Why Ships Decided to Introduce a Cloud System for Surveillance Cameras

Select Shop SHIPS Case Study: The “more than crime prevention” effect brought about by the use of a cloud camera

Ships (SHIPS) was founded in 1975 and pioneered the select shop business under the concept of “stylish standard”. The company uses security tags and gates for store theft countermeasures, but seeks more efficient operations and a stronger security system, trialing and erroring advanced technology. So what is the “cloud-type surveillance camera” that the company finally arrived at, completely different from the conventional ones?

Using security tags and RFID gates for further efficiency

SHIPS has been leading the select shop since opening the predecessor “MIURA & SONS” Shibuya in 1975 and opening its first store in Ginza in 1977. Currently, it has over 80 directly managed stores across the country, from planning and sales of original products to developing concept shops.

SHIPS still uses EAS (shoplifting prevention system) with crime prevention tags and gates as a countermeasure against theft. However, “These measures are cumbersome operations, and it takes a lot of time and money,” says Kazunari Abe, information system manager at the company.

Mr. Kazunari Abe, Manager, Ships Information Systems Department“We were exploring whether we could be more efficient with the latest technology, both to promote operational efficiency and to help our staff work more safely.” (Mr. Abe)

For example, product and inventory management We thought that the RFID tag introduced for this purpose could not be used for crime prevention purposes.

“Operation is easy, but depending on the location of the RFID gate, there were frequent false positives such as an alert sounding at a location far from the gate, or an alert not sounding even after passing through the gate. “(Mr. Abe)

Gate security systems using tags will be indispensable for store operations. But that alone will get you stuck. That is why the “surveillance camera” has been renewed.

Issues with analog surveillance cameras

SHIPS, which felt that there were limits to security measures using gates, such as operational load and false detection, thought that it would be possible to build a stronger crime prevention system by using surveillance cameras more.

Of course, until now, SHIPS have used surveillance cameras. However, the installed surveillance camera system is an analog type, and it is not possible to check images anytime and anywhere. It was necessary to install large equipment such as a monitor and a hard disk for recording in the backyard of the store.

Furthermore, when submitting recorded data to the outside, such as the police or insurance companies, the staff needs to copy it to the media, and “the burden on the store staff has been an issue”.

Therefore, “cloud type” surveillance cameras that do not require large-scale hardware for installation and installation, have little impact on the existing network configuration, and that can be used when they want to use have been considered.

The decisive factor in the introduction is “do not use too much network bandwidth”

In considering multiple products and services, the “Eagle Eye Cloud VMS” cloud-type surveillance camera system was chosen. Mr. Abe revealed the points that made the decision as follows.

“Because it is a cloud service, the point is that it does not require large-scale hardware for recording, and how to allocate network bandwidth that does not affect existing networks, such as inventory management and point-of-sale.” (Mr. Abe)

Eagle Eye Cloud VMS has a bridge function to buffer video data. Data can be sent to the cloud in a batch process at night when bandwidth is low. For this reason, it was attractive that there was no need to prepare a new network.

In addition, drivers from major surveillance camera manufacturers are available, so you can choose which camera device to use. The point that “avoids vendor lock-in” was also decisive.

In addition, in the trial calculation of operational costs, the aforementioned product management by RFID brought a by-product. With the introduction of RFID, the inventory time of stores has been reduced by 70%, so the inventory timing has been increased to once a month. This has led to a reduction in the storage period of recorded data in the cloud, and a reduction in data capacity and billing charges.

Thus, the introduction of Eagle Eye cloud VMS will be decided. The system selection started in June 2016, and the decision to introduce it was at the end of September 2016, which was the speed of a cloud system that was about half a year after construction.

* Eagle Eye Cloud VMS has been set up sequentially at the time of newly opened stores and store renovations. Two more stores are planned for the end of the year. In addition, it is installed in the warehouse.

Quick confirmation and real-time monitoring when you want to watch on your smartphone

With the introduction of Eagle Eye Cloud VMS, video from surveillance cameras installed in stores is now stored on the cloud. From the headquarters, it is possible to monitor the current situation of stores scattered throughout the country in real time and manage them centrally.

“In addition to daily monitoring of shop fronts, we use it to deter shoplifting and fraud, and to provide evidence to authorities in the event of shoplifting damage,” says Abe.

First of all, the effect of the introduction is that it is possible to leave a video with high resolution, so that a crime prevention system that does not rely on tags and gates can be built, and the operational burden on employees has been greatly reduced. In addition to managing tags, it is no longer necessary to copy and submit video to media when submitting evidence.

In terms of functionality, it is easy to use. “The management screen is easy to use, and it is easy to customize the display items and to give authority such as“ I want to show only the video of this store to the person in charge of the store, ”says Abe.

“It ’s also excellent for motion detection, and it ’s easy to search for things like“ when someone enters the room where the surveillance camera is installed ”. No ”(Mr. Abe)

And as a cloud service, it is natural that you can check the image remotely from a mobile device such as a smartphone as well as a PC. Mr. Abe speaks.

In addition, the big part is the psychological part of the store staff.

“I don’t see it, but I feel the effect of creating a work environment where store staff can work with peace of mind is great.” (Mr. Abe)

Use for marketing analysis etc.

As a future prospect, there is a point of expanding the use of camera images. In addition to using it for crime prevention purposes so far, there is a possibility that it will be possible to conduct repeat analysis of the same store visitor’s visit history, in-store flow, purchase history, estimated attributes, etc.

As for this, Mr. Abe says that the current situation is also difficult in terms of laws and regulations. This is because more extensive consideration is required not only from the scope of the Personal Information Protection Law but also from the viewpoint of privacy protection. It is said that it would be nice if both the crime prevention and marketing analysis could be performed on the same system by reducing the granularity to a form that cannot identify an individual with image analysis AI.

SHIPS is also actively working to reform the work styles of store employees. “Using technology to make store operations more efficient will continue to be an important theme,” says Abe.

For example, the Grand Front Osaka store achieved zero overtime in February 2017. In order to realize such diverse and flexible work styles, it is essential to improve the efficiency and productivity of operations using technology.

The role that Eagle Eye Cloud VMS should play in order for the company’s store staff to work safely and securely, and to realize efficient and effective store management must become increasingly important.

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