Deere & Company upgrades security continent-wide

Sep 1, 1998 12:00 PM, AC&SSI Staff

           

Famous for farm equipment, the $12 billion corporation has expanded into other business areas, and is completing the first phase of a world-class security system.

When John Deere started his one-man blacksmith shop in 1837, he probably never imagined it would become a $12 billion worldwide corporation. Today, production at Deere & Company has moved beyond the steel plows its founder was famous for. While still a well-known maker of agricultural equipment, it is also a supplier of industrial equipment, as well as financial services such as credit, insurance and managed-health-care plans. Deere & Company employs nearly 40,000 people, has manufacturing operations stretching from China to Argentina, and does business in more than 160 countries. Architecturally, things have changed for the company as well. Corporate headquarters has evolved from the tiny blacksmith shop to a large facility that has received numerous design awards. The site, known to Deere employees as the Glass Palace, sits on 1,500 acres of pastoral land in Moline, Ill. Its architectural beauty, however, presents building-system design challenges. Since the building was not created with security features in mind, incorporating a new security system into it was a complex task.

Architectural showplace presents challenges "Our headquarters building is an architectural showplace, but we needed to bring it up to security, fire and life safety standards," says Craig Beek, Deere & Company's manager of corporate security. "It is a unique and difficult structure to work with, incorporating a lot of exposed, rusting steel," says Tony Green, president of Interface Security Systems LLC, the systems integrator installing the new safety and security system. "It's a beautiful environment, and the challenge is to secure the property while making the system invisible."

Integrated system provides solution The company is completing Phase I of an estimated $10 million plan to provide a standardized safety and security system throughout all Deere & Company North American facilities. At the heart of the system is a Monitor Dynamics SAFEnet security system, which is capable of integrating security alarms, access control, fire monitoring, energy control, CCTV and video imaging into one communication network of distributed processors. The SAFEnet system is run on an OS/2 platform with redundant fileservers and remote workstations, all connected via Deere's TCP/IP network. It is combined with Advantage Series Proximity access control equipment from Motorola's Indala Corp. Indala ASR-505 WallSwitch Proximity Readers, which can be mounted on a single-gang electrical junction box or any flat surface, and ASR-503 Slimline Proximity Readers, which can be mounted on metal window frames and door frames, are used through the facilities - at exterior and interior doors, gates, elevators and computer rooms, according to Beek. To gain entrance, employees hold out their purse or wallet containing their access control credential, a credit-card-size ASC-121T LifeTime proximity card. Deere & Company applies adhesive-backed employee photos to the cards and color codes them for various company units, contractors, etc. The company also links the access control system with its personnel records system, so employees who leave the company and do not turn in their cards are automatically deleted from the access control database. A major part of the Phase I installation has been the creation of a self-contained 2,300-square-foot communications center. From the center, staff monitor security, fire and life safety systems, including the access control equipment, an Edwards Systems Technology fire alarm system, Kalatel CCTV, a Picturetel teleconferencing system for transmitting compressed vi-deo, a Honeywell alarm system, radio communications, and even weather radar.

Access system to be standard corporation-wide Currently, some 5,000 Deere & Company employees are using the new access control system, and that is just the beginning. According to Beek, 20,000 Deere employees will eventually use the system at 35 to 40 company facilities, including marketing branch offices, health care offices and manufacturing units across the U.S. and Canada. "We are trying to link everything in North America to the access control system," Beek says. "Our objective is to have single-card use throughout the whole corporation, so employees can move from unit to unit invisibly." Beek himself travels worldwide and looks forward to the time his card will work at every company location. Even the company's most remote offices will have stand-alone access control equipment that is compatible with the Indala proximity cards, he reports.

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