Improving Security Management for a Leading Brazilian Manufacturer

Founded in 1992, Fitas Flax is a packaging material manufacturer with five locations in Manaus and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. Fitas Flax leverages video surveillance to protect its assets, ensure employee safety, and monitor productivity. William Redig, Head of IT at Fitas Flax, shares why he upgraded to Rhombus and how it transformed security and operations across his organization.

The Challenges

“Our previous system wasn’t a surveillance system, nor did it improve security – it was purely an investigative tool that added complexity and difficulty to our operations.”

Unreliable Technology and Sudden System Failure

At one of Fitas Flax’s Manaus locations, an existing DVR system suddenly failed without warning. IT had to be on-site or have the device in-hand to troubleshoot the failure. Headquartered in Rio De Janiero, Fitas Flax had to either ship the faulty device from Manaus or send someone on a 5-hour flight. At this moment, William saw an opportunity to upgrade from his legacy system to a more modern solution.

Difficult to Maintain

Fitas Flax faced numerous challenges when trying to maintain their legacy infrastructure across multiple locations. The lack of remote management and maintenance caused operational inefficiencies, added unnecessary labor and IT costs, and was unscalable for their organization.

“Trying to manage multiple DVR systems across various sites efficiently was nearly impossible and traveling to each location to do a system check, view footage, or conduct routine maintenance -- didn’t make sense. We needed a solution that could help us, not hinder us.”

Complicated Software and Time-Consuming Investigations

“Our previous vendors rarely had firmware updates, the software felt ancient, and the video quality was horrible. Remotely viewing footage required poking holes in our firewall, creating opportunities for malware to crawl into our network. We also only had one log-in per location and would only use the system if we knew something had happened in a specific time period, and even then, trying to analyze footage was a boring and time-consuming task. We dreaded using it.” William experienced firsthand how complicated and inefficient a traditional DVR system was to use. Completing simple tasks like finding footage would take hours and sharing footage would require extreme workarounds. “The software was so bad that employees would record footage with their phones and share it off through instant messaging or email instead of just using the system’s native video sharing feature.”

The Solution

Fitas Flax wanted to upgrade from their legacy DVR systems to a more modern cloud solution. After exploring other available options, William knew that he wanted a video security solution that delivered greater visibility, reliability, and advanced technology that was easy for employees to use.

The Benefits

“Our previous system was outdated and gave us nothing but problems. This type of technology would have been expected five, maybe ten years ago, but with so many better options available now, we didn’t want to get another DVR or NVR system. We wanted a solution that will bring us into the future, not just another tool from the past.”

Intuitive Web Console and Mobile App

With Rhombus’ innovative architecture, Fitas Flax can deploy unlimited devices and view live video from anywhere with uncompromising performance. Additionally, employees can be added with individual permissions so that they can only access specific cameras.

“The always available nature of Rhombus has changed how we view and use video security. Previously, only a small group of people could use our old system. But with Rhombus, there was no learning curve, and we were able to authorize as many users as we wanted. Everyone knew how to use the system almost immediately, and now Managers, Directors, and even HR staff have clear visibility into key areas. They can log-in and see what’s going at any location at any time.”

Reliable and Easy to Maintain Infrastructure

Fitas Flax dramatically reduced maintenance and reliability issues since upgrading to Rhombus. After deployment, no extensive maintenance has been required with firmware updates happening automatically to ensure top-notch performance.

“We were early adopters of Rhombus because we knew that going to the cloud was the future. Having new features released every month, and seeing the system get better over time was amazing and new compared to our old legacy system. The customer experience and transparency we receive from Rhombus has been unlike any other product we use. The technology is incredibly straight forward, it’s easy to manage, and the video quality is superb – it all just works, and we don’t ever to worry about it.”

Greater Visibility and Productivity

Since upgrading to Rhombus, Fitas Flax improved visibility, productivity, and investigations with an easy-to-use surveillance solution.

“We’ve received greater insight into what’s going on in our business in real-time. For instance, we get notifications for human movement at our warehouses during hours where nobody is supposed to be there. It allows us to see what’s happening and respond quickly without doing any manual work. Rhombus has been game-changing for us. We can quickly see if people aren’t working, products not being handled properly, and employee thefts. It’s given the leaders of our company complete peace-of-mind and has made our employees much more productive.”