Motorola's worldwide business units take proximity company-wide

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

Through technology standardization, the company achieves single-card access throughout its global facilities.

In Tempe, Ariz., home to Motorola's newly established flat panel display division, summertime temperatures can exceed 120 degrees. And those who work there sometimes have to travel to company headquarters in Chicago and endure winter temperatures as low as 20 degrees below zero.

Cathy Purvis, security director of Motorola's automotive components, computer and energy sector, must account for such extremes when designing access control systems for her geographically diverse employer. She chose ASP Advantage Series proximity access control products from Motorola's Indala Corp., San Jose, Calif., for the Tempe division.

"In colder areas, we had problems with moisture getting into the card slots of Wiegand and magnetic stripe readers and freezing up," Purvis explains. "Slots also tend to collect debris - even chewing gum."

By choosing proximity access control products, which have no moving parts, as the company-wide standard, Motorola is eliminating those problems, says Purvis.

The Tempe division, housed in a new 270,000-square-foot facility, is researching and developing the next generation of flat panel display technology for applications ranging from consumer products such as computer monitors, to instrumentation products such as medical monitors, automotive navigation and process control. The new headquarters contains more than 30,000 square feet of clean-room space and is situated on 20 acres, with additional acreage for expansion.

A sophisticated security system The new cards and readers are part of a sophisticated security system recently installed there. It includes a security alarm system linked to the doors, a Sensormatic closed-circuit-television system inside and outside the facility, an Aiphone intercom system linked to the security desk and Code Blue emergency call boxes in the parking lot.

For access control, Purvis chose the C*Cure 750 system from the access control division of Sensormatic Electronics Co., Boca Raton, Fla. A Windows 95-based product that supports up to 128 readers, the 750 is an entry-level system that can be expanded when the division is ready. It is interfaced to event-driven Sensormatic cameras that zoom in on doors if unauthorized access is attempted, and it can be upgraded to Windows NT by switching out the front end.

But just as important as the system components was the supplier's ability to provide the service that the division required, both during and after installation, says Purvis.

"Going out on a new project like this, there can be a lot of headaches," she explains. "It is better if the site security manager has one basic turnkey security system, so there is only one contractor to deal with."

The reader portion of the system comprises 29 Indala ASR-505 WallSwitch proximity readers and two ASR-110 standard proximity readers. The ASR-505s are used at door access points and have up to a 4-inch read range. The ASR-110s, which have slightly longer read ranges (up to 7 inches), are used at the facility's service gate entrance. Both readers are single piece with the components located in the antenna, eliminating the need for remote electronics. They are linked to seven Sensormatic advanced processing controller panels, which, in turn, are connected to the host computer, a Pentium PC running the access control software.

The division also purchased 400 Indala Image30 proximity cards, a thin credential that's dye-sublimation printable from edge to edge, enabling the combination of photo ID badges with the access cards.

Company-wide standardization The division's selection of the Indala proximity products is in keeping with Motorola's policy to standardize on Indala equipment company-wide.

"We decided to develop a one-badge system company-wide for our employees, while maintaining flexibility in our use of system integrators," says Purvis.

Because of Motorola's diverse locations, the company has found it best to use whatever system integrator can provide the highest quality service in a given area. But like a lot of large companies, it has to deal with multiple card/reader technologies as a result. "We have senior managers who have to carry five or six different cards to gain access to various facilities," Purvis points out.

Motorola is beginning to eliminate that problem by standardizing the card/reader system with Indala proximity products, which are compatible with various access control systems.

"The idea is we can have a Sensormatic system in Tempe, Ariz., a Lenel system in Elma, N.Y., and a Monitor Dynamics system at sector headquarters in Northbrook, and still have compatible cards and readers throughout our business units," Purvis explains.

To further aid the company-wide adoption of the new products, Indala created a Wiegand format known as the Motorola Secure format, which enhances security and provides the company with more than 134 million ID numbers - enough to identify all company employees worldwide. It allows more than 60,000 ID numbers to be issued to one facility, which, according to Purvis, is particularly helpful for a large corporation such as Motorola.

Read/write technology key to future expansion Purvis anticipates expanding the division's proximity system as the facility expands. She also plans to add read/write technology to the system soon - an enhancement that will allow further combination of multiple technologies in a single card, creating a true "campus card."

"Indala's read/write technology will allow us to eliminate even more employee badges such as the one used for property control," Purvis says. "We'll be able to download information to the card that indicates an employee is authorized to take X,Y and Z from the premises."

The division also plans to take advantage of read/write technology by adding information about the cafeteria debit vending systems (normally contained on a separate card) to employees' access control cards.

Proximity access control, photo ID, property pass and a contactless debit purse will be combined on a single card.

Automation replaces paper to track assets

When Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector, Phoenix, Ariz., decided that its paper pass system for portable assets was inadequate, it sought a change. The system did not provide an audit trail in real time, and it wasted time on the approval process and handling of paper. Sixty-five percent of the time was spent on approvals; 7 percent on review; 21 percent on the actual transaction; and 7 percent on processing paper.

Motorola benchmarked a number of companies to see how they handled property movement and found Phoenix-based Intel using the Public Access Security Station (PASS) made by Control Monitor Systems, Huntington Beach, Calif. While the system did not address all their concerns, it was the only one they found that virtually eliminated paper passes.

After meeting with the engineers of Control Monitor Systems for almost a year, Motorola installed the Automated Property Pass System (APPS) in 19 Semiconductor Products Sector facilities. The new system was an enhanced version of PASS with enhanced reporting capabilities.

The system consists of PC-based terminals at the access points, which include a keypad, display and bar-code reading gun. Employees enter a PIN code and follow the directions on the display, which prompt them to swipe their badge and scan the bar code on the assets. The system indicates that the transaction is granted or denied, notifies the security officer if it is denied and logs the event for auditing and reporting.

Simple to operate, the system: n allows Motorola to shift the responsibility for portable assets from the company to the employees; n eliminates manager approval of assets leaving the plant unless the customer wishes to restrict a specific asset or individual; n provides an audit trail; n eliminates property passes in 90 percent of transactions; and n provides details of property movement for subsequent investigations.

Motorola's Space Systems Technology Group, Haydon, Ariz., is installing seven asset-tracking stations in four of its locations.

The company has received rave reviews from the field due in large part to the fact that they have reduced cycle time to move property by 92 percent. They have also cut more than 2,800 hours per month from the approval and handling process. The Semiconductor Products Sector division logs about 40,000 transactions (property in and out is one transaction) yearly.

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© 2008 Penton Media Inc.

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