Protecting Metal Stockpiles Outdoors

The Problem

Henry Bath has been storing and handling metals traded on the London Metal Exchange for over 220 years. They employ sophisticated stock control systems for accurate real-time reporting, and – due to the rising value of metals, and resultant high prole thefts – turned to Fortecho Solutions to create a state-of-the-art wireless security solution for metals in storage at various locations.

Business Challenge

  • Wirelessly monitor hundreds of metal stacks in real-time.
  • Monitor access, asset movement and asset location.
  • Wireless system will operate in a harsh, outdoor, heavily metalized environment.
  • System must allow only pre-authorised movement of metals in and out of the site.
  • Software to be locally monitored in Rotterdam, but also centrally at Knightsbridge Guarding’s HQ in London, UK.
  • Ground staff must be able to manage everything.
  • System must integrate with CCTV cameras on site.
  • Metals sit in open space, then warehouse built around them.

The Solution

We worked closely with Henry Bath and Knightsbridge Guarding – their security operators – to create a cost-effective system with flexibility and integration at its core.

  • We fit a ruggedized IS-TGAKIN movement sensing tag to metal ingots at the top of each pile – detecting if one of the pieces in the pile is touched.
  • Tag design optimised for on-metal performance.
  • Tags are also fitted to shipping containers that create a wall between the metals and the rest of the They must be moved to access the piles.
  • RFID readers with 150m range installed in weather-sealed boxes on light rigs around the site for blanket coverage and asset triangulation.
  • PCs loaded with Fortecho Industry, our RFID asset tracking software, at each location, offering real-time monitoring, but also local asset registration and control.
  • Software interface with CCTV system mean cameras pan/zoom to the asset if moved.
 

ROI

  • Enhanced security of all assets before and after the warehouse is built around them.
  • Real-time audit of the assets, accessible from anywhere.
  • Instant, precise location and object information.
  • Electronic historical log of all alarms.
  • Henry Bath avoids devastating loss and adds USP to their offering.

Customer Comments

When commodity prices were at a high, we needed a fast, effective solution against metal theft. Fortecho Solutions provided us with the answer. If anything is moved in any warehouse in the world without permission, the Fortecho software immediately activates the CCTV monitors in our global HQ in London

Terry Hanley, Planning and Contingency Director Henry Bath / Knightsbridge Guarding
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