Security screening area at Flex
Industrial and manufacturing

Flex revolutionizes its security through innovation.

Organization: Flex
Location: Guadalajara, Mexico
Customer need: Intrusion Protection, Property and asset protection
Guadalajara, Mexico, 

Integral Axis video surveillance solution implemented by Flex allows them to optimize and improve their security scheme by 180º.

Mission

Flex is the third largest multinational technology product and equipment manufacturing company in the world. The company operates in more than 40 countries with approximately 200,000 employees. Its mission is to offer innovative designs, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and logistics services to companies in different vertical markets. The company was looking to change their obsolete standard security revision procedures, that did not guarantee proactive alerting of inventory losses in small quantities such as non-metallic objects (fabrics, plastics) or components undetectable by metal detectors, such as needles and coils.

Solution

Flex decided to migrate to a fully scalable IP-based solution while using the existing network infrastructure, since the constant variation and change of new security projects made it difficult to relocate or add cameras. Likewise, management sought to take advantage of new technologies, such as video analytics and thermal imaging cameras, to focus on preventing the loss of different items that had to be registered to comply with Flex’s corporate responsibility requirements.

Result

The implementation of AXIS Q2901-E Temperature Alarm Network Camera has allowed the reduction of security guards by 80%, whose function was to perform checks on workers at each exit from the facilities. The solution has also provided higher quality images, video analytics, better research results, scalability and compatibility with different platforms.

Using Axis thermal network cameras in combination with a Kaizen methodology has allowed us to optimize our operational processes with personnel reviewing at the exit points. This review prevents thefts of little or great value that, at the moment of taking an inventory, add up to a great quantity, which translates into losses. We have managed to reduce more than 10,000 man-hours in unnecessary inspections, with a saving in guard personnel of up to 100 thousand USD per year and avoid unproductive work amounting to 1 million USD per year.
Salvador Morales
Senior Director of Brand Protection & Security at Flex

A difficult road to innovation

The Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC) is responsible for monitoring personnel departures from the production area of the Flex plant, where traditional technologies such as metal detector arcs and a local visualizer are available. The plant’s security personnel perform the daily review of a population of 5,234 employees through pre-established traditional security procedures. The centralized management review for employees simplifies the security processes for the company

Six years ago, Flex decided to restructure its security organization and activities, recognizing opportunities and strengths, understanding that it was necessary to innovate methods to protect the assets of its clients in an appropriate way and stop doing it in a traditional way. With obsolete standard revision procedures, it was shown that the robust security personnel did not guarantee proactively alerting of inventory losses in small quantities such as non-metallic objects (fabrics, plastics) or components undetectable by metal detectors, such as needles and coils.

To meet these challenges, a comprehensive security solution was required, which, with the help of Axis, allowed the company to offer employees, customers, suppliers and shareholders a safe, reliable, open and welcoming workplace.

Strategic vision towards the future

In the constant search for improvement in security practices, Flex found an integral solution with Axis, complying with the great business rule: win-win, being customers and suppliers at the same time. This solution has allowed the reduction of positions of security guards by 80%.

Currently the integral solution that has been implemented is a base bigger than 500 IP cameras in the two buildings in Guadalajara; campus north and south campus, always in compliance with the EIA / TIA568A568B standard and based on the best practices for the implementation of these systems, when any of the requirements exceeds the appropriate distances.

High definition (HD), multi-sensor, motion (PTZ) video technologies and the specific case of the solution with AXIS Q2901-E Temperature Alarm Network Cameras, allow Flex personnel to perform their tasks, the best way and with the greatest security management. All this Axis technology is deployed and integrated with the video systems management platform of Milestone Corporate XProtect®, which also allows integration with the S2 access control platform.

Offering added value with Axis

In an environment where the risk is continuous, the new security program offers continuous improvement and performance in the service provided by the Flex surveillance department. The solutions implemented through IP have revolutionized the way in which the company manages its security, where the surveillance area has gone from being a cost to an area that adds value to the company.

Salvador Morales, Senior Director of Brand Protection & Security at Flex, expressed his satisfaction with Axis and projects his vision for the future: “We will continue to work with our integrators and Axis in a very specific way to get the most out of the analytics in the thermographic cameras, since we believe we can exploit and obtain better results from the solution we have in other products and plants around the world, we have even developed tests to detect illegal substances hidden by our employees with positive results.“

Mostly, the integrated IP video surveillance solution implemented by Flex has provided great operational benefits, improving the company’s security processes, optimizing the work of security personnel, as well as allowing the company to reuse the infrastructure that it had before.

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