Review from Jostens Inc

A little background information on the both companies:

Protective Technologies International, PTI, has been a leader in the highly sensitive metal detection systems since the early 1980’s.  It is a worldwide company based in the United States and its systems are all American made. They manufacture the world most sensitive and advanced walk through metal detector on the market. PTI’s walk through metal detector is the only detector that has 360° detection and PTI is the only one that is sensitive enough to catch the really small targets like jewelry and computer chips.

The CEIA Corporation has also been in the walk through metal detection systems for many years. Their market has been airports, prisons and recently courthouses. The CEIA Corporation has recently come into the precious metal market. CEIA is an Italian corporation and all systems are made in Italy.

Jostens Inc. from the year 1980 has had metal detection in its Southtown plant and shortly afterwards, Jostens installed metal detection in all its facilities that handled precious metal. It all started when Jostens employed a Security Consultant, to do extensive research and found that the Solco system, now known as PTI, was the best choice for Jostens.

For many years now, James Joy and I (Jeff Dauffenbach) have overseen the Jostens Security Team.  We are both Certified Protection Professionals (CPP), and we do our best to keep on top of the new technologies coming out in the security world.

Recently, while attending an ASIS (American Society of Industrial Security) Security Conference, I had the opportunity to speak with the CEIA Corporation and set up a side-by-side comparison of the CEIA and the PTI walk through systems.  Both companies had stated to me that they would eagerly do a comparison anytime anywhere.  I took them up on their offer.  James Joy was kind enough to make the room to have the demonstration set up at the Denton facility.

I arrived at the Denton facility on Tuesday May 15th.  I had a few hours that day to get familiar with both systems.  We had all of following day to examine both systems.

Both systems had been calibrated by their company Representative.

While I was at Denton, we tested the systems with precious metal items.  We checked to see how well rings and other small pieces of various metal were detected in different areas of the body.

The CEIA system has lights on the outside of the walk through that serve as a visual to the person walking through and to the officers on duty.  The CEIA system includes a graphic that comes up on a computer screen that shows the officer on duty the same colors as the lights on the outside of the walk through. The employee does not see these graphics.  The employee only sees the lights on the outside of the unit that can serve a deterrent and/or scare tactic for the employee.  The lights and the graphics cover such a broad area that it is difficult to narrow the search area.  For example, when an employee, with a large button on his pants, goes through the portal, the graphics show an area to search from the middle chest area down to the mid-thigh area.  Ceia may be sensitive to very small items but requires a clean environment to detect it.  Uniforms would be recommended.  There were many fails with the CEIA system, and there were many false fails, meaning no items were found on the employees that failed.  After using the CEIA system, a Denton Security Guard commented that he didn’t trust it, and he was not convinced that the system was operating at a standard that Jostens needs.

The PTI portal works on a number system.  Employees are assigned a calibration number with a preset limit. When an employee walks through the portal, a number shows on the screen for the officer to see.  If the number is over or under the given preset limit, it is a failed walk through.  The biggest difference between the old system and the new PTI system is that once the new system is set to our standards, it will calibrate itself automatically to stay there.  The system can be checked and/or serviced online.

Both the Ceia and the PTI system are more accurate at catching ring samples than our current detectors.  Both manufactures point out that if you want a metal detection system to work at its peak performance, you need to have a strict clothing policy in place. The more metal free your employees the more accurate the metal detection system will be.  PTI, although not 100%, was more accurate at detecting small items under our current clothing policy.

James and I recommend that Jostens invest in the PTI metal detection system.  With the side-by-side comparisons, PTI is more user-friendly.  PTI’s system is more sensitive at picking up on smaller pieces of precious metal.  It is more accurate, it had minimal false fails, and it comes with the best price.

Jostens Inc

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Choosing the Right Metal Detection System

There are several brands of walk-through metal detectors on the market today, each making claims as to being the best.  So how can one choose the right metal detector for the job?  Listed below are a few things to consider:

  1. Define the application.  In most cases there are only two types of applications – Weapons Detection and High Sensitivity Loss Prevention.
  2. Once you’ve defined the application, it’s time to sort through the literature and find out precisely why brand might be better than the other.

This particular article will address the differences between so called “High Sensitivity – Loss Prevention” metal detection systems.  There are only three manufacturers in the world today that claim to make a system sensitive enough to detect and deter the theft of precious metals – Saflec (Goldfinger), Ceia, and Protective Technologies International (PTI).   What separates these three manufacturers?

The primary difference is the direction each company has chosen in selecting the type of technology to be used for high sensitivity applications.  Goldfinger and PTI use balanced induction coils to detect small items, Ceia has chosen to use a more standard transmit/receive coil configuration that is generally used in weapons detection products.  The standard coil configuration offers some advantages in how information is displayed, but it simply cannot compete when it comes to “high sensitivity”.  Balanced induction systems like those manufactured by Gold Finger and PTI provide a much higher level of sensitivity, especially to small amounts of precious metals.  So if it’s truly “high sensitivity” that your after there’s really only two choices – Goldfinger or PTI.

From all independent testing, both Goldfinger and PTI perform equally in the “sensitivity” department, and both use the unique “body referencing” system to determine passes and fails, so choice comes down to options, service and price.   By combining high sensitivity metal detectors with a PC and Software, options are almost unlimited for both brands.  When it comes to service, especially in the North America, PTI wins the battle because of domestic manufacturing and service.  International support is excellent for both companies.  So now it really comes down to price.  The PTI XVS-10Mi system is less than ½ the price of the Goldfinger.

At the end of the day, you need to choose the metal detector that’s right for you and your application.  The case for the PTI XVS-10Mi system is strongest when you consider, high sensitivity, comprehensive software with integrated “Random Fail” and “Reporting” features, and price.  The XVS-10Mi stands out as the system of choice when you’ve considered all the options out there.