Richmond Master Distributors
"Essentially the solution has already paid for itself. Synology's products delivered, allowing RMD to meet all surveillance needs, and arising issues are quickly resolved with free product support."
Rodger Johnson, Chief Information Officer, Richmond-Master Distributors
The Company
Richmond Master Distributors is a convenience store distributor and parent company to LowBobs convenience stores. The company was established in 1947 and now has over 300 employees. LowBobs stores made over $320 million in revenue in 2020 and are growing 15% every year. They will soon be expanding their reach to Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Kentucky.
The Challenge
Due to their exponential growth, Richmond Master Distributors (RMD) found it difficult to keep tabs on all their new stores. Prior to implementing Synology's solutions, centralized video management was nonexistent with RMD using a mix of different products from Amazon and other resellers. Requests for surveillance clips, from each store, took over a week to complete. RMD needed to streamline footage requests, view video feeds in an organized manner, and give permissions to store managers. They ultimately needed a system that could be centrally managed and would enable them to delegate access to each store.
The Solution
RMD sought a surveillance system that would meet all their needs. The Chief Information Officer researched many well-known systems, yet the return on investment of these systems did not add up, as most of them cost around $30,000.
He finally came across Synology and decided to test some systems at select LowBobs stores, before finally deploying Synology NVR or NAS to all 56 stores. In each location they deployed one Synology DS220j or Synology NVR1218, which managed an average of six IP cameras per store, with a master host Synology RackStation RS1619xs+ centrally managing the entire system.
Each Synology NVR/DS device was configured for local store access and managed using centralized accounts. They are joined to RMD's active directory for account management and delegation of permissions.
The Benefits
Thanks to Surveillance Station's Central Management System, the IT team can monitor all 56 stores and reduce time spent on management by 75%. With additional fine tuning, the team projects they will reach a 99% reduction in time spent on management. Since IP cameras are easily integrated into Surveillance Station's CMS, permissions are now given to store employees, allowing for instant access to video resources. This eliminates duplicate work and allows each store to handle issues in a quick and cost-effective manner. Another great perk of the CMS is notification customizations which are available on a per site level, and integration with RMD's Active Directory has allowed for easy management in a continually changing personnel environment.
Being able to integrate with a wide range of high-resolution cameras has allowed RMD to save money by choosing the camera brand and model that works best for each location. Additionally, in-store internet usage decreased thanks to the system running on local equipment, which also helps reduce burden on network and internet connection at each location.
RMD has been able to stay in the loop with all LowBobs' in-store activities and reduce incidents that would result in store income loss. Synology's solutions have already saved RMD thousands of dollars in IT labor and $10,000 in loss prevention. "Essentially the solution has already paid for itself. Synology's products delivered, allowing RMD to meet all surveillance needs."
Recommended Models
- RS1619xs+
- DS220j × 28
- NVR1218 × 28
Recommended Features
- Central Management System for over 56 locations and 480 cameras
- User and Group permissions with Active Directory Domain
- Surveillance Station
- Wide range of compatible IP cameras