28 Feb 2017
Amsterdam Airport has to satisfy about 55 million passengers on a yearly basis. By doing so, it is the aim to make the waiting time as pleasant as possible, and offering good shopping facilities is on top of the list in that respect. Amsterdam Airport offers many shopping possibilities on airside (See Buy Fly) as well as on landside (Schiphol Plaza). As a result of the high security level and the continuous proces of the airport, giving access to the shops is an interesting challenge for a company like CaptureTech
Airport Retailers Association
The shops on airside are united in the Airport Retailers
Association (ARA). This organisation collectively
takes care of the facility management, the security
and all other retail aspects at Amsterdam Airport. Mr.
Alex van den Hoek is Managing Director of ARA
and responsible for the security and facility management.
On time opening of shops is crucial
On average, passengers arrive at Amsterdam Airport
2 hours in advance of their flight. The shops on airside
have to be opened well in advance of the first
departing flight, to give the passengers the opportunity
to do shopping. Shopping is part of the experience
that Amsterdam airport wants to give to its passengers
and the experience should be pleasant and
efficient.
Alex van den Hoek: “The travel experience of the
passenger starts at Amsterdam Airport and to be
able to do shopping in a relaxed atmosphere is part
of that; Passengers should therefore not end up in
front of a closed door. That would not only mean a
loss of turnover for the retailer, but also a dissapointment
for the traveller. We obviously want to avoid
that and a reliable and safe issue and collection of
keys contributes to that.”
Access to the shops should be possible 24/7 for
shop as well as warehouse employees. In total,
about 1.700 users need safe access to over 100 sets
of keys.
Old situation
From 1999 to 2013 the issue and collection of keys
was taken care of by 2 keymanagement systems.
These systems made use of Keyfobs that had to
make a physical contact in the system in order to be
identified and were hence very vulnerable for dirt. In
the Keyfob was dirty, the user could not issue or collect
keys, with all negative consequences as a result.
On the management side, there were some problems
with the software that was outdated. For
example, the system could not handle 1.700 users
very well, resulting in a lot of time that had to be
spent on the management of the system. Furthermore,
the communication between the 2 systems was
also outdated and the responstime of the supplier
was too long. Enough reasons for ARA to start
looking for a new solution.
CaptureTech’s solution
After having made an inventory of the wishes and
rerquirements, CaptureTech has developed a taylor
made solution for ARA, that consists of two KeyConductor
systems based on UHF RFID with a large
integrated touch screen as a user infterface. The
basis of the system is the UHF RFID KeyCop. The
KeyCop is not vulnerable for dirt, dust or moisture
and data transfer via UHF RFID (wireless) is incredibly
fast. . The central management application is
very user friendly and offers a lot of management
information, which is used for the monthly reporting
to the retailers.
This solution, to which ARA contributed a lot, has
become a basis for CaptureTech’s Key Management
systems in general.
Implementation and daily use
The transition from the old system to the new KeyConductor
has been planned well and was executed
to ARA’s full ssatisfaction. Some weeks in advance
the master data in the software were entered and
within 24 hours, the old cabinets were removed and
replaced for the new KeyConductors.
The users are also very satisfied with the new KeyConductor
system, which offers them a safe and reliable
solution. Issue and collection of keys goes fast
and efficient and without any mistakes. Thus, the
shops are opened on time and the passengers can
do their shopping to their satisfaction!
View PDF
Capturetech UK Ltd.
Website
T: 0333 210 8000
The Nucleus
Brunel Way
DA1 5GA
Dartford, Kent
United Kingdom
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