Logistics process monitoring and enhanced security

for fast growing Dutch retailer

About Bax-shop
From the attic to a multi-million Euro enterprise

In 1998, with a passion for music the Bax brothers started renting and selling DJ, PA and lighting equipment from their attic.  Today the company turns over more than 100 million Euros, employees over 400 staff and stocks more than 600 brands with countless musicians, DJs and producers choosing to order their gear from Bax-shop both online and in-store, making it one of the fastest growing companies in The Netherlands.

The Bax-shop headquarters in Goes features a logistics centre, offices and a retail outlet where customers can try out a range of equipment and instruments. The shop offers no less than a 1,600 square metre ‘music experience’, complete with acoustic sound studios.

The challenge
Controlled growth through process monitoring

Recruited by the Bax brothers as a director, entrepreneur Hans Deurssen has led the massive growth of the company over the last six years. He is also the creator of the plan to monitor the entire Goes operation using surveillance cameras.  When a company that has grown as fast as Bax-shop there is a potential for many things to go wrong.  Items can get lost or customers receive something other than what they ordered. Deurssen wanted a solution to resolve these issues in order to avoid wrongly accusing a good customer for fraud or simply giving them the benefit of the doubt, so Bax-shop needed an audit trail to ascertain if a complaint was justified.

The implementation of a video surveillance system would enhance both the security of staff and products, while providing a process monitoring and regulation solution.  Given the scale of the company this would be a huge challenge, so Bax-shop turned to IDIS Benelux and systems integration partner Gerrit de Jonge Technology to suggest a proven and suitable solution.

The solution
High definition surveillance for continuous business process monitoring

Due to the large area that required monitoring, the need to distinguish fine detail and the low lighting conditions in the logistics centre and store, after evaluation Bax-shop choose the best solution available; full-HD, high performance and quality cameras from IDIS.

Phase one of the project focussed the use of IDIS cameras to monitor products in order to prove they provided the level of detail, high quality and simple operation Bax-shop were looking for.  The next phase expanded the IDIS solution into a far more comprehensive operation that now includes a range of 172 full-HD dome cameras installed and connected to the Bax-shop network, encompassing six servers and multiple workstations running on 10GB Ethernet.

Operated through the enterprise-level video management system, IDIS Solution Suite, provides centralised management and administration platform for all users, while the IDIS Solution Suite monitoring module provides full system status including all connected components.  The dedicated servers each support a 64 channel capacity to record all cameras continuously and bandwidth management technology ensures the footage can be viewed live, remotely, retrieved by multiple users in full-HD and the IDIS Solution Suite backup module secures footage enabling long term archiving and an audit trail of events.   The IDIS solution also guarantees the scalability to expand the system up 4096 cameras, effectively future proofing Bax-shop’s investment.

The result
Enhanced safety and security and complete logistics audit trail

The main purpose of the IDIS solution is to monitor, regulate logistics and provide a full audit trail of customers’ products from point of order until they leave the logistic centre allowing staff to quickly and easily clarify any mistakes.

In addition, it has also significantly improved security and staff safety. The large range of products that Bax-shop sell are susceptible to theft and the cameras in the shop are proving to be an excellent tool for loss prevention and internal shrinkage.  Outdoor night vision cameras also alert the security team to any unwanted nocturnal visits to the warehouse further increasing security and improving loss prevention.

Hans Deurssen, Director, Bax-shop

“The system works perfectly! Very quickly, Bax-shop staff can determine the cause of reports and complaints. We have three monitors where all the camera images are displayed using the IDIS intuitive video management system. By circling a product and tracking it on the screen, our staff can determine instantly when it disappears or if indeed the wrong product was shipped. It’s fast, simple and clear and that’s exactly what we were looking to achieve. In addition, the IDIS solution is flexible and easy to expand, which is precisely what we will need to do as the Bax-shop continues to grow.”