The PowerFence system has taken over as the complete security solution for Cadbury Australia

Cadbury plc

Cadbury is the second largest confectioner worldwide and Australia's leading chocolate and confectionary supplier. Cadbury holds a 53% market share in Australia giving them the number one position in chocolate with a strong presence in other confectionary.

Cadbury Australia has a major manufacturing base in Melbourne, Victoria, which mainly produces chocolate bars and Easter products. The company exports products to a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region; including New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and Brunei.

As a division of the world's second largest confectioner, Cadbury Australia has to be extra vigilant of its processes and procedures. The company recognises it is representing a brand with a heritage tracing back almost 200 years; with Cadbury products now being enjoyed in almost every country around the world.

It is essential for Cadbury Australia to have the processes and procedures in place to uphold the integrity of the global Cadbury brand. To achieve this and fulfil the company's commitment to providing quality product to customers, it is critical that all areas of the business are fully secure and not exposed to potential contamination.

The challenge

With stringent world-class manufacturing standards, Cadbury Australia's challenge is to ensure a controlled environment is emulated across all processes. All products are packaged and labelled as required by Australian and Federal Food regulations; and it is crucial as per these regulations that there is no risk of contamination.

Cadbury's maintenance planner Gordon Menzies elaborates: "We have an extremely high Duty of Care. When you are selling confectionary to the public you have to make sure that what is written on the packet is in the bag and nothing extra."

The PowerFence covers four kilometres around the perimeter of the Melbourne plant

Cadbury Australia's Melbourne site is responsible for a significant amount of warehousing and distribution, and covers an area greater than the Melbourne Cricket Ground (which has a crowd capacity of over 100,000). This considerable operation requires a high level security system that can cater for the large amount of activity and movement that comes from such a substantial distribution centre.

Before Cadbury Australia's review of their perimeter security, they had a number of different technologies securing the premises, including microwave beams, cameras and a chainmesh fence. The chainmesh fence was installed for many years and the company experienced numerous incidents of people cutting holes in the fence to forcibly gain entry. Because of this and the other technology deteriorating with age, the Cadbury team had to find a perimeter solution that would detect and deter people and ensure that no unauthorised personnel entered the site.

Cadbury Australia in Melbourne ideally required a perimeter security solution that would:

1. Provide a deter and detect solution 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, fulfilling Cadbury Australia's duty of care.
2. Add credibility to the Melbourne premises, positioning them as one of Cadbury internationals highly secure warehouse and distribution sites with an obvious focus on product security, quality and consumer well-being.
3. Be safe for all employees and customers on-site.
4. Provide a multiple zone system for management of different fence zones.
5. Reduce the need for on-site perimeter patrolling security guards and hence significantly reduce security expenses.

The solution

After comparing various perimeter security systems, Cadbury Australia made the decision to install a PowerFence™ from Gallagher Security Management Systems (GSMS) around their St Kilda premises in Melbourne. The facilities protected include the large distribution warehouses, manufacturing facilities, car parks and shops, ensuring that Cadbury Australia have full control of their site.

The PowerFence™ covers four kilometres around the perimeter of the Melbourne plant and runs with 12 different zones. The separate zones give management the capability to manage sections of the fence separately. This was a particularly important requirement as the site has a school on one of its boundaries. With the multiple zones, Cadbury is able to isolate the zone closest to the school to avoid potential injuries.

Since installation of the PowerFence there has not been one attempted break-in at the Melbourne Cadbury site

Proven and effective

Since installation of the PowerFence™ there has not been one attempted break-in at the Melbourne Cadbury site. The PowerFence™ is doing its job at successfully deterring would-be intruders as Menzies comments: "We haven't had one issue since we turned the fence on. It all stopped." Because of the deteriorating old security technology and Cadburys increasing focus on their duty of care, Menzies also mentioned: "We now rely very heavily on our PowerFence™ system." The PowerFence™ system has taken over as the complete security solution for Cadbury Australia.

Success of the PowerFence™ has resulted in significant monetary savings for Cadbury. The business now saves an estimated 1 million per year in manpower, as they no longer need security guards to patrol the fence boundaries. They have managed to reduce security staff to two, with a major benefit of the PowerFence™ being that it has a central monitoring point. The guards are also very happy with the new perimeter security system, and Menzies mentioned: "When you have the guards on-site embracing it - it goes a long way."

The PowerFence™ has also played a large part in Cadbury's risk management programme. "We have got our own risk assessors within the business who come out and do surveys, they were really happy to see the PowerFence™ go in," says Menzies.