Ioimage: preventing intrusion and scrap metal theft. Worldwide equipment and scrap metal theft is costing billions of dollars and there are few ways to prevent these crimes or catch these criminals. The common reasons for the outbreak is an inability to watch over expansive areas, absence of security, or patchy traditional security that is too labour intensive and cost prohibitive to be implemented. Most often the damage far exceeded the street or scrap value of the items stolen. A bus manufacturer opted for an innovative solution within budget.

Merkavim Metal Works, an Israeli transport and bus manufacturer founded in 1946, realized that thieves were taking parts from busses and doing considerable damage in the process. On several occasions component steel used for manufacturing was stolen by scrap metal thieves from the outdoor storage areas.

In addition, tires, TVs, audio systems, CBs and other luxury accessories were ripped out of the high-end coach busses. The 100,000 m2 (25 acres) assembly plant posed a number of significant security challenges. The assembly plant is located in an area that is surrounded by farmland and open field areas.

Just beyond the semi decorative fences are access roads, main streets and rail lines that provide thieves access to the property as well as offer a means for a quick get-a-way. The facility has 24/7 security making scheduled and unscheduled patrols about the property. Even with a full-time security staff operating by the book, security breaches and thefts continued to occur.

Considerations

Merkavim’s security budget was a key limitation in making any decision of whether or not to add loss prevention or security measures. The ability to deploy unmanned surveillance capabilities for the wide-area inside and outside the perimeter made ioimage intelligent video the best-fit solution for the assembly plant. Because the system is simple to setup and conforms to industrial site security meant they could apply high-level cost-effective security for their parking, factory, yard and warehouses.

An Invisible Fence

The ioimage intelligent video system created an invisible fence for rapid intervention to security threats and breaches. Suspicious late-night behaviour on the adjoining roads and railroad tracks is now brought to the attention of security guards. The system is also configured to limit detection to movements approaching or leaving the perimeter while ignoring vehicles or persons passing in normal directions parallel to the fence.

Items taken from their location are detected by the intelligent video analysis appliance and recorded to provide instant on-screen notification to security guards who can see and respond to what is happening. This provides accountability, realtime video monitoring and a date stamped video record of events that can be used for evidence.

The ioimage no parking feature allows security guards to receive notification when suspicious vehicles stop near the property. Dozens of cameras including stationary and Pan Tilt Zoom (PTZ) define a security net that secures the property. On the event the alarm is set off, the PTZ cameras accept detection handoff from stationary cameras.

Once the handoff is received the PTZ cameras autonomously tracks the intruder throughout the property so that security guards know where the intruder is at any given moment. This provides scene safety as security guards can visually assess the situation and respond with greater information rather than responding blindly. The ioimage system also helps stop employee theft. If an employee places objects outside the fence, the unattended baggage feature issues a realtime alert tipping-off loss prevention personnel with close-up surveillance of the culprit.

Merkavim’s deployment of ioimage easy-touse unmanned intelligent-video detection greatly expands surveillance coverage and also assures the security guards are free to attend to their regular shift responsibilities.

Ioimage

Founded in 2000, ioimage has pioneered the concept of intelligent video appliances, delivering high performance video analytics designed and packaged for simplicity. ioimage helps government, public and commercial organizations to transform video surveillance into a proactive, event-driven process, using networked DSP-based devices for real-time detection, alert and tracking of intruders, vehicles and threats.

The trk product line includes intelligent video encoders, ranging from miniature in-camera enclosable units, to stackable centralized multichannel processing arrays.

Contact:

Fiona Ungar
Ioimage,
Herzliya, Israel
Tel.: +972 9 954 6003
Fax: +972 9 954 6004
fiona@ioimage.com
www.ioimage.com