Let me have an honest confession first!
When I think of manufacturing, the very first image that occurs to my mind is a factory stacked with heavy machinery, some old-fashioned, obsolete models of machines quite rusted, continuously operating, and operating, just to produce some finished goods. Well, goods mean, something like a car, the car of Mr.Bean?
Or, if I fan my wild imagination a bit more, then I see a black & white picture of Laurel & Hardy mending machines in a garage. Sounds weird? Indeed ‘Yes’! Because my intelligence fails before Artificial Intelligence. When AI arrives, the world halts, Industries automate, and disruptions act as blitzkrieg.
That’s the modern story about the manufacturing industry where digital technologies like AI and Video Surveillance tools are highly disrupting the ecosystem, bringing in a greater ROI in businesses across the globe.
In this blog, I am trying to explain why video surveillance has a growing importance in the manufacturing industry, and its top 10 applications therein!
Video Surveillance Benefits
A typical manufacturing organization needs video surveillance tools and solutions for maintaining and taking care of multiple areas, for instance, CCTV cameras around car parking, at entrances, exit points, office areas, delivery points, dispatch, as well as the manufacturing & assembly areas.
Being a complex business due to inherent operational features, the very industry involves a greater number of areas involving high potential security risks, and health, and calls for urgent safety guidelines to strictly adhere to!
In broader terms, video surveillance to manufacturing has the following significant benefits:
- Business security aspects like machinery, and product
- Site visitors’ safety as well as safety for employees
- Monitoring varied manufacturing processes
- Optimizing business processes
Artificial- Intelligence-powered Video Surveillance is becoming their apt choice because this will help them monitor in-store occupancy, traffic patterns, foot traffic, high occupancy zones, social distancing, and mask-wearing.
Top 10 Applications
1. Reinforce Security
The major objective of video surveillance tools, equipment, and solutions is to reinforce end-to-end security. For a manufacturing business, plant, machinery, raw materials, finished goods, or products, all have equal importance.
Effective & efficient perimeter protection, sending alarms, and alerts to security personnel regarding breaches, any suspicious behavior, and intruders, are all made possible via an integrated video surveillance system.
It is required to protect the first line of site- security. Thus, a facility equipped with prominent security cameras conveys a powerful, deterrent message to one and all.
2. Safety Attention
Video surveillance system minimizes any sort of mishappening at manufacturing facilities. The nature of the manufacturing environment attracts frequent injuries, and accidents taking place. In industrial sites, factories, and manufacturing facilities, the gravity of accidents may prove fatal and serious.
However, video surveillance cameras can be effectively used to reinforce safety in all these places, at the workplace, too. Yes, at workplaces this surveillance tool actively reduces the chance of abrupt casualties owing to safety measures adequately taken. Otherwise, work-related illnesses or injuries carry a massive cost.
Video surveillance helps to reduce varied accident costs, as video surveillance cameras help during post-incident investigations identify the exact persons accountable for it. This saves further lives and incidents because investigations let them know the causes and they can take action to deter such repetitions of incidents in the future.
They deploy visible signage, new machinery, and protective barriers for that safety vigilance. Thus, manufacturing facilities use surveillance cameras to monitor constantly all dangerous machinery, high-risk areas, high- traffic areas which are vulnerable to accidents.
3. Preventing Crimes
Video Surveillance plays a key role in identifying culprits and facilitating adequate safety and other precautionary measures in manufacturing organizations. Although statistics do vary, it is seen that in many cases, video surveillance significantly leads to the reduction of crime rates and several non-authorized activities in workplaces.
Security cameras ought to be positioned in the correct manner that will help to discourage theft and illegal and unauthorized activities. Moreover, as described before, in the case of criminal investigations by authorized personnel and security, it also assists in related law enforcement.
4. Monitoring on a Remote basis
With the COVID situation prevalent and the very pandemic has compelled people to stay at home, remote service across industries has seen a big surge. Consequently, even manufacturing facilities have started creative schedules as a response to the pandemic by adopting remote monitoring features.
An AI-based integrated video surveillance system allows authorized personnel to access security footage over the internet, desktop, or mobile, from any location that seems fit from security aspects. The surveillance also enables manufacturing organizations to manage varied locations on a remote basis without people being present physically onsite.
This feature augments security guards, helps in controlling crimes and prevents any untoward incidents as cameras are mounted across the sites. Live video monitoring allows logging into any camera, or all of them if any alert or alarm sends respective signals. Reliability is a significant characteristic of any AI-based video surveillance system across the manufacturing organization.
5. Production Monitoring & Optimizing Operations
In a manufacturing business, machinery failure casts a serious impact on output or flow of production. This leads to a reduced profit and customers’ dissatisfaction as well as anxieties created amongst the stakeholders. After all, machinery costs are a big amount (in millions) while profit is the ultimate business goal, too.
Manufacturing facilities greatly rely on machines, and production at a larger scale, and they don’t want to take the aforementioned risks now. SO, installing and mounting massive video surveillance equipment which is more empowered by digital technologies such as AI and Robotics, makes the business error-proof.
With the help of additional technologies like thermal imaging, video surveillance can minutely highlight any potential machine failures, machines overheating for instance, and prior corrective and proactive actions can be taken to avoid those issues. Thus, monitoring and the overall production process make this application of video surveillance a great help.
Furthermore, video analytics help control the flow and movement of people across the manufacturing plant, and unauthorized people are barred from entering restricted areas. The analytical tools with immense digital capabilities in the decision-making process, facilitating changes and improvements efficiently and on the scale.
6. Safety Training
Video Surveillance tools like CCTV cameras provide video clips that can show in slow motion leading to seeing footage meticulously. This sort of video footage can now assist with employee training and coaching for specific purposes, safety training, as well as remedial training.
Even the management committee can retrieve significant insights via these video footage clips. This helps the latter to spot employees and workers who need customized training related to their work.
AI-powered video surveillance solutions help with predicting this kind of training requirement required thus facilitating the decision-making process.
7. Compliance Adherence
Video surveillance application empowers manufacturing facilities with the visual data of all operations and processes happening within. This also ensures that employees are adhering to compliance, following company protocols and procedures, and adhering to specific policies.
Also, it enables management to timely actions in advance, addressing vulnerabilities and sorting out relevant issues by implementing the required changes.
8. Proper Documentation
An integrated Video Surveillance system gives support, 24 hrs. of continuous coverage of the manufacturing facility. It means anything that happens is captured on video, which amounts to documenting records of the entire manufacturing process.
With proper documentation, the very facility or company remains prepared for any requirement in the future,e.g. legal matters, law enforcement, etc. Video surveillance application allows properly documenting unauthorized access, safety violations, or onsite mishaps.
9. Preventing Product Losses
HD and IP cameras help to access video footage over any sort of network, viz., mobile phones as well as tablets. Thus, if a manufacturing organization is storing certain spare parts or products, installing HD cameras helps strict vigilance in the area. This prevents the loss of expensive equipment, stocks, and protecting assets. This allows smoother operations in the manufacturing facilities and businesses to thrive.
10. Internet Security System
AI-powered video surveillance cameras capitalize on internet protocol (IP), the massive power of internet networking, for sending and receiving sensitive data. This facilitates an easy installation and connection to the required system, and viewing of live camera feeds, just at any time, any location(remote basis) is possible using mobile apps for smartphones, and tablets.
End-Note
Installing advanced technology-based video surveillance tools and solutions within the premises of manufacturing companies has become the utmost priority now. Necessitated by the mandatory security concerns, businesses are actively inquiring and hunting for the best digitally powered, AI- video surveillance tools for high-scale adoption.
However, which type of video surveillance application is appropriate for your business type, you need to take professional advice from an established mobile application development company only.
Not sure how video surveillance and digital can apply to your manufacturing business? Speak to our experts.
