Case Study

Cargolux

A long-term partnership leads to a win-win situation

For the last eighteen years, IDtech has been the accredited supplier to Cargolux in the field of physical security.

Over these years, Cargolux Airlines International's access control system has evolved from a collection of simple, isolated applications to a system based on TCP/IP including dozens of "Legic" proximity readers in four different buildings. The technical side is not the only aspect to have evolved significantly: the relationship between Cargolux and its supplier, IDtech, has gradually developed into a true partnership. "Their sales representatives and technicians alike have always paid special attention to our specific way of working, our needs and our requests. The quality of the solution proposed has always been more important than pure sales. This is why the system has been able to evolve almost invisibly, and for a reduced investment on our part. We now have a mature application which offers a wide range of possibilities," declares Fernand Kremer, Cargolux's Administrative Director.

Cargolux Airlines International was founded in 1970 by Luxair, the Salen Shipping Group, Lofleidir Icelandic and several private investors. The company now controls an independent fleet of eleven 747-400 aircraft. It transports 500,000 tonnes of varied cargo every year (ranging from microchips to satellites, from delicate flowers to gigantic machines) from its home airport -the Luxair CargoCenter, in Luxembourg- to over thirty airports worldwide. Cargolux also offers a number of other services, such as aircraft leasing and maintenance, on behalf of third parties. The company currently operates 68 offices in 46 countries, employing 1,300 people. Last year, it achieved a turnover of 18.33 million euros and net profit of 818,000 euros. This places Cargolux fifth in the list of air freight transporters in Europe, and eleventh worldwide

An extraordinary environment calls for extraordinary applications

Cargolux It is common knowledge that airports have to operate extremely strict security measures. Aircraft are always an attractive target for criminals who wish to use force to achieve their extreme demands. In order to slip through the security net, these villains do not hesitate to force their way through to the "red zone", via the air transport companies in the area. Fernand Kremer explains: "This means that we have to keep a close eye on the flow of people coming in and going out. It is one of our major responsibilities to make sure that the circle of security within the airport remains unbroken. But this alone is not enough. Some aircraft transport very valuable goods, often in impressive quantities. These goods are a major attraction to the less than honest. What is more, robbers are becoming bolder than ever. It is more and more common for them to endanger the safety of passengers and personnel to achieve their purposes. One of our obligations is therefore to prevent this type of person from having any kind of access to the airport's installations."

In terms of working hours, cargo companies are regularly outside the norm. The concept of 9 to 5 is only applied by a tiny fraction of their personnel. Pilots, baggage handlers, maintenance technicians etc. all work flexible hours, which makes it difficult to keep track of their actual hours worked.

In search of a solution

Despite this, it was not until the middle of the 1980s that Luxembourg airport, and Cargolux itself, invested in an access control and time management system. Until then, all members of staff had a kind of personal identification card which security personnel checked manually. Fernand Kremer: "We didn't really have any other choices. At the time, there were few if any alternative solutions on the market. In the 1980s, the arrival of the PC enabled a change of direction: in a very short space of time, we were faced with an incredible number of previously unknown time management and security options. As soon as electronic systems for access control and time recording became available, we jumped at the opportunity."
In 1984, Cargolux undertook a detailed analysis of the various solutions available. The company cut the umbilical cord, working completely independently from the main airport buildings. This enabled it to take its own decisions relating to all the organisational aspects: the change was underway. It was not easy to find an appropriate solution, given the difficulty for the uninitiated in evaluating the quality of such an innovative concept. And it is true that the novelty of these systems tempted a number of cowboys into the market of electronic security. Customers with the criteria for judgement required to be able to evaluate the quality of the available systems were rare. By the time they had realised that they had bought a pig in a poke, certain dishonest suppliers would have disappeared without a trace. Fernand Kremer: "To avoid this scenario, we took more than six months before moving to the stage of making a concrete investment. After mature reflection, we took the decision to work with IDtech. We met them at a security trade fair. Not only did they give an impression of seriousness and professionalism, but their Microtime system was one of the few applications at the time to offer capable functions for both recording hours worked and maintaining security. Maybe we were just lucky. In any case, we have never regretted our choice. The proof is clear: after working together for eighteen years, IDtech is still our only partner for access control !"

1984, humble beginnings

The first application was relatively simple in operation: the staff entrance was equipped with an optical badge reader linked to a DOS PC. Fernand Kremer: "Nowadays, this system would be seen as prehistoric, but it was pretty revolutionary at the time. It represented a considerable advance in that, using a single card, it could control both access and time worked." When the world of the PC became more widely accepted, innovation followed on innovation at an ever-increasing rate in the area of security. Of course IDtech capitalised on the new trends, and developed its Microtime system into a solution able to meet all requirements in terms of electronic access control and time recording and management.

A spectacular evolution

The evolution of the IDtech access control equipment at Cargolux can be described without hesitation as spectacular. In barely five years, the application had already evolved into a decentralised system with a considerable number of readers spread over several sites. Today, eighteen years later, the air freight transporter has an ultra-modern application. It includes dozens of proximity readers operating according to the "Legic" model: a readable and writable card equipped with a microchip, impossible to copy. The system is connected via TCP/IP to an NT server (running an Oracle database), which in turn is linked to various workstations. One of these is used for the badge production system (the UNICARD module). Over the eighteen-year period, Cargolux changed machines three times in the transition from the Microtime units to the UNIPASS system. Despite this, the transporter has never had to invest heavily to finance its many applications.

Fernand Kremer: "IDtech has always respected both our requirements and our budget. All modifications have been preceded by a detailed analysis in order to make sure that the results would be worth it and would fit into our budgetary range. In this way, we have been able to develop the system almost imperceptibly, at the same rate as the company. This is an important element, because our staff and our turnover have both more than doubled over this period, and we have expanded into three extra buildings."

One card, three systems

The most spectacular aspect of the application is without doubt the specially adapted badge. It can be read at any time by three different access control system: the Cargolux system, but also the airport's and the Luxair company's systems. Fernand Kremer: "This principle was introduced two years ago, because it was becoming too complicated to carry all these different access control cards around between the various airport buildings and the different companies based here." Finding a solution was a real brainteaser, because it necessitated bringing three competitors together around a table. Ultimately, agreement was reached: the suppliers found a compromise solution, and together they developed a module making the badge readable by all three different systems.

And that's not all...

The transporter is currently working on a project to give the badges an extra function as electronic purses for the company restaurant and the drinks and snack dispensers. The only apparent problem is that these services are provided by external companies, so that here too the various parties will have to come together around a table. Another issue being studied is the visualisation of alarm signals. There is a good chance that IDtech's UNIGUARD module will be chosen. Fernand Kremer: "The fact that we keep coming back to the same supplier is due in large part to the fact that it is considerably easier to install an extra module than to buy a whole new application. The latter solution would automatically involve buying a new machine. In all honesty, I have to admit that we have contacted several other suppliers over the years. This does not mean that we are in any way dissatisfied with IDtech's products and services, quite the opposite. But it is always healthier to check out the other fish in the sea, isn't it? In the end, we have always found that it would be more efficient and more worthwhile to remain with our primary supplier."

"If significant problems had arisen, we would not have hesitated to go knocking on the door of another company. There is plenty of choice nowadays, as we all know. But we have never had any real reason to complain. There have been a few moments of friction, of course. But IDtech has always been ready to find a compromise solution. In fact, this is another of their strengths: rather than always putting the emphasis on sales, this is a company with a longterm strategy. It develops partnerships in such a way that both parties come away having gained something. Our supplier knows our activities, our problems and the questions we want answers to. They take the initiative in looking for solutions likely to improve or perfect our internal operations at Cargolux."

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