Management at Nishat Mills Limited, the parent company of Nishat Power Limited, decided to introduce a comprehensive security system specifically to monitor movement of personnel and outside traffic. In order to do so, a number of considerations were taken into account: foremost among them, the architectural layout of the facilities, lighting conditions, and the variety of dissimilar working areas. In the later case, the differences extended between employees working outdoors on the top of elevated buildings, to smaller office spaces used for shipping.

In order to achieve these security arrangements, Kamran Rashid, CEO of Digital Links – the Pakistani firm contracted for this project – relied upon Hikvision. Mr. Rashid noted, "Initially, management at Nishat was leaning towards other security components. But, it took only a brief meeting and demonstration to establish the quality that Hikvision brings to the table. After, Nishat management was firmly convinced that Hikvision was the way to go."

Yet, the question of actually how to secure all of these varying locations still needed to be addressed. Mr. Rashid decided "to use a variety of Hikvision cameras, since each of these specific models offers a technological strength to overcome a particular problem."

Case in point was the outdoor working area, where employees often roamed the top of tall boilers in their day-to-day operations. Hikvision’s DS-2AF1-517B 36x WDR speed dome was selected to perform this task. These speed domes were strategically placed upon higher facilities, such as chimneys or poles, to take advantage of the DS-2AF1-517B’s ability to view all areas of the horizon.

Additionally, “the excellent zoom feature was critical to accurately monitor what these workers were doing as a means of ensuring their safety and the overall security of the plant,” Mr. Rashid explained. Features such as a 1/4’’ SONY CCD, proportional zoom function, and 3D intelligent positioning function are but a few of the features that allow this speed dome to see both individual workers, and a detailed view of the horizon of this plant.

Staying outdoors, the DS-2CC192P-IRT analogue camera was tasked with securing the perimeter of the facility. To take advantage of a 40-metre IR range capacity, this camera was placed on gates and boundary walls to secure the perimeter. Built within a sturdy and compact structure design, the DS-2CC192P-IRT features a 1/3” Sony CCD, vari-focal lens with auto focus, wireless remote with zooming function and the ability to operate within a minimum Illumination of 0.1Lux @ F1.2 (0 Lux With IR) all combined to offer a "perfect camera to use in the daytime and at night to see what is happening on the periphery of these power plants," Mr. Rashid explained.

Of particular note, the ability to remotely zoom onto objects at night was exceedingly important. Mr. Rashid noted, "We have the ability to see whatever might be of interest to us – be it an automobile license plate or a person walking – at the touch of a button and all with the confidence that lighting is not an issue."

Inside the power plants, two different Hikvision speed domes were utilised. For smaller rooms, the DS2CC502P-M dome camera was chosen. In these areas, often staffed by only a handful of employees for tasks such as shipping, the ability to see detail was paramount. "Obviously, security personnel need the ability to quickly adjust the cameras vantage point and zoom onto an area in great detail. In locations such as this, detail is king," Mr. Rashid elaborated upon.

The tremendous detail required is provided by another 1/3” Sony CCD, auto white balance, auto gain control, electric shutter control and backlight compensation; all the while guaranteeing high performance regardless of light level with a low illumination capacity of 0.1Lux at F1.2.

Yet, in larger indoor areas, such as control rooms that monitor engines and other vital machinery, Hikvision’s DS2CC572P-M dome camera was used. Mr. Rashid explained, "For rooms such as this, where there is a lot going on – such as multiple lines of control panels – we really needed to take into account the specific dynamics of the working space."

One example of this was the low ceilings. This limited the use of a traditional box camera and put the focus onto a dome, which has the ability to give more flexibility in these conditions. Both clear detail and an equally clear picture of a broader area were deemed important factors that needed to be addressed by this camera. And with Hikvision technology, such as digital signal processing, internal synchronization and day/night functionality with auto-switch, both were.

Finally, Hikvision’s DS-7316HI-S standalone DVR allowed these Nishat power plant managers the ability to view live streaming video, playback, and configure video parameters utilising the LAN function – and all from their offices. Utilising Hikvision’s IVMS-4000 software to seamlessly link supervisors’ computers to Hikvision DVRs has proved to "increase both efficiency and introduce a more streamlined method of sharing video information,” Mr. Rashid explained. "Furthermore," he elaborated, "utilising H.264 video compression and each DVR’s 4 SATA HDD at 2TB each, the requirement of 15 days recording is no longer an issue. We are very happy with the hard-drive space."

The exemplary performance of Hikvision at these Nishat plants has had a cascading effect. Mr. Rashid noted, "From performance, to the ability to generate savings, to the excellent customer service, Hikvision has made a very positive impact in these Nishat facilities."