Securex 2015 was a resounding success, with 5 323 industry professionals visiting the exhibition between 12 and 14 May at Gallagher Convention Centre. The additional 562 visitors represented an increase of almost 12% in attendees over the three-day period, when compared to statistics from the 2014 event.
"This is extremely encouraging, given the fact that South Africa and the rest of Africa are still in the grips of the economic recession. Our decision to rebrand IFSEC SA as Securex for 2015 has been well justified and underlines our commitment to attract high-calibre visitors to the exhibition," says Joshua Low, Event Director at Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery.
Significantly, the exhibition showcased 121 local South African companies and 34 international companies. "We welcomed 47 local companies and 13 international companies who were exhibiting for the first time at Securex this year. This is indicative of the huge marketing thrust to secure additional vertical elements in the exhibition," says Low.
In addition to the 155 exhibitors, representing best practice technology and services in the security and fire arena, the event also included a highly successful education programme. "As many people know, South Africa suffers from a severe shortage of skills within the industry. Securex is also a conduit for market-related short-term education. The Securex Seminar Theatre provided ample opportunity for visitors to listen to knowledgeable speakers talking about industry-specific topics that include current trends and legislative issues," says Low.
Low points out that Securex 2015 included a number of highly successful new features, including the New Products Showcase; the Business Matchmaking Programme, an initiative that matched visitors up with the most relevant exhibitors; the Installers' Workshop; and the InFiRES seminar. It was also the first time that ASIS, in conjunction with SAIS (South African Institute of Security), hosted a half-day, CPD accredited workshop for security managers.
"We were also very fortunate to acquire the endorsement of a number of industry associations, including ASIS, ESDA, FFETA, FPASA, PSiRA, SAEFIA, SAIS, SANSEA, SASA, SAQCC Fire and SIA. Of particular importance was the willingness of PSiRA to interact with companies from the private security sector, as exhibited by its decision to share information by participation in the seminar programme," adds Low.
MiRO was once again the winner of the award for stands in the 48 m2+ category. Runner-up was Hikvision. Winners of the 18m2 and 18m2-48m2 categories were C-Thru Fencing and Powell Tronics respectively, while the runners-up were Tom Tom Telematics and TeleEye.
Abundance of technology
Exhibitors brought their A-game to Securex 2015 and some of the offerings included the new Bosch MIC Series 550 infrared camera, Bosch 4k cameras, face recognition and licence plate recognition technology from Frank. Reacting to the demands of the local market, Krypton Security Systems introduced its own brand of inverter power backup systems - the Krypton intelligent power backup system - to keep all security equipment running in the event of power loss during load shedding or maintenance.
Active Track brought a number of products to market at Securex, including the Calypso wireless control panel, the Active Track system for guard monitoring, and the Active Track asset management system. Italian exhibitors CoMETA, Tonali and Apice introduced a range of access control, electronic security lock, time lock cash drawers and building automation technologies.
MiRO wireless IP convergence portfolio found favour with visitors. The company's wireless solutions included technology from SIAE, RADWIN, Ubiquiti, MikroTik and Deliberant. The company also showcased the VIVOTEK range of cameras and its Sunell range of thermal, analogue and IP cameras, together with the NUUO range of VMS and NVR solutions and the Milestone open platform video management system.
Suprema had a wide range of access control products on display, many first-time entries to the local market. Favourites included the BioStar 2; Xpass S2 IP access control multi-smart card reader and controller; BioStation 2 with instantaneous authentication as well as rapid data transfer; the pocketOps iOS and Android smart mobile extension of the ProSync Workforce Management integration engine; and the iPoS, a locally developed point of sale system for Suprema AC and T&A management suites.
Ndende Technologies' facial recognition system - FaceVACS - provides face recognition in uncontrolled and unsupervised environments where challenges include uncooperative users. Canon's premium portfolio of network security cameras included the VB-R11 and VB-M740LE. The vandal-resistant VBR-R11 is an indoor continuous 360^0 PTZ camera while the VB-M740LE is a fixed-box outdoor camera.
Jablotron Alarms introduced its range of control panels, PIRs and motion detectors with built-in cameras. When movement takes place, the motion detector's camera tracks the detected motion, ensuring photos are reliably captured.
Securex 2016 will take place at Gallagher Convention Centre from 24 to 26 May. For more information on booking a stand, contact Sven Riddle or Zelda Jordaan on: svenr@specialised.com or zeldaj@specialised.com or visit www.securex.co.za.
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