ACT access control solution deployed by French retail chain Hyper U

ACT units cover 60 doors and the equipment works with intruder alarms, CCTV and perimeter intrusion

French retail chain Hyper U is using an access control solution from ACT at one of its largest stores, a 20,000-square-metre property with 200 full-time personnel at the western town of Savenay in the Loire Estuary.

The integrator is 2ACOM who have installed the equipment in two phases after the end-user found the ACT solution to be robust, reliable and with the functionality needed to both secure the site and improve logistics by reporting on staff activity.

Hyper U wanted to control and log movement of staff around the shop floor, office block, delivery areas, car parks, lifts, stock rooms and perimeter. The client also needed a hierarchical rights management system so that staff would only access certain groups of doors associated with their job function and at appropriate times of day according to their shift. Hyper U found the flexibility they needed in ACT’s door stations, door controllers, readers and ACTWin software.

The software’s graphical interface is simplifying database management for Hyper U and has allowed supervisors to create 71 user groups, so promoting complete visibility of staff movement and enhancing health & safety at a store with long opening hours where there is activity 24 hours a day. While the human resources department can intervene if workers are not in the right place when they should be, the access control system also contributes to staff welfare by creating an audit trail. This ensures that workers do not become stranded in remote areas or spend excessive amounts of time in locations such as refrigeration rooms.

The door security also ensures that prospective thieves remain on the shop-floor and are denied entry to areas where high-value items are stored. It should be noted that French supermarket retailers make extensive use of the concession system whereby there is a gallery of ‘boutique’ suppliers of items such as smart phones and tablet computers operating under the same roof.

Areas that are commercially sensitive (e.g. cashier’s office, luxury electrical goods) as well as loading bays where the presence of vehicles puts a premium on safety have a twin level of security with both keypads and proximity readers being used.

Serge Tureau is Export Sales Manager at ACT. He said: “Hyper U can take advantage of the sophisticated card editing and printing offered by ACTWin Pro as well as the software’s unlimited log events and auto-discovery of door stations and controllers on the network. Facilities managers will appreciate the ACTpro 4000 door controller which offers TCP/IP networking, low bandwidth requirements and voltage monitoring.”

“But at the manual level it is units such as the outdoor ACTpro 1030PM proximity reader which sits flush against a wall and is reinforced by a steel plate that will assist staff who are required to move goods in safety-critical areas, often with the use of forklift trucks.”

The ACT units cover 60 doors and the equipment is working in conjunction with intruder alarms, CCTV and perimeter intrusion protection.

The integrators, Nantes-based 2ACOM, specialise in telephony but have recognised how IP-based access control is a complementary sector in which they can work. 2ACOM have been using ACT solutions for 10 years. The company also excels in video surveillance, fire protection and network cabling services. 2ACOM covers much of the Atlantic coast in the Loire area and the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Nantes.