Sony cameras help agricultural business boost productivity and security

Background

Located 165km from the Serbian capital Belgrade, specialist agricultural business Bačka Sivac is a major food producer serving Serbia’s domestic market. Employing over 60 permanent members of staff, the company produces a wide range of crops including wheat, barley, beets, soybeans, sunflower and corn.

Challenge

Spread across 1450 hectares of privately-owned land, the extensive site features many warehouses, grain silos and mechanical workshops together with arable land and a pig farm.

The safety of farm workers across such a large site is of prime concern for Bačka Sivac. As is the security of the farm’s valuable inventory of mechanical equipment, fuel, fertilizer, seed and other materials that may be at risk in unattended buildings.

Just as importantly, Bačka Sivac needed to keep a close eye on the operational efficiency of farm processes to ensure that employees are performing adequately.

Solution

To help Bačka Sivac streamline the efficiency and safety of its farming operations, Sony proposed a networked video security solution that provides round-the-clock monitoring of buildings, machinery and employees.

Provided and installed by video security specialist and integration partner Star Master, the network of cameras gives farm management a detailed overview of activity across the extensive site – in all weathers and under any lighting conditions.

HD video from each camera is transmitted wirelessly to Star Master’s centralized network monitoring and control center in the Serbian town of Kula. Here, images from each camera are viewed on a large ‘video wall’ of 24 screens. This provides network operations staff with an at-a-glance overview of activity in all areas of Bačka Sivac site, day and night.

A total of twenty SNC-VB600 cameras keep a watchful eye over employees and valuable equipment in warehouses, workshops and vehicle garages. The compact ‘all-in-one’ network camera delivers crisp 720p HD video coverage via its wide-angle lens. Its built-in movement sensor can trigger an alarm event or switch on the cameras’ integrated LED illuminator, a powerful deterrent to would-be thieves. With the addition of Sony´s SCA-S30 Outdoor Speaker, the camera’s built-in microphone allows two way voice communication between employees in outbuildings and network operations center staff.

Four farm tractors have each been fitted with a pair of SNC-XM632 minidome IP cameras. Boosting employee safety, the compact cameras monitor activity in the cabin and at the rear of the vehicle. Developed specially for in-vehicle use, the rugged SNC-XM632 captures crisply detailed Full HD images via its wide-angle lens and sensitive, highresolution Exmor CMOS sensor – even in low-light conditions where other cameras struggle to see clearly. Video is recorded directly onto a removable SD memory card while the tractor’s in use. At the end of the working day, footage is automatically transferred back to base wirelessly for later analysis as required.

Results

The arrival of Sony´s networked video solution has transformed commercial efficiency at Bačka Sivac. The farm’s management team report better visibility of day-to-day operations, from accurate assessment of employees’ activities to monitoring of crop levels stored in warehouses.

It’s estimated by the company that overall productivity has been increased by the equivalent of one hour’s additional labour per employee each day. More efficient deployment and monitoring of farm vehicles’ movements has also contributed to major savings in fuel costs.

Further benefits include heightened safety and security for farm staff, with the discreet presence of cameras across the site helping safeguard valuable buildings, plant and machinery.

In total, Bačka Sivac estimates that its investment in networked video security across the farm estate has been repaid in just six months.