Eastman Kodak Company 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 & 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; and Digital & 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 their security perimeter and control access to parking facilities and loading dock areas within their Rochester, N.Y. corporate campus. Deployment of automatic vehicle identification (AVI) system was the latest step in an on-going 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 the NEDAP Combi Booster, a new NEDAP system incorporating HID Prox card compatible in-vehicle readers and transmitter devices. Since part of the Kodak systems upgrade had included the deployment of HID Duo-Prox cards for all company employees, the ability to now use the card in the NEDAP device to identify employee drivers at distances up to 33 feet at high speeds, over 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 of these devices would serve a specific requirement.
The Combi Booster would be used anywhere that would require a vehicle to pass through a secure perimeter. In this case, it was decided that the unit’s ability to identify both the driver by their Kodak® issued HID® ProxCard® and the vehicle by the 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 NEDAP 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 roll-out in all areas requiring automated vehicle ID. The system was a natural 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 HID DuoProx® employee ID badges with the NEDAP vehicle mounted reader transmitter device. The fact that several different compatible AVI tags were available to address different requirements within the operation also became an important part in ensuring the system would offer enough flexibility for future interoperability, implementation, and expansion.
Overcoming Challenges with NEDAP AVI
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 (KSS). 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 they are actively pursuing additional applications of this product as a global solution.
