The latest CCTV Technology in Loss Control

Recent overseas shows in Europe and the U. K. has proven that South African technology is leading the world in specialised Digital CCTV applications. In the last few months leading South African companies has used their CCTV installations, originally devised for Security purposes to include loss and quality control and increase their productivity manifold. The latest developments in digital storage technology as well as the latest increases in computer processing speeds has now elevated the possibilities of digital image technology to record, monitor, analyse and store details of processes and information to previously unthinkable levels.
To make it possible to evaluate the possible applications in one's own company it is essential to investigate a few examples of how this technology has benefited leading companies:

Example I: Dispatch control at A mayor brewery:

In this case the requirement was to increase turn around time, ensure and check the number and types of product pallets loaded, ensure that all pallets loaded contain full bottles, to control the number of empty pallets unloaded and finally to have full proof of all the above against possible future enquiries or disputes. Before the system was installed control at the gates caused long delays and all the above could not be checked. The new system uses a proximity reader system to identify the truck as it progresses from the gates to the warehouse and out again. The only task at the gate is to attach the identifier unit to the truck and to enter the truck number on the keyboard. The system then allocates loading bays and prints the required products to load directly at the warehouse. As the truck stops and moves through the gate and again as it is unloaded in the ware house, digital images are captured from many different video cameras and stored in a file on computer, similarly as the truck is loaded and then moves out of the gate, images are stored in a different file. The cameras are positioned to fully capture all details of the load and truck. The files can be retrieved and searched by the computer according to truck number, date and time, load number or client. Other options for search and correlation are bay number and gate number. Two gates with four different lanes and six huge loading bays are covered from all sides and the pictures are relayed over single fibre optic link to central monitoring and storage point where a single person are presented with each picture for visual inspection and all image files are stored on computer disk.
All the objectives mentioned above was achieved in an installation completed within only a few months with considerable increase in accuracy of dispatch. The turnaround time per truck was halved making provision for further future bays unnecessary. The possibility of theft through the mixing of empties and fulls or claiming for under supply has disappeared.
To become more technical: the installation is not complex at all and any picture resident on a file on the hard disk can be retrieved in a fracture of a second while those backed up on DAT tape can be retrieved in seconds. The Load number, ID etc. are stored with the picture for fast computer search and retrieval. A very high quality (24 bit) full size colour picture is saved in only 8 500 Bytes and a Black and White picture in only 5 000 Bytes. To form an idea of the number of records that can be kept one must consider that a 3 hour video tape (containing perhaps two movies) stores only approximately 270 000 individual images recorded at 25 per second and of considerably lower quality than digital images. A 1 GByte hard disk can contain 200 000 images and a 20 GByte DAT (Digital Tape) for back up 4 000 000 images. In terms of load records that can be stored with 4 images taken at entrance, 4 at exit, 6 during unload and 6 during re-load, records of 10 000 loads can be saved on hard disk and 200 000 on DAT. With the targeted 20 min. turnaround time at each of the six bays, 18 loads per hour will be handled (i.e. the central controller will have at least 10 seconds to inspect each load/unload picture while 2 secs suffices) and the records of nearly a month (in practice more than a month since the tempo reduces at night) can be kept on hard disk and two years on a single DAT.
In practise more images are stored per load for convenience. 

Example II: Control of filling and palletising:

It was found that a discrepancy exists between the ware house and the production line on how many empties is delivered to the production line and how many fulls were sent to warehouse as well as the quantities actually filled and palletised.
A few video cameras at the palletising point and at the loading point where the fork-lifts collects and delivers pallets solved the problem with the computer recognising whether a pallet is full or empty through a simple load cell under a plate on which the fork-lift stands when handling a pallet and full image records showing all details of the pallet during palletising and on removal to the warehouse area as well as a record of where the pallet was stacked. With an average of 5 images per pallet image records of a year and more is easily available for inspection and statistical analysis.

Example III: INSPECTION OF BOTTLES AFTER MANUFACTURE:

In this case each bottle on the conveyer belt, at an average tempo of two bottles per second, is inspected by four cameras, three looking at the sides at 120 degree offset to cover all sides of the bottle and the fourth to inspect the form (Circularity) from the top. The computer compares the image of the bottle with a flawless image and actually measures the height and profile of the bottle to pre-set accuracy as part of the inspection process (a pressure test completes the inspection). Images of any rejects (flaws found or out of dimension bottles) are stored for statistical analysis and identifying shortcomings in the production line. The computer can for instance report directly that a certain % of flaws occurred in a certain area. The above inspections and analysis is essential in the effort to reach the target of zero defects in bottles leaving the plant. 
With the massive storage capacity available it is even considered to store an image of each bottle in a file for each batch. Should a customer claim a defect bottle in any batch detailed data on the specific bottle can then be retrieved to find out how a defect could have passed the inspection process and the process can be adjusted to avoid a recurrence.

Example IV: Records kept of ATM users:

In the Netherlands mayor bank has standardised on the product to capture images from each customer using the ATM capturing both his face (front and profile) and his hands when taking money by using only two micro cameras. The images are downloaded to a central computer over telephone or data lines for identifying fraudulent usages. The system allows a colour picture to be captured in less than 8000 bytes. The only alternative product they could find in Europe could not compress colour pictures and could only compress B&W images to 30 000 bytes. The full zoom and enhancement features made the product the only choice that could be considered. An European company has now offered the system to a mayor bank in the middle east as well for even more extensive applications.

The VIDEX range of video products are fully South African developed and is customised to the clients requirements when required. Security and Electronic Laboratories, the owner of the products are looking for agents to market this product in South Africa and overseas.