Smoke signals

The look of steel in Peter Wingard's eye says it all. Here's a man who knows something about precision. His hobby, believe it or not, is martial arts. In fact he's a second dan Black Belt in Tang Soo Do. And you could be forgiven for thinking he's about to launch an attack on the security world, because that's exactly his plan.

Wingard is managing director of Siemens Building Technologies, Cerberus Division. In Greek mythology, Cerberus is the three headed guard dog which kept watch at the entrance to the underworld at Hades. Notwithstanding SMT's humorous look at the security industry in our regular column of the same name, Cerberus, the company, has taken guardianship of a rather more serious venture – making its name in fire detection in 1941 when its founder Ernst Meili developed the first stable ionisation chamber and produced the first electronic smoke detector. In October this year, Siemens Building Technologies Ltd, Cerberus division, as it is now known, acquired German company Preussag, giving it a breadth of knowledge and expertise in fire protection. On the back of this success and with a strategy to grow the business organically and through acquisition, the company is now planning to roll out an impressive array of security products and services into the UK security market.

Market share
Wingard is Swedish by birth and took the helm at Cerberus three years ago. His career includes long spans at both the ASH Group's Modern Security Systems, where he was instrumental in diversifying the company into door entry access control and CCTV, and Caradon Gent. His track record at Cerberus is also nothing short of impressive. The company has steadily taken market share under his guidance and its turnover has doubled to £20 million in three years. It has also been involved in some of the most prestigious work in the country, including Canary Wharf, Bluewater shopping centre, and the first PFI (Private Finance Initiative) hospital at Dartford and Gravesham. And, as vice chairman of the BFPSA (British Fire Protection Systems Association), he is most proud of the GAFA initiative which Cerberus launched some years ago on the back of its AlgoRex interactive product range. The 'Guarantee Against False Alarms' aims to tackle the huge false alarm problem in the fire industry and puts the company firmly on the map as a proactive force.

Says Wingard: "I'm very keen to see what the industry can do to remove false fire alarms. Unlike a security false alarm, if there is a false alarm on the fire system, you have to evacuate the building within a certain time. It costs business millions of pounds in terms of loss of income because of shut downs of factories or commercial retail premises. That's got to come down. Clearly a detection system is there to detect a fire. The interesting thing is that none of our competitors have followed suit. We are the only company that offers this guarantee, and we will pay the equivalent of £500 for a false activation, which is what it costs the taxpayer to call the fire brigade out." On the security side, while the company doesn't have a similar plan, Wingard is confident that false alarms can be lowered. His analysis of the problem in security is not that products aren't reliable, but more about how systems are installed and maintained. "There are too many systems out there without a maintenance contract, or are not maintained properly. The only way to reduce false alarms is to make sure that security managers and companies work together to solve the problem, by looking at how the building is going to be used and that the right maintenance profile is in place. It can be eliminated but it has to be properly managed."

Faster, better, stronger
With the recent acquisition of Preussag, Cerberus is now a £40 million business, doubling its engineering force and number of offices and giving it a stronger platform for growth. A key part of its vision is to move into security both by acquisition and organic growth.

There are too many systems out there without a maintenance contract, or are not maintained properly. The only way to reduce false alarms is to make sure that security managers and companies work together...

The foundations for such a strategy had already been laid with the creation of a security division in the UK six months ago. It should be said, of course, that Cerberus already has a well-established name in security on the Continent, with a range of products in intruder detection, CCTV, access control and integrated systems. Since the acquisition of Preussag, it has undertaken two extensive market research projects to identify customer needs and future product requirements.

"On the back of our success in fire, there is a great opportunity to develop our security business," says Wingard. "We can offer a totally integrated solution. We've been asked by our customers to upgrade and expand their systems already. The way I see it is that because we are very good at competing on services, and not just on technology, there is a good opportunity here. From the surveys we've done, it seems that no one in the security sector is providing an excellent level of service. I think that we, with our product record, our track record on the fire side, and our excellent people, can make significant inroads." According to Wingard, excellent project management is one of the keys to executing the company's strategy. He says: "We are very good at executing projects to time, quality, cost and profitability and to the satisfaction of the customers. People are very demanding now, both in the fire and security industries. Buildings go up faster, there is less time to waste, people don't have time to do work-arounds. And obviously everyone wants to make sure there are no problems in making the building work, and be safe enough to be occupied on time."

Integrated future
Indeed the future is already mapped out for Siemens Cerberus' range of services. Its wide product range makes it an ideal player in the integrated systems arena. "People want to put more things into one single pair of hands to be able to solve the whole security solution, and that could also include fire", says Wingard. But whether integration is achieved by having one head end to control the whole site and have total visibility, or to have one provider putting in totally disparate systems which may only be partially linked will depend entirely on the customer, he states, adding that there is no requirement for fire systems to be linked with security.

"It would be wrong for the industry to take the view that there is only one solution that fits all. If you want to call yourself a systems company in the security market today and in the future, you have to be able to do both those things - putting in disparate systems as well as an integrated solution which could also be linked with building management systems." Here too, Wingard stresses that Cerberus' client base has much to gain. Being part of the Siemens group brings all the added benefits of other divisions, including the expertise of building control and management systems through the Landis and Staefa division.