores, which are located mainly in the territory known as ‘el eje cafetero’, which occupies the departments of Risaralda, Quindío and Caldas. But it also includes locations in Cauca, Nariño, Cundinamarca (with presence in Bogotá), as well as part of the Atlantic Coast.
Beginning of the commercial relationship
The project of providing security to this supermarket chain began in 2013 with the design of a solution for the first store Ara opened in the city of Pereira. At that time the client's needs were identified, which were to ensure and reduce the risk of loss of goods in the store, in addition to complying with Colombian regulations for this type of establishment.
This situation required the installation of a fire detection system, an alarm system and, of course, video camera systems, said Daniel Hernández, National Project Manager at Seguridad Nacional.
"We started with hybrid video surveillance systems, between analog cameras and IP cameras integrated into the same recording system. The advantage was that since the project was conceived thinking that in the future we would have to migrate completely to IP, then all the cabling was installed with this type of camera in mind. This first 'best practice', although it required a higher investment on the part of the client, has subsequently allowed changes in the camera system”, said Hernández.
Solution specification
The CCTV is of the Geovisión brand, because in the opinion of Seguridad Nacional, which was the integrator, it offers benefits such as the reduction of video transmission bandwidth consumption, when it is sent to the monitoring center. A service of vital importance for the client, because it is the one who directly manages the security of its stores.
In that order of ideas, the integrator revealed that he found a very interesting quality/price ratio, "they are systems that offered very good quality". Now, in terms of alarms the brand chosen was Digital Security Controls DSC, for its worldwide recognition as one of the best in the field of intrusion. Finally, "at the level of fire detection systems we installed Edwards, a brand that has a great track record".
Specifically, for this project we are using Geovisión's 2 and 4 MP IP video cameras, reference GV-ADR2702; the DSC Neo panel and alarm system.
Pandemic time
Hernandez says that although during the pandemic there were difficulties with the importation of devices, the advantage was that, at the same time, there was a pause in the installation of new stores and their opening. In addition, as a company they had an important stock to cover the client's needs at that time, so this time was not particularly traumatic for the delivery of solutions.
Technological and on-site service needs
“We are in the development of the project in each of the stores, since it is in plans. To better explain our work I should say that we show the client how the location of the different equipment and the different systems will be, then the installation is done and an induction is given to the staff. First of all, to the employees who work directly in the stores, because they will be the ones who activate and deactivate the entry alarms. As well as the security personnel, who are ultimately the ones who will be handling the security systems.”
Of the cameras that make up the CCTV system, it should be noted that the installation covers specific areas of the supermarket. For example, we have a camera designed to cover only personal care products, as this is what is most stolen in this type of premises. The same happens with liquor and with the entrance to the store, the latter as a strategy to register all the people who enter and to better identify those who are part of criminal gangs.
"We also placed a monitor, where the store can be seen globally as a deterrent strategy so that the offender realizes that the area is under surveillance and that there is already a record of his entry. But also as a support for the guard to have an overview of the entire supermarket. In other words, the monitor allows the most vulnerable points to be visualized and identified.”
To understand the scope of the solution provided by Homeland Security, it is necessary to know that on average there are about 20 cameras per store (totaling about 5,000). Distribution centers require around 200 terminals for each one. In addition to this, as regards support personnel, the figure of 300 people has been exceeded and is increasing as they continue to respond to the provision of security services at new sites.
In this sense, Daniel Hernández explained: "we continue to grow hand in hand with the client due to the good experience we have had with Ara supermarkets. There has been something very nice and it is the issue of trust with them, because we started with a verbal agreement, there was no contract at that time, they presented themselves as a client assuring that they were going to open two thousand stores in Colombia and we bet on believing in their dream. That leveraged the relationship we have until today, hence our role in their needs at a national level.”
Finally, it can be concluded that this success story, which has been extending its reach for 12 years, owes its success in the first place to the confidence in the client's potential, but also to the understanding of the client's needs.
*This success story will be published in more detail in the next issue of the magazine.
