Cadbury is the second largest confectioner worldwide and Australia’s chocolate and confectionary supplier. Cadbury holds a 53-percent market share in Australia giving them the number one position in chocolate with a strong presence in other confectionary.
Cadbury Australia has a major manufacturing base in Melbourne, Victoria, which mainly produces chocolate bars and Easter products. The company exports product to a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region including New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Brunei.
Cadbury is the second largest confectioner worldwide and Australia's chocolate and confectionary supplier. Cadbury holds a 53-percent market share in Australia giving them the number one position in chocolate with a strong presence in other confectionary.
Cadbury Australia has a major manufacturing base in Melbourne, Victoria, which mainly produces chocolate bars and Easter products. The company exports product to a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region including New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Brunei.
As a division of the second largest confectioner, Cadbury Australia has to be extra vigilant of its processes and procedures. The company recognizes it is representing a brand with a heritage tracing back almost 200 years; with Cadbury products being enjoyed in almost every country around the world.
It is essential for Cadbury Australia to have the processes and procedures in place to uphold the integrity of the global Cadbury brand. To achieve this and fulfill the company's commitment to providing quality product to customers, it is critical that all areas of the business are fully secure and not exposed to potential contamination.
With stringent manufacturing standards, Cadbury Australia's challenge is to ensure a controlled environment is emulated across all processes. All products are packaged and labeled as required by Australian and Federal Food regulations; and it is crucial as per these regulations that there is no risk of contamination.
“We have a high duty of care. When you're selling confectionary to the public you have to make sure that what is written on the packet is in the bag and nothing extra,” said Gordon Menzies, Maintenance Planner. Cadbury Australia's Melbourne site is responsible for a amount of warehousing and distribution, and covers an area greater than the Melbourne Cricket Ground (which has a crowd capacity of more than100,000). This operation requires a high-level security system that can cater for the large amount of activity and movement that comes from such a substantial distribution center.
Before Cadbury Australia's review of their perimeter security, they had a number of different technologies securing the premises, including microwave beams, cameras and a chainmesh fence. The chainmesh fence was installed for many years and the company experienced numerous incidents of people cutting holes in the fence to forcibly gain entry.
Because of this and the other technology deteriorating with age, the Cadbury team had to find a perimeter solution that would detect and deter people and ensure that no unauthorized personnel entered the site.
After comparing various perimeter security systems, Cadbury Australia made the decision to install a perimeter system from Gallagher Security Management Systems (GSMS) around their Ringwood premises in Melbourne. The facilities protected include the large distribution warehouses, manufacturing facilities, car parks and shops, ensuring that Cadbury Australia have full control of their site.
The system covers four kilometers around the perimeter of the Melbourne plant and runs with 12 different zones. The separate zones give management the capability to manage sections of the fence separately. This was a particularly important requirement as the site has a school on one of its boundaries. With the multiple zones, Cadbury is able to isolate the zone closest to the school to avoid potential injuries.
Since installation of the solution there has not been one attempted break-in at the Melbourne Cadbury site. The solution is doing its job at deterring would-be intruders. “We haven't had one issue since we turned the fence on. It all stopped,” Menzies said. Because of the deteriorating old security technology and Cadbury's increasing focus on their duty of care, Menzies also mentioned, “We rely on the system.” The system has taken over as the complete security solution for Cadbury Australia.
Success of the installation has resulted in monetary savings for Cadbury. The business saves an estimated one million per year in manpower, as they no longer need security guards to patrol the fence boundaries. They have managed to reduce security staff to two, with a major benefit of the system being that it has a central monitoring point. The guards are also very happy with the new perimeter security system. “When you have the guards on site embracing it, it goes along way,” Menzies said. The system has also played a large part in Cadbury's risk management programme.