Over the past few decades, global transport and logistics chains have grown increasingly integrated and this trend, if anything, is speeding up as information become more and more accessible.
Globalisation has helped network the world and with it, the multiplication of traded goods, information and capital. Along with IT technology, especially the implementation of the IP (Internet Protocol) as the common networking “language”, new standards in international maritime trade, such as the ISO container, have revolutionised multi-modal transport. Thus, globalisation is happening on all levels with the internet as its primary driver. For the modern port of today, information and data processing is a must, an ever present, and just as essential as the air that we breathe. IT also now plays a central role in the development of security products by Smiths Detection. With over 20 years of global experience as a developer, manufacturer and supplier, and with some 460 high-energy X-ray scanners in the field, Smiths Detection has deployed its HCV® (Heimann Cargo Vision) range of cargo screening systems in over 50 countries worldwide. In the last five years demand for these sophisticated X-ray inspection systems – particularly for use at maritime ports – has grown to unprecedented levels. Unlike in the past, these systems are not intended for operation in isolation but as fully integrated elements of a port’s complex logistics chain. In order to enhance the sophistication of its HCV® product range, Smiths Detection has been developing special software algorithms to create a new generation of scanners that combine high throughput and integration with the individual port’s IT network.
Fully immersed in the digital age
Smiths Detection’s high-energy scanners are renowned for being extremely powerful and reliable. But is this the only customer requirement? Interactively used security systems that meet current and future requirements must supply reliable basic information, delivering results such as “ok” or “potential threat.” For this to happen, a main parameter is the enhancement of the detection performance. This is possible only if the detection capacities are improved, orthogonal technologies are combined and relevant data are quickly exchanged and processed. These X-ray machines naturally produce a large quantity of digital data. The challenge for HCV® systems, however, is to transfer, automatically integrate, use, process and archive this information. What at first sight seems to be a minor requirement from a technological perspective is a major achievement for R&D. In addition, transferring this data throughout the world in a secure manner and responding in real time is no mean technical feat. The required inter-operability adds a new level of complexity, which needs to be tackled and solved not only by security scanner manufacturers but also by related hardware and software suppliers.
New smarter tools on the horizon
Currently, manufacturers of high-energy X-ray inspection systems are further enhancing software algorithms that analyse and recognise how operators’ decision-making can be supported in a more efficient way. Operators are faced with huge quantities of images for analysis, and even the technologies that emerge in the coming years are likely to be unable to allow fully automated decision making. The human operator will remain the interface at the heart of the how security protocols are activated and Smiths Detection is committed to facilitating this process and so easing port bottlenecks as much as possible. Its technical innovations include ergonomic tools that allow the operator to focus specific attention to the area of interest, already automatically identified as a risk by the system. Using these tools, customs administrations will be able to fulfill their multiple tasks jobs much more efficiently than at present as they will be better able to tackle security, tax fraud, counterfeiting, and other priorities at the same time.
High throughput capabilities will remain a standard requirement
These tools will allow the operators to make pertinent decisions using high throughput systems. Next generation equipment will be capable of throughputs 5 to 10 times higher than products in use today, which translates into as many as over 150 inspections per hour. To ensure this increase in checked containers can proceed, equipment will have to be more precise in terms of detection and will therefore have to be able to adapt to the level of control applicable to each threat. Manufacturers are now focusing on so-called « second level » equipment. These systems, while using the information and data of the « first level », i.e. an HCV® Pass-through system, will be capable of clearing or confirming alarms on the targeted containers while maintaining a high data flow. This level of security can be achieved when X-ray scanners are able to exchange data, and the easiest way to achieve this is connection via an IP network.
New IP network data management solution
Smiths Detection has enhanced its technology for the use of IP networks to offer new functionalities and services to its customer base. This has come about through improved products and enhanced performance rates, but above all through new CONOPS (concepts of operations) as these are the only way to reach the market targets. Scanners embedded in IP networks via Smiths Detection’s EDI (Electronic Data Interface) facilitate the exchange or disposal of data between the various HCV® (Heimann Cargo Vision high energy systems) and customs data base. Information and crucial data are thus available in real time and quickly accessible. Once implemented, this will allow customs services to produce reliable statistics for analysis, to enrich their risk management tools, or simply to check all data available in their information processing systems. Smiths Detection is about to finalise this new functionality called DMS (Dataset Management System) which collects data coming from all HCV® systems connected via an IP network and provides customs with an intuitive tool to centralise, archive and display all data available in real time. This data is secure and remotely only available for users with access directly to the DMS. After the market introduction in summer 2011, Smiths Detection’s DMS will allow remote analysis of X-ray images produced by any HCV® system or the creation of a pool of customs operators to remotely analyse all X-ray images produces by scanners. For instance images from all cargo scanners deployed in a country could be collected. The DMS will allow access, in an evolutionary and open IT architecture, to many online services, such as e-mail, chat, or remote real-time video of the actual screening site. Benefits of this new approach are manifold. Repair services, diagnostics and remote maintenance of the HCV fleet could also be managed through IP network thanks to an R2S system (Repair & Remote Service System), which will increase the availability time of cargo inspection systems. Or it could be used to update necessary software solutions, e.g. antivirus programs. Remote and predictive maintenance of scanners will drive the best possible return on investment on systems that operate 24 hours a day. Smiths Detection is already laboratory testing these new functionalities and at several undisclosed ports in the field. IP networking gives Smiths Detection the advantage to extend and improve the services provided to its customer base by increasing and diversifying applications and cargo screening processes of its HCV® product fleet. It also facilitates the remote access to services and data via a simple Web browser. Smiths Detection is constantly improving its imaging technology and related data management through complex algorithms. Once finalised, the next generation of HCV® systems will comprise an entirely different range of cargo inspection systems, intuitive and as simple to use as a smart phone.