5 reasons why your manufacturing plant needs video analytics

Manufacturing plants are hives of activity. This is a good thing for your business, but it’s bad news for your security technology, which can’t tell the difference between normal and suspicious activity. For a security camera or a motion detector, any activity is alarm-worthy, which means your security staff become inundated with false positives. 

What seems like an annoyance at first can quickly become dangerous - eventually, the sheer number of alarms can make your security staff tired and less able to identify genuine suspicious activity. A lapse in concentration is all that’s needed for crime to take place. This is where video analytics can help. 

Video analytics use AI to differentiate between noisy false alarms (e.g. machinery moving, tarpaulin and foliage blowing in the wind) and genuine human activity (e.g. people and vehicles moving around). With analytics integrated into your camera system, the false alarms are filtered out, and your security staff only receive the alarms worth knowing about. 

Unlike people, AI doesn’t get tired or need to work shifts; video analytics can work around the clock to filter out false alarms and send alerts for genuine human activity. Security teams working on night shifts benefit from the extra support that analytics provide during hours where it can be difficult to see what is happening on camera; Calipsa’s analytics now work for both regular video and thermal cameras, so that alarms are captured 24/7. 

With fewer false alarms, your staff are better able to prioritise and take action quickly. Their reduced workload also means they don’t waste time verifying pointless false alarms, when instead they can focus on the more important job of keeping your manufacturing plant safe. 

Not all factories have the latest technology installed, but that doesn't mean you can’t take advantage of the latest security technology. Depending on the type of video analytics you use, it is possible to give your existing security cameras a cheap and easy upgrade. 

We recommend doing your research before investing in a video analytics system. Our handy guide explains the 3 questions you should ask before buying. Some video analytics platforms require additional hardware installation, which can create extra costs. It is also a good idea to choose a solution that integrates with any existing video management software and/or alarm management systems you use; Calipsa currently integrates with many different platforms. Check out our full list of technology partners. 

If you pick a completely hardware-free, cloud-based solution, it’s possible to upgrade your old cameras to become “smart” cameras in a matter of minutes. A small change can extend the shelf life of your cameras, giving you several years of additional value before you eventually decide to upgrade to a new system. 

So how does it work? The analytics connect to your camera feed via the cloud. If your system is truly offline, it’s possible to convert your camera feeds to a digital format using a DVR (digital video recorder). The analytics intercept your camera feed before it reaches you, analysing the footage for genuine alarms. If people or vehicles are spotted, it generates an alarm which is sent to your security team for verification. 

Want to know more about how video analytics can help your business security? Check out our demo video:

Analytics help you to tackle crime and keep your manufacturing plant safe from intruders by enhancing your existing physical security system. Adding an intelligent solution to your cameras helps your security team to identify threats quicker - especially when they no longer have to deal with false alarms. 

Using a tool to help identify potential threats also allows your team to work smarter across all your security touchpoints - from cameras, to intruder alarms, to perimeter safety. If your security staff were monitoring live camera feeds before, analytics offer a much less labour intensive solution. Instead, you can move to a more efficient event-based system, where staff respond to real-time alerts and only monitor live feeds where appropriate. 

Rather than waiting for something to happen on camera, your staff can respond much faster to the alerts that come through via analytics. They can quickly prioritise the risk and decide if action needs to be taken; during quieter periods, they also have more time to monitor vulnerable areas more thoroughly.  

The great thing about integrating intelligent video analytics is that you don’t just receive the right alerts - you also amass lots of useful information about your plant. Using technology to manage your alerts allows you to take a closer look at what’s really going on - for example, when and where does your site see the most activity? Does this highlight vulnerabilities you weren’t aware of? 

This data can help you manage health and safety as well as crime; alerts can reveal hotspots for accidents such as slips and falls. The UK’s Health and Safety Executive revealed that manufacturing causes thousands of injuries and even death in the workplace, so any information that helps you to make your plant safer is a good thing. 

If you are better informed about your site, you are better prepared when you conduct risk assessments, and when you decide to make changes to your security infrastructure. 

All of the benefits above will save you time and money in the long run. By reducing crime and accidents in the workplace, you will suffer fewer financial losses and you could even reduce your insurance premiums. You’ll also be more knowledgeable about how your plant works and how best to protect it and your employees. 

Analytics are a cost-effective and easy way to radically improve your site security. They provide real-time security intelligence that saves your security team time and effort - which means resources go much further. If you’re making the move from live monitoring to event-based monitoring, you might even find that investing in analytics saves you from having to recruit lots of additional security staff.

Intelligent video analytics are a smart technology that help you work smarter. We hope the reasons above show you how a small investment now can help you improve your manufacturing plant security, your staff’s productivity and morale, and your bottom line. 

Learn more about how intelligent video analytics can radically improve your manufacturing plant security with our whitepaper, "The Secret to Better Security?"