AVI - A Case Study

May, 2005

Eastman Kodak Co.

Eastman Kodak Co. is the world leader in helping people take, share, enhance, preserve, print and enjoy pictures -- for memories, for information, for entertainment. With sales of $13.3 billion in 2003, the company comprises several businesses:
* Health, supplying the healthcare industry with traditional and digital image capture and output products and services.
* Graphic Communications Group, offering on-demand color printing and networking publishing systems, consisting of three wholly owned subsidiaries: Encad Inc., NexPress Solutions and Kodak Versamark.
* Commercial Imaging, offering image capture, output and storage products and services to businesses and government.
* Display and Components, which designs and manufactures state-of-the-art organic light-emitting diode displays, as well as other specialty materials, and delivers imaging sensors to original equipment manufacturers.
* Digital and Film Imaging Systems, providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services.
Perimeter Security Challenges
Kodak had a growing need to identify vehicles at long distances to secure its security perimeter and to control access to parking facilities and loading dock areas within its Rochester, NY, corporate campus.
Deployment of an automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system was the latest step in an ongoing implementation of state-of-the-art security measures at Kodak. An additional requirement to this phase of the project was compatibility with the company's new employee access control cards from HID.
Finding a Solution
Thomas Rohr, Kodak's Manager of Protective Services for worldwide corporate security, was aware of a new system incorporating HID Prox card-compatible in-vehicle readers and transmitter devices. Because part of the Kodak systems upgrade had included the deployment of Duo-Prox cards for all company employees, the ability to use the card in the NEDAP device to identify employee drivers at distances of up to 33 feet at high speeds (more than 100 miles per hour), while also receiving a vehicle ID was very compelling.
In subsequent design discussions, a plan to use a selection of inter-compatible AVI tags was formulated. The two tags to be deployed would be the HID dual-ID Combi Booster and the single-ID Window Button. Each device would serve a specific requirement.
The Combi Booster would be used anywhere that a vehicle would be required to pass through a secure perimeter. In this case, it was decided that the unit's ability to identify both the driver by his or her Kodak-issued Prox Card and the vehicle by its embedded vehicle ID in the Combi Booster itself was of paramount importance.
In areas such as Kodak parking facilities, it was determined that the convenience of a long-distance read afforded by all the AVI tags was beneficial from a throughput perspective while still providing electronic controlled access. As a result, the single-ID Window Button was chosen.
All tags are compatible with the same reader, and as a result, the back-end system could be programmed to grant access to either type of tag.
After extensive experimentation with various kinds of AVI equipment, Kodak determined that the NEDAP equipment with its HID card compatibility and consistent long-range detection provided an optimum solution for a complete rollout in all areas requiring automated vehicle ID. The system was an extension of the company's goal to automate presence-sensing to quickly identify exceptions and aberrations related to vehicle access.
Another important factor in the decision was the ability to seamlessly integrate all the new employee ID badges with the vehicle-mounted reader transmitter device. That several different but compatible AVI tags were available to address different requirements within the operation also became an important part in ensuring that the system would offer enough flexibility for future interoperability, implementation and expansion.
With a solid long-range vehicle-detection system in place, Kodak continues to enhance traditional access control methods with state-of-the-art electronic technology.
With the new AVI system's ability to seamlessly integrate with its Matrix Frontier Integrated Security System, data and access privileges can now be reliably controlled from Kodak's central security system. The AVI dual-ID system was easily integrated into the security back-end system by assigning a two-badge rule to every Combi Booster access event.
Kodak is so pleased with the new implementation that it is actively pursuing additional applications of this product as a global solution.
System Implementation Benefits
The implementation of the new system provided several additional benefits to Kodak, according to Tom Rohr:
"The new AVI system allows vehicles to activate gates and doors far enough in advance to eliminate the need to stop. This reduces a critical and potential security choke point at the company's vehicle entrances.
"Safety is being improved by eliminating the need for drivers to reach out a vehicle window for a stationary reader, typically associated with card-only vehicle access."