ConstructionWorX Member Focus
Rolling Out the Protection AMI Group security systems, which protects over £245 million worth of customer assets, has identified rollers and compaction equipment as a “hot target” for plant thieves.
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n recent years, major advances have been made in the fight against plant and equipment theft. Thousands of machines are now protected by CESAR marking and the Thatcham security rating has without question had a positive influence. However, plant theft remains a major problem for plant hirers, contractors and other owners of mobile equipment. Back in 2004, one of the CEA’s members, AMI Group, recognised the problem of plant theft and established its business based on the concept of devising effective and cost-efficient plant tracking and security solutions. At present, over £245 million worth of customer assets are protected with AMI Group systems, including several of the UK’s national plant hirers and construction companies. AMI Group has recently analysed all of its plant theft recoveries nationwide so far this year and compaction equipment has been identified as a ‘hot’ target for plant criminals. “The review we carried out revealed a marked increase in the theft of rollers from both construction sites and customer depots. This equipment tends to be smaller in size than much of the larger plant machinery so it is easier for criminals to conceal and transport in a panel van,” says AMI Group managing director Gary Stockton. “Thieves may automatically presume that rollers don’t have a tracking device fitted so it is an easier option than larger kit which is more likely to have telematics fitted and overt property marking such as CESAR.” In recognition that thieves are becoming increasingly sophisticated, AMI Group has developed what it claims to be the smallest, most covert devices in the industry, making them far more difficult for thieves to locate. As well as helping AMI customers recover their own plant, the company’s devices have also helped the Police to recover thousands of pounds of construction equipment not protected with an anti-theft deterrent. In a recent example, a £15,000 valued 1 Ton Terex Dumper owned by an AMI customer was successfully retrieved in Cheshire thanks to the AMI anti-theft system, and it also led the Police to several other items of construction machinery stored in an isolated rural area including a Bobcat Excavator, a Trailer and a Volvo Digger. Together, the haul of recovered plant equipment was valued at over £100,000 and was retrieved following a successful cross country operation involving AMI Group, a major plant hire company and both Cheshire and South Yorkshire Police. One of the company’s latest innovations is the AMI Nexis AT5, a self-contained, battery operated tracking device which utilises state-ofthe-art GPS (Global Positioning System), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and RF (Radio Frequency) technology. The AT5 is lightweight, tiny in size (just 21 x 55 x 52mm) and it can be concealed almost anywhere on any asset. Via its advanced battery management software, the unit has the capacity to last up to 18 years and it is backed by IP68 waterproof rating, ensuring it is robust and heavily protected. The device has the ability to be traced both outdoors and indoors even in very remote locations. In situations where GPS is unavailable, the device relays GSM cell site positions and the internal RF beacon can be activated to assist in locating stolen assets.
AMI18-01 and AMI18-02 – Some of the equipment recovered in the £100,000 plant haul.
AMI18-03 – Rollers are currently a ‘hot’ target for plant thieves. AMI tracking devices are used in conjunction with AMI Nexis, a webbased platform whereby customers can logon to the system to not only use it as an anti-theft deterrent, but as a total fleet management solution. Customers can use the system to help reduce their fuel costs, reduce their carbon footprint or enhance productivity – and they can even remote immobilise equipment from their mobile phone. Following months of development work and consultation with customers, the AMI Nexis portal has recently been enhanced to empower AMI customers with more information than ever before to help locate and manage plant equipment and vehicle fleets more efficiently and safely. ■
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