The significance of this case study is that technology is both financially viable and functionally capable to service not only large commercial clients but just as importantly, smaller essential services who want to do all they can in being a part of the solution to the COVID-19 crisis.

Ethically responsible. Community obligation. People before profit. These are a number of statements which are thrown around easily in times like these and we’ve heard them all before. Well, one leading Australian business is “walking the talk” through the COVID-19 crisis by using the latest in technology in order to protect its people and business.

With four dedicated outlets plus products sold in both specialty stores and major grocers across Australia, Phillippa’s Bakery is a long-standing and well-respected brand, specialising in the baking of quality products which Australians have loved for many years. Being a food manufacturer and classified as an essential service, downtime throughout this crisis would be disastrous not only for the business, but also for Phillippa’s customers. General Manager of Phillippa’s Bakery Andrew O’Hara said that the safety of staff and customers is a top priority.

“Our customers choose to purchase from Phillippa’s as they have a genuine appreciation of the care and passion that goes into every product we make,” he said.

“All of our products are made by using traditional, time-honoured recipes and techniques, with the best ingredients available and where possible, often organic.

“Throughout this crisis, the safety and well-being of our staff and customers has always been at the forefront of what we do. We’ve introduced new safety and isolation procedures within our stores and we were also keen on exploring all technological avenues in order to minimise any potential risk to our people and business.”

PMT Security, a reputable security integration company, caught wind of the commercial bakery’s plight. Managing Director of PMT Security Darren Taylor explained the solution the company found for Phillippa’s.

“We understood what was needed and determined that when it came to thermal cameras for this task, the UNV solution was the only real option especially seeing that it offered the widest field of view of any thermal camera we know of,” he explained.

“Also, being a commercial bakery, accuracy with fluctuating room temperatures was critical and under test, the UNV model’s accuracy was affected the least by fluctuating temperatures. What was impressive also was how little room the product setup took up in total. This was ideal in this case as areas of the internal building were confined in places.

“The product’s simplicity is also what really impressed me and what made it stand out above any other solution. The 1-to-1 setup ensures there is no room for human error. The system can be operated by an unqualified person and once the initial setup has been completed by a professional, there are no centralised cables, no network requirements. Anyone can move the camera kit to another entrance and the business is back on it’s feet in no time, with the other entrance locked down for decontamination.”

Prior to prescribing the UNV product to their customer, Darren and his team consulted their trusted supplier, Seadan Security. Store manager at Seadan Port Melbourne Adam Walsh said the company has always been a big advocate for the UNV solution.

“We genuinely see the product as having the entire package, Mr Walsh said.

“Essentially the solution is made up of three parts: The camera, which accurately detects body temperature of a person from 2.5 to 3.5 metres away, a ‘black body’ which acts as a temperature reference point for the camera, and the computer/software which processes the thermal imagery and provides alerts when detecting a person’s body temperature outside the normal range.

“Upon testing the product thoroughly and putting it through its paces, we all concurred that it genuinely was the best product for this application.”

After the installation of the system at Phillippa’s Bakery, Andrew O’Hara said they were all very pleased with the outcome.

“This now gives us the peace of mind that we needed whilst trading throughout this crisis,” he said.

“The safety and well-being of our staff and customers genuinely is at the core of what we do. It’s a claim often made, especially now more than ever, but thanks to PMT Security and Seadan I have all the confidence that we can back that up with certainty.”