Bodensee shipping company

Robust and reliable whatever the weather conditions

When you think of Lake Constance, you immediately think of beautiful scenery and glorious weather. But what many people don't realise is that the lake is shrouded in thick low-level cloud for around 100 days each year. And often it does not clear for several days or sometimes even weeks. In winter, Lake Constance is a real "fog pocket". Such permanently damp extreme weather places the highest demands on locking and security technology. At Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe (BSB), this meant that only one system proved convincing, namely the easy 2.0 electronic access control system from WILKA. After all, this electronic locking system defies the elements effectively and fulfils its function robustly and reliably.

According to Heinz-Dieter Restle, who works in the Construction and Real Estate department of municipal utilities company Stadtwerke Konstanz, this was why Bodensee-Schiffsbetriebe recently switched entirely to WILKA. BSB has been a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Konstanz GmbH since 2003 and has been under its management ever since. In January 2019, all BSB buildings were retrofitted. Since then, a total of 128 electronic cylinders, 100 mechanical profile cylinders and a further 100 half cylinders from the Velbert-based manufacturer have been installed on all doors.

"It was important to us that all relevant doors on the outer shells of buildings and the main access points were electronically secured," reports Heinz-Dieter Restle. In total, this applied to the 13 moorings around the lake, all workshops, as well as the respective ticket offices and fuel depots. Online readers were also installed at six external sites. These readers are characterised by a high degree of flexibility and functionality and can be controlled from different locations. "For us, this has the advantage that we can make changes centrally and then send this information to the respective computers. From there, the information is sent to the corresponding online readers so that the respective employee automatically receives their current authorisation status via their transponder by going to the reader," says Heinz-Dieter Restle. There are currently 15 master keyholders at BSB. They work with mechatronic keys to open both electronic and mechanical cylinders. BSB has issued a total of 380 transponders and keys to employees and service providers.

High levels of flexibility required 

Incidentally, service providers have no time restrictions on access. "Time restrictions are not possible because we have to be flexible, especially in our seasonal business. In concrete terms, this means that we sometimes only know at very short notice how many temporary staff we need on the boats or when a ship can be cleaned and restocked with food and goods," explains Heinz-Dieter Restle.

But this is not a problem for him, because if an incident ever does occur, it is always possible to use the event log to find out who actuated which cylinder and when. "Of course, we have to be very careful here in terms of data protection. But we have reached an agreement with the works council and always consult it directly if necessary," says Restle, explaining the process. 

In addition to the imperviousness of WILKA products to water and moisture, there was of course another important reason for changing the locking system. Until now, BSB has relied primarily on three different mechanical locking systems, the oldest of which dates back to the 1960s. In recent years, key losses have occurred repeatedly, meaning that maximum security has not been guaranteed for a long time. As it is naturally impossible to determine whether keys have fallen into the wrong hands, replacing the locking system became increasingly unavoidable. 

Partnership with the industry

It was not just at this point, however, that Uwe Peters, Managing Director of the building hardware specialist Josef Peters OHG, was brought on board. The Konstanz-based building hardware specialist had already been supporting BSB for many years and is also the largest WILKA dealer in the region. The company, which is also a recognised BHE installer (the BHE is the German industry association for security technology specialists), has been working successfully with WILKA since 1950. BSB was already convinced of the high quality of WILKA products, as one of the three old mechanical locking systems was also from the Velbert-based manufacturer. But now, with the switch to the electronic system, a real quantum leap has been made.

Uwe Peters and WILKA property consultant Thomas Beirer explain why the electronic access control system from WILKA works so reliably even under difficult climatic conditions: "The solution is actually quite simple. As with other providers, the electronics are always encapsulated and securely protected against splashes and moisture. However, the transition to the mechanical system is problematic – and this is usually the weak point. This is where the WILKA solution comes into its own, as this critical point cannot corrode because no water can penetrate it. Both the electronics and the entire mechanical system comply with protection class IP67." 

But there is another unbeatable argument, and that is the modular design of the cylinders. This means that the cylinders can be retrospectively customised at any time, both in terms of length and design. This offers an extremely high degree of flexibility and convenience, especially with so many different cylinders, such as those installed on BSB doors and gates. The BSB technicians can carry out much of the installation work themselves, but of course the specialist dealer is always on hand to provide advice and assistance. And if there are any major challenges with a cylinder or online reader, problems can be solved promptly via a direct hotline to Peters. 

Securely managed

Heinz-Dieter Restle is Security Manager at Stadtwerke Konstanz. Together with a representative, he is responsible for issuing and managing access authorisations at BSB. He uses the easy-to-operate WILKA programming software e-Link for this purpose. It allows him to assign users to the individual doors with the help of a locking plan matrix. Access is configured via computer on an individual basis, both spatially and temporally. Every locking process for every door is logged with the date and time and with details of the user. These data, the door events and battery status are transmitted to the transponders. This Network on Card (NOC) offers the greatest possible cost-effectiveness, as no radio receivers or transmitters are required, for example. If necessary, the data can also be read using a programming device. 

https://www.bsb.de