Security Conversations: Safeguarding diamonds with SRK Exports

Did you know that over 90% of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished in the city of Surat, India? Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. (SRK Exports) owns one of the largest and most progressive diamond processing facilities in the region, handling more than 720 thousand carats of rough diamonds annually.

In this short Q&A, Shreyans Dholakia, Director at SRK Export explains why they decided to swap out an existing IP video system for Genetec™ Security Center. You’ll also discover how that move has made it significantly easier for their team to safeguard assets and operations from manufacturing facilities in Surat to headquarters in Mumbai.

 

 

Q: Can you tell us a bit about SRK Exports? 

Shree Ramkrishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. (SRK) is a leading diamond manufacturer in India. We currently have two offices in Mumbai where we handle our sales and marketing. We also have two factories in Surat, where we cut and polish the diamonds. One factory is older, but the second one is a state-of-the-art, 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility with a seating capacity of over 4,000 people, under one roof.

Q: Why upgrade your security? Were there any challenges?

Our natural diamonds are very highly valued. A single diamond can range anywhere between $1,000 to $1 million USD. While we use a special system to track all the stones in our factory, these diamonds are very small. Without high-resolution video, it’s very difficult to see what happened if a diamond is lost, misplaced, or jumps during the polishing phase by accident.

The analog system we had in the older factory didn’t provide the video clarity we needed to handle those investigations. It also required a large space for a video wall. For that reason, we chose to go with an IP video management system.

Unfortunately, only six months after installation, we began to see the limitations of the IP video system we had chosen. We weren’t happy with the performance of the system or the service from the vendor. Plus, the system could only accommodate 40 cameras per server. We had to choose whether to spend money on more servers or replace the software completely. That’s when we started looking at Genetec.

Q: Implementing a new solution isn’t easy, why did you choose Genetec?

We had asked our system integrator for other options, and he presented two solutions. One of them was Security Center Omnicast™. Immediately, we could tell it was a very advanced platform and it was within our budget. We also visited many businesses in the region that were using the Genetec security platform, and it came highly recommended.

Since Security Center was an open platform, we knew it would work with our existing cameras. And there were several video analytics and bandwidth-saving features in Security Center that caught our interest.

The best part was that the Omnicast VMS could accommodate over 100 cameras per server, giving us the opportunity to expand. So, in terms of scalability, it was an excellent solution.

Q: How are you using your Genetec solutions today at SRK Exports?

Currently, we’re using Omnicast to manage about 1,100 cameras across three locations. About 950 cameras are in our state-of-the-art factory where we cut and polish the diamonds. A little under 200 cameras are in the two Mumbai sales offices.

We use the system to monitor activity in real-time, but mostly to handle investigations if an incident occurs. Our team can quickly search through recordings to find out what might have happened, or where a diamond might have accidentally fallen.

We’re also using the Genetec™ Mobile app. Our factory and floor managers can easily access the system from an iPad and our directors retrieve video from their phones if needed. We’ve also enabled the multicast feature, so we never have issues with overloading the network if many people are viewing video at the same time during an investigation.

Q: How have the new Genetec solutions benefited SRK Exports?

Security Center is very easy to navigate and use. Our floor managers are always on the move. So, when incidents happen, they can do a little bit of investigation from their iPad to identify issues. They will then report their findings to the factory manager. Together with security and IT, our managers take a closer look in the control room.

In terms of day-to-day operations, it has become so much easier and faster to review video. We can move forward and backward, without any delays in accessing the video.

We also have a lot of flexibility and growth potential with the Genetec system. We look forward to adding new features and system capabilities in the future. That might include integrating Security Center Omnicast with access control, intrusion, or our RFID-enabled diamond tracking system.