TAO Is a Holding Company Dedicated to Transportation, Logistics, and Distribution

Transportes Aguila de Oro
 
Aguila de Oro Transport (TAO) is a holding company dedicated to transportation, logistics, and distribution of merchandise in Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The company was founded 54 years ago as a family business, and at that time TAO had only one truck, one plant, and 12 employees. Today, the company employs 500 people and has a fleet of over 300 trucks to provide dry and refrigerated transport services, as well as door-to-door service.
 
The challenge
 
The majority of transport companies suffer from common theft on an almost daily basis. According to Juan A. Gonzalez, director of Assekuransa (a company specialising in international merchandise transportation), the most vulnerable countries in the Americas region are Argentina, Brazil and, Mexico. TAO ships cargo throughout North America and as such must meet strict trade and terrorism compliance standards in order to carry on business smoothly. The company sought to obtain necessary C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism) certification, which demands close, effective control of cargo and cargo loading at all times. Another end user objective was to unify and control staff time and attendance, even at locations where there are no supervisors.
 
The solution
 
After an overall assessment of TAO’s needs, systems integrator Global Business Solutions (GBS) recommended the  Intelligent Security Operations Center (iSOC), created by DVTEL. This would provide a unified system of video and access control for the offices and maritime terminals located in Monterrey, Santa Rosa (Nueva Leon state) and Laredo (Tamaulipas).
 
The solution installed by GBS consists of 100 cameras and about 75 points of access, spread throughout the many different buildings in the three cities. HID Global supplied key components for the IP-based access control system, including 45 iCLASS™ readers, 25 VertX™ V2000 controllers, four bioCLASS™ readers for the office and one EdgePlus™ reader.
 
GBS’ solution is notable for being 100% IP and 100% open platform. It has DVTel and AXIS cameras, as well as DVTel encoders. Access control is handled through HID as well as biometric readers by Bioscrypt. The video recording server is from Sun Microsystems and has four 500GB drives that store 10 days worth of video. The video has MPEG-4 and MJPEG format, depending on the cameras and their location in the network. The unified video and access control security systems are distributed across several distant locations, but thanks to the fact that they communicate through IP networks, a centralised administration of all events is possible.
 
The video surveillance system covers all entrances and loading zones, as well as the perimeters, in order to minimise merchandise theft. The access control system achieved the unification of time control and personnel attendance for all locations, including those locations that do not have supervisors. Access control also limits entry for specific areas and times during the day, allowing entry only to authorised personnel.
 
Jorge Vasquez, from GBS, commented, “The choice of this technology was based on the unique features of flexibility, openness, IP network, and the newness of this technology, which couples well with TAO’s innovative spirit, as well as their staff’s knowledge of network and information technologies."
 
The highlights
 
After only six months of operation, management concluded that the DVTel solution enabled TAO to offer services with the highest level of certification and security for their clients.
 
The DVTel iSOC brought TAO the functionality and performance needed for C-TPAT (Customs & Commerce It is important to note that the integrated systems on the DVTel platform have more than 99.9% uptime or uninterrupted performance Association against Terrorism) certification, which demands effective control and tracking of the merchandise load at all times.
 
The video surveillance solution comprises about 100 cameras covering buildings in Monterrey, Santa Rosa and Laredo. TAO’s central monitoring center is in Monterrey and through the DVTel Latitude network video management system, the data network is integrated with the satellite monitoring of the units. Recording servers are located in both Monterrey and Laredo.
 
Access control is based on HID’s IP technology, with a central controlling LNA integrated with DVTel’s Longitude platform, which is also monitored in real time in Aguila de Oro Transports’ monitoring center. This project was the first for HID IP technology in Mexico, and one of the first in all of Latin America.
 
The DVTel iSOC is customised with highly advanced features that include a GPS map, a network map, and the full gamut of camera image visualisation options.
 
It is important to note that the integrated systems on the DVTel platform have more than 99.9% uptime or uninterrupted performance.
 
The overall upgrade project has also raised the level of security for TAO’s operations in regards to many other initiatives, which enabled them to obtain the BASC certification (a voluntary agreement with U.S. Customs to comply with security standards, staff screening, and logistics procedures for international merchandise shipments) which serves as a further guarantee for TAO’s customers.
 
Angel Rodriguez, information technologies director for TAO, said,“Because it is an IP-based technology, we were able to continue to make use of much of the existing network technology, which facilitated the implementation of this solution." Vasquez added, “It’s scalable, we have been able to grow this solution, taking advantage of the infrastructure installed during phase one, which we simply expanded in capacity.”