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Effective factory surveillance

IP surveillance for optical storage.

More than one billion CDs and DVDs are being produced annually in Dassow, Germany, making Optical Disc Service GmbH (ODS) one of the leading manufacturers of optical storage media in Europe. ODS holds yet another record. A total of 264 Mobotix cameras, more than anywhere else in Germany, are used in the three factories in Dassow to make sure that the licensing rights to music, films and other contents are reliably protected.

“We place a great deal of importance on reliability and transparency,” said Andreas Lingk, head of IT Management at ODS. “That means, not only can our customer retrieve information on the current status of production at any time via the Internet, the customer can also be absolutely sure that production is in good hands and that not a single CD goes astray.”

Not an easy job when you consider that the factories run four shifts seven days a week. That is why ODS sticks to a hard-and-fast rule: Anywhere where disks are produced, printed, packaged or stored, there are cameras watching over all the work processes. “And that means virtually everywhere, except in the bathrooms, the lunch/break rooms and in the administration area,” Lingk confirms.

Key argument

This high security standard is easy to understand when you consider that some films are copied onto DVDs before they are even shown at the movie theatres. “The licensing authorities are very demanding when it comes to security issues, and rightly so. If only one DVD became public before the film was launched at the movies, it could have devastating effects on our customers,” explained Nico Kretzschmar, who also works in IT management at ODS. “The extremely high security standards we are able to provide with the Mobotix cameras are an important argument in negotiations with new customers.”

Why use Mobotix cameras? “When Plant 2 was built, we looked at the market for alternatives and tested a number of different products,” answered Lingk. “Right from the beginning, I was completely fascinated by the potential that the Mobotix cameras display. The images are much more brilliant than other solutions can offer. The system is very easy to operate. The network compatibility and configuration are significantly better. The option of managing all the cameras from a central computer in the network had me just as convinced as the fact that the system runs on the standard Linux operating system. This saves us a lot of money in terms of licensing fees. And finally, you get a lot more value for your money compared with other manufacturers.”

The modern Mobotix network camera technology includes a wide range of functions to allow effective security surveillance. These cameras are an inexpensive alternative to a security service: they can be installed at all the critical points around the premises, operated around the clock and even configured to trigger an event-based alarm. Integrated sensors enable Mobotix cameras to recognise when an event has occurred. If necessary, the cameras will respond immediately with an alarm tone and will establish a direct video and sound connection to headquarters or a security guard. In the event of an alarm, the cameras can turn on their built-in microphones and record lip-synchronous sound. They are therefore an even greater help in analysing a situation and easing clarification.

Big Brother is not watching you

The Mobotix solution also addresses the possible conflict of interests with regard to employees’ right to privacy that using cameras have the potential to create: Mobotix technology is able to use a very low image resolution to produce fogged out or pixilated portions of an image that are irrelevant to security surveillance. This means you can mask off certain areas of the image or render them unidentifiable without impairing security. That way, employees need not feel as if they are being watched.”

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