Start from the gate
Everything entering and leaving the site passes the gate. A plate-recognition camera there records the number of every vehicle and its entry and exit time automatically, which lets you match actual movements against shipping notes and purchase orders — a check that paperwork alone does not give you.
Yards and perimeter
Open yards need coverage planned around light poles and vehicle routes, not cameras spread evenly. And the perimeter wall benefits more from early warning — a detection line that alerts on crossing — than from a row of cameras nobody watches.
The environment: dust, heat and vibration
Dust coats the lens within weeks and the image degrades gradually. Periodic cleaning belongs in the maintenance contract, not in a complaint. Heat shortens equipment life and stops recording in summer, so cameras and cabinets are chosen for an Eastern Province summer rather than an office. Vibration loosens mountings, so fixing is to rigid structure.
Distances and linking buildings
The useful distance of copper cable is about 100 metres, and an industrial site is usually longer. Beyond it, intermediate cabinets or fibre are used between buildings — not a chain of devices that multiplies the points of failure. Routes are protected metal rather than exposed plastic.
Power and continuity
A recording that stops with the mains is a recording you cannot rely on. Backup power for the recorder, the switch and the gate cameras keeps the most important points running through an outage, which is often exactly when you need them.
Storage and retrieval
Retention is calculated from the number of cameras, the bitrate and the movement pattern, and it is fixed in writing at handover. And synchronising the camera clocks with the inventory system makes it possible to return to any loading operation by order number rather than by scrolling through hours of footage.
