Electricity and Control April 2024

SAFETY OF PLANT, EQUIPMENT + PEOPLE : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Continued from page 24

provide real-time data which equips decision makers to optimise production output and curb potential revenue loss by minimising downtime, or they may highlight a basic problem on the site such as a water leak. “We design and build control rooms to create neural centres for businesses not only to manage security but also to pull through alerts from fire detection systems, health monitoring on fire detec tions systems, access control and alerts from the IoT devices that we install on site,” he adds. “We don’t put in a CCTV camera so that, after the fact, a cli ent can view footage of what happened. For IntelliSEC, it is about providing solutions that make a site and a company smarter, more efficient and more effective in what they do. With proper oversight, a business can manage by exception. That way, the managing director can pay attention to other, more important parts of a busi ness,” Steyn continues. For example, IntelliSEC recently completed two multimillion rand control rooms for companies in the automotive sector. As the ‘nerve centres’ of these complex production plants, they combine ergonomics and aesthetics with the technology needed to ensure operators can work optimally. Most control rooms are tailor-made to meet the needs of clients and these latest two are designed to accommodate 14 and four operators respectively. Although the smaller facilities are proba bly more applicable to most South African businesses, IntelliSEC’s systems have proven effective across a broad spectrum of in dustries. These include large manufacturing plants, mines, retail centres, logistics and distribution facilities and large residential estates. Speaking of IntelliSEC’s latest control room refurbishment in the Eastern Cape, Steyn describes the former facility as cold, grey and without windows. Even the chairs on which operators perched for more than eight hours a day were 15 years old. The new centre, designed from scratch, includes state-of the-art technology and attends to all the details – from dimmable lights to ergonomically designed chairs, a breakaway room with a kitchenette and rest and recuperation area. The distance between chairs and desks is calculated to minimise neck strain and supervisors’ desks are elevated to provide a bird’s eye view of the entire facility. “We are providing our clients something that also takes into ac count the needs of the people working in the control room. This is where it starts: design a control room that looks after your people so they feel valued. We can’t ask people to perform in an environ ment in which they feel uncomfortable, hot, uninspired,” he says. IntelliSEC’s people focus extends beyond ergonomics and de sign. It employs certified engineers to commission a new control room to ensure all systems are fully integrated and the company is leveraging all the capabilities of the technology that has been installed. Although Steyn describes IntelliSEC as primarily a technology business, it also trains operators to run the sophisticated control rooms it installs. “We empower the on-site controllers to work with the tools we provide. We build systems for businesses to provide them with reliable, valuable data and to enable higher quality work while low ering operational costs and saving time,” Steyn says. □

APRIL 2024 Electricity + Control

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