INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES DISCUSS SECURITY COST REDUCTION OPTIONS

INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES DISCUSS SECURITY COST REDUCTION OPTIONS    Importers don't have to break the bank to acquire effective new technology and dependable conveyance to keep cargo moving and secure, industry executives said Tuesday at the American Association of Exporters and Importers conference in New York.
   Barry Wilkins, managing director of Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations, said
   Ports and the people stationed there could pool existing security systems, such as closed circuit TV monitoring, by integrating it onto an Internet system via broadband technology, said Barry Wilkins, managing director of Pinkerton Consulting and Investigations. Such an upgrading would allow all participants at a port — port authorities, carriers and brokers — to monitor all activities on site, and communicate without having to start from scratch with a new communications infrastructure system.
   “It’s a very cost-effective technology to put them together on the Web,” Wilkins said.
   Jerry Cook, vice president of international trade for Sara Lee Branded Apparel, said one of the most cost-effective ways for shippers to keep cargo secure is by keeping it moving, using dependable carriers. Freight that languishes in an intermodal yard not only drags on delivery times, it also increases a shipment’s vulnerability to theft and tampering, Cook said.
   Efficient conveyance, Cook said, means less fences and walls to build, and less personnel to hire. Such things drive up security up costs.
   “The more something sits, the less secure it has become,” Cook said.