Watching the world on video feeds

If someone buys tulip bulbs from Holland, it’s entirely possible that they were inspected and graded by a system using Videology Imaging Solutions Inc. cameras. If that person drove a BMW that came from Germany, there’s a strong possibility the car’s paint finish was inspected by a system using Videology cameras.
The company’s cameras are in ATMs, they are in outer space, they are in a patient’s mouth on a visit to the dentist – and they are in Rhode Island.
Videology designs and manufactures cameras for industrial, machine vision, biometric, security and specialty original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), distributing its products worldwide.
Videology works with major companies such as Pelco, a manufacturer of video security systems and supporting equipment, and Diebold, a global supplier of ATMs. It has products in the GTECH Corp. headquarters and in CVS/pharmacy stores nationwide.
Because it doesn’t sell directly to consumers, Videology’s work is behind the scenes.
“Our product is built into someone else’s product,” said Carol Ethier, president and CEO of the company. “People just don’t know it’s a Videology camera.”
Videology is one of three companies that actually make cameras in the United States; most come from China and other Asian countries. Still, with 128 accounts in 46 states and 26 countries, Videology is “able to compete on a global level,” Ethier said. Sixty-four percent of its customers have been with the company since 1998 or earlier.
“You have to make it faster, better, cheaper than Asia,” she said, noting that Videology also tries to add extra value to its products. “We had to have a culture change. We’re not brought up to question costs – we have to train ourselves to think that way.”
Ethier and Chief Technology Officer Richard Nowicki founded the company in 1991 after working together for Philips Electronic groups working on image acquisition technology. After successfully completing a project, the pair decided to start their own company.
Today, Videology operates out of a 25,000-square-foot facility in the Greenville section of Smithfield, including two suites and a separate engineering building. It also has a design and distribution facility in Uden, the Netherlands.
The 35 U.S. employees work in an open-format layout in a typical manufacturing environment, said Rick Nadeau, director of operations. “There’s lots of dynamic information flow,” he said.
Training is extremely important to the company, which encourages personal and professional development through its education program, Ethier said. The company fully reimburses tuition and expenses for work-related programs and sets up budgets for employees working toward a degree. “We push our people to go back to school,” she said.
For example, employees recently took a course on IP-addressable network cameras. Such cameras can feed their video to the Web instead of a separate monitor, but they require different software and new sales strategies.
The $1,000-a-day course helps Videology employees stay current as the market swings from analog to digital technology, Ethier said. Videology introduced its own IP-addressable camera last year, and it tests its technology by placing cameras throughout its own facility and producing a live feed on its Web site.
“From any PC, at any time, someone can access the inside of our facility,” said Jerry J. Santa Maria, project sales coordinator.
This means that when the company participates in exhibits and trade shows in Las Vegas, a Greenville employee must remember to leave the office lights on for better viewing. When Ethier goes on a business trip to Malaysia, she can check in on what’s going on back home. “It’s practically instantaneous,” she said. “Distance just doesn’t matter anymore.”
Like technology, Videology is heading in a new direction. It’s developing “smart cameras,” which are given logic and programmed to make decisions. “Security guards get tired at the end of the day,” Ethier said. “There’s just so much you can do with one pair of eyes.”
The company is also looking to work with the state, Ethier said, to install security cameras in schools. The company would sell the equipment directly to the schools, she said, so they can afford “the latest and greatest technology” on their budgets.