Brivo’s ACS WebService Cloud-based Access Control System Installed At Nor-Cal Beverage

Brivo cloud-based system manages access for several distributed facilities of Nor-Cal Beverage

Brivo Systems LLC, leader in cloud applications for security management, recently announced that Nor-Cal Beverage Co., Inc., Anaheim, CA, has selected Brivo’s ACS WebService cloud-based access control system to manage access for several distributed facilities. Tyco Integrated Security is the dealer and installer for this project.

Nor-Cal Beverage is a family-owned business, founded in 1937. The company started out as a Hires Root Beer bottling plant and over the years has expanded to produce and distribute Minute Maid juices, PowerAde, Arizona tea, Hanson apple juices, private label drinks, and their own brand of Go Girl energy drinks.

For years, Nor-Cal had relied on standard lock and key to secure their buildings. In addition, the company uses a Kronos time-keeping system, for which the employees are issued badges. The Kronos system also managed access for the company’s parking lots.

“Due to the changes in the Bio-Terrorism laws, we determined that our building security should be updated to combat bio-terrorism threats, so we fenced in our property and we deployed the Brivo system to manage access for all personnel entering our facilities,” related Marcy Mackie, Office Manager, Nor-Cal Beverage Co., Inc.

“We are pleased to assist Nor-Cal Beverage in meeting FDA and DHS requirements for ensuring the safety of our food supply,” said John Szczygiel, Executive Vice President, Brivo Systems. “Brivo’s ACS Webservice solution is an ideal fit for this important task.”

Between the Anaheim production facility and the Fullerton distribution center, Brivo is installed in a total of five buildings, managing all critical access points, with a mix of both external and internal doors. The Anaheim operation is located on 18 acres with facilities for production, warehousing, administration, and a public truck scale.

The Brivo system manages key external doors and two parking areas, along with internal access points that include the administrative offices, engineering offices, a stockroom, the public scale trailer, and the dock doors at the Fullerton distribution center.

In the Brivo system, Nor-Cal Beverage has their 220 employees, located at the Anaheim and Fullerton facilities, as well as temp employees and vendors divided into 30 groups, each with different day, time, and location access privileges to meet each group’s specific needs. “I’m quite comfortable making any changes needed to manage our access control on a day-to-day basis — creating new groups, adding and deleting users, running reports, and so on,” said Mackie.

Mackie continued, “We also use the Brivo system as an important source of back-up information. If an employee comes to me and says, ‘I worked this day but I didn’t have my Kronos card,’ I go right to Brivo to get the information I need to verify their claim.”

Tyco Integrated Security installed the Brivo system at Nor-Cal Beverage in March 2011. In addition to standard access control management, Mackie has found the system provides her with information she can use to solve a wide range of critical security needs. “We have a gate for the administrative offices that is opened at 7:00 am, and the last person out is responsible for closing it. If someone comes to me and says the gate was open when they arrived in the morning, I can look at the Brivo system to determine who forgot to close it.”

“We have another gate where the tanker trucks come in. This is a very secure area. If that gate were to be left open, the system enables me to determine who left it open. This information allows us to hold our employees responsible and accountable. We’re not using the Brivo system to catch people, but it does enable us to address issues we must address — we’re a food facility and we have to enforce tight security.”

“Since installing Brivo, I think we are absolutely a more secure facility. With lock and key and the Kronos system, we were only reading when personnel were entering the facility. Now, we have data on when folks arrive and when they leave. We have greater overall visibility and much more useable information,” Mackie concluded.