Installing a camera system in a factory or an organised industrial zone (OIZ) is very different from mounting a few cameras in an office. The site is large, cable runs are long, the environment brings dust, humidity and vibration; production runs in shifts, and the system usually has to work together with time attendance, alarms and IT infrastructure. The most common problem we see during site surveys at industrial facilities in Konya is that cameras have been added piece by piece over the years. This article explains, step by step, how a factory camera project should be planned.
Why Is a Factory Camera Project Different?
- Area and distance: The recommended length for a copper network run is about 100 metres; further points need fibre links and intermediate cabinets.
- Environment: Dust, humidity, temperature swings and vibration directly affect the choice of housings and mounts.
- Continuous operation: Installation must not stop production; it is split into sections and shift gaps.
- Integration: If cameras are not planned together with staff access, perimeter alarms and network security, you end up with separately managed islands.
Design Steps
- Survey and zone map: Mark the perimeter, vehicle and staff entrances, car park, loading docks, production lines, warehouses and server room. Define the goal for each zone: general overview, or recognising people or number plates?
- Camera type and lens: Choose fixed, dome, PTZ or thermal cameras by goal and distance.
- Network design: Plan PoE switch locations, the fibre backbone route and a separate network segment (VLAN) for cameras.
- Recording and retention: Size the recording server and disks by number of cameras, resolution and retention period; prefer a redundant setup against disk failure.
- Power continuity: Connect switches and recorders to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
- Monitoring and permissions: Decide who watches which cameras from which screen, and who receives alarms.
- Test and handover: Run day and night tests; hand over the camera list, IP plan and layout drawing.
Recommendations by Zone
- Perimeter: On long fence lines, long-range infrared or thermal cameras with analytics such as line crossing reduce false alarms.
- Vehicle entrance: Angle, distance and night lighting are planned specifically so number plates can be read.
- Loading docks: Dark inside and bright outside, they need wide dynamic range (WDR) cameras.
- Production area: Use housings with a suitable protection rating; set mounting height around forklift and crane traffic.
- Warehouse: In long rack aisles, narrow-angle cameras looking down the aisle are more efficient.
- Server room and panel areas: Monitored together with access control.
A Real Example: Integrated Dairy Production Facility
In our integrated dairy facility case, the network backbone had grown piece by piece over the years and the switches had reached their limits; analogue cameras could not be monitored centrally. The switch and backbone structure was renewed, the network was segmented, analogue cameras were converted to IP cameras and recordings were collected on a central recording server. The perimeter was connected to alarm-supported monitoring and staff entry and exit was digitised with a time-attendance system. Work was split into phases so daily operations never stopped. The result: 240 integrated camera points, 30% faster infrastructure and 24/7 alarm-supported monitoring.
Questions to Ask When Getting a Quote
- Is the camera list given zone by zone, with the purpose of each?
- Does the quote include the network diagram, switch capacities and fibre route?
- Which resolution and recording mode is the retention calculation based on?
- Are warranty, maintenance and fault response terms in writing?
- Which documents will be handed over?
See our factories and industrial zones page for other solutions, our article on security camera system prices for cost items and our data protection article for retention.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should factory camera footage be kept?
There is no single correct period; it depends on the purpose of recording and the company's personal data retention policy. Disk capacity is then sized for that period.
Can the camera network share the office network?
Not recommended. Cameras should run in a separate network segment (VLAN) and ideally on separate switches, protecting both security and network performance.
Will installation stop production?
Not if it is planned well. Work is split into sections and shift gaps, and each phase is tested before going live.
For a clear plan for your site, visit our security camera systems page and contact us for a free quote.