Distribution/Logistics : Warehouse security at Russ Berrie

Russ Berrie�s European sales and distribution operation is headquartered in a splendid new office and warehouse in Southampton, supplying retailers all over Europe with the Russ Berrie product range on the basis of a 48 hour order fulfilment period. That means holding a lot of teddy bears and similar. When Jon Richards, Russ Berrie�s Director of Operations Europe, visited his US Head Office, he could still see what was happening back at his Southampton warehouse 3,500 miles away. Plugging his laptop into an internet port in New Jersey, he used the new warehouse�s CCTV system to view live camera shots and recorded images just as if he were in his Southampton office. CCTV systems have joined the rest of corporate information systems in using LANs, WANs, and the Internet as their communications networks for local and remote access.