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A significant part of that investment has gone towards a Witron dynamic picking system. This will allow Boots to move closer to its ambition of dispatching 100 per cent of the goods designated for its nationwide chain of over 2,300 stores on time and in full. There remains the problem, however, of how to tackle theft. John Angus, supply chain profit protection manager for the logistics loss prevention division of Boots, comments: “Even though we have highly trained and motivated security officers on site, CCTV was always going to play a major role in helping us keep theft to a minimum. Having a security guard patrolling areas of the warehouse is useful, but once he walks away from an area would-be thieves can take their time to help themselves to valuable merchandise.”
After researching its options, the retailer concluded that the most cost effective and efficient way to visually monitor activity throughout the 413,000 square foot building, was to install a track based camera system. Tim Clark, a loss prevention co-ordinator who is part of Angus’s team, says: “One of the advantages of a track based system is that it can be installed high up, preventing would be thieves from hiding behind visual barriers such as racking. They also act as a powerful deterrent. The track camera carriage is hidden behind a mirrored enclosure, and is virtually silent running. Even if they know there is a camera within the track the covert operation means subjects are unaware if they are under surveillance or not.” In conjunction with system integrator TIS, Intrepid Security Solutions, the UK representatives for SentryVision SmartTrack, were commissioned to install a number of track systems. To date, there are 11 tracks installed which are collectively 750m long and when the final sections of the outbound area have been updated, another eight tracks will be added to cover a further 500m. “Although we are primarily investing in the track systems for security reasons, they also provide invaluable management information and as an added bonus assist with health and safety issues,” says Clark.
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