How a vehicle bodybuilding firm turned to remote monitoring after a a series of break-ins in the late 1990s.
A vehicle bodybuilding firm turned to remote monitoring after a a series of break-ins in the late 1990s. ATT Papworth, in the Cambridgeshire village of Papworth Everard, saw a planned move to a new site on the outskirts of the village as a chance to review security. Managing Director Douglas Scott says: ‘As a commercial bodybuilding company, we manufacture vehicle bodies for customers such as BT, Parcelforce, Royal Mail, Omega Express and St John Ambulance. Inevitably, our compound is full of customers’ valuable chassis, and we also have large stocks of easily disposable items like tyres and aluminium parts. Our old site was large and irregularly shaped, and we shared it with other companies, which meant that it was very difficult to keep it totally secure. When the break-ins started, we had to make some fairly major insurance claims for sets of tyres and aluminium, and this raised serious concerns with our insurers.’ The thefts also disrupted production. Although the stolen aluminium probably would not have fetched very much on the black market, it was valuable to ATT because it had been prepared, drilled and punched, ready for production. The new site has a rectangular perimeter formed partly by the factory building, partly by palisade fencing. Scott evaluated seven security-system suppliers; four were asked to put forward proposals. After a thorough evaluation, ATT settled on the scheme proposed by Atech, of Wisbech, Cambs: ‘Whereas most of the others just had a superficial look at what was required, Atech showed a great deal of interest in the way we operate, and they developed a good understanding of our real needs. They actually thought about the problem and carefully considered the practicalities of how to address it.'<br>
The Atech system consists of CCTV cameras linked to movement detectors which, when activated by an intruder, transmit pictures via ISDN to Atech’s control room for off-site monitoring. An external public address system linked to the control room enables Atech staff to warn intruders that, unless they leave, the police will be notified.
At the corners of the perimeter fencing, Atech installed two 7m camera poles each equipped with an Ernitec dome camera and three Redwall movement detectors from Security Enclosures: ‘If anyone tries to get into the site that way, they will trigger one of the movement detectors, thereby causing the camera to focus on that point and alerting the Atech control room. When a warning comes over the PA system, the intruders will know that they’re being observed.’ As the main factory also forms part of the perimeter, all ground floor areas at the front of the building are equipped with cameras and PIR detectors: ‘Whichever window they might try to enter," continued Scott, "the lights would be switched on, we’d have a picture of the intruders, and the police would be contacted immediately.’ ATT Papworth has occupied the new premises for more than a year; there have been no incidents to date.
