Products that we encounter almost everywhere are stored on the 12-hectare site. Whether in the office, at the kindergarten, at a concert, while shopping, in the underground garage or at home, the central hub for exports near Berlin is home to paints, varnishes and other building protection products. The gateway to the logistics center of the family-owned company, which was founded in 1895 and has 5,600 employees, is international.

Domino effect due to misunderstandings

A gate manned in two shifts handled up to 40 truck drivers or suppliers with many different goods per day - in addition to the entry of employees and visitors. Rudimentary language skills in German or English often led to misunderstandings. With half-understood directions, drivers made extra circles around the site in search of their loading or unloading point.

Incorrectly recorded personal, vehicle or delivery data wasted time in downstream processes, from access to the ramp to the warehouse with 15,000 storage spaces. Marco Weiß, logistics manager and responsible for the site, was therefore looking for an integrable video solution for the registration process at the gate as part of his security management.

Open barriers instead of language barriers

The gatehouse is now closed. Instead, viGuard welcomes visitors around the clock in twelve languages at the covered registration terminal. For three years now, the digital gatekeeper has been recording and informing all visitors, suppliers and, above all, truck drivers who pass through the gate for loading or unloading in accordance with stored scenarios and in compliance with data protection regulations. Once everything has been completed, the barrier opens automatically.

The digital gatekeeper uses a white list to wave through who is known. viGuard connects unknown persons directly with the contact person, who picks them up or opens the gate by telephone code. After the first "welcome", viGuard directs suppliers to the correct gate - including safety instructions, printed operating rules and directions.

Digitization without duplication

Together with DAW, the vi2vi team developed individual log-on scenarios for fast access control, reliable safety instructions and clear assignment of the loading point on the site, including emergency scenarios. 98 percent of all cases are covered by the user-friendly software on the touch screen.

With this system, special shifts can be organized with just a few clicks without cumbersome personnel planning and sudden absences at the gate are no longer a problem. With savings in personnel costs in the mid five-figure range per year, DAW benefits above all from integrated processes without additional and duplicate work.

"viGuard records and processes all data fully automatically, from daily operation to documentation. This is also important in emergency scenarios," says Weiß, who would like to realize even more advantages for process quality in the future with additional interfaces to the SAP system. His collaboration with vi2vi began in 2018 and continued over several development phases following the initial commissioning of viGuard.

Today, the system is a blueprint for other plants in the DAW Group. "In our joint work, we have broken down the processes with regard to the various professional drivers in such a way that they are simple yet versatile. Since commissioning, the system has been running stably with flawless and fast support," confirms Weiß, convinced of vi2vi's technology and process expertise and excited to see what else can be mapped with viGuard. "Registration is not faster, it is better and more secure. Around the clock," adds Weiß.