History

The company Certus is closely linked to the retail trade. During the late 1980s, Dr. Harms was looking for a security solution for his own supermarkets that is ideally suited for retail stores. This search was motivated by the increasing inventory difference in his stores, caused by shoplifters. At that time no suitable security system was on the market that fully satisfied his needs, or that of the mass market. Steps were then taken to develop an appropriate system.

Studies were conducted at renowned research institutes, the tests showed Electro- Magnetic (EM) technology as being most suited for the mass market. With these results it allowed us now to concentrate upon the hardware aspects of such a system. Parallel to this, a close link with a subsidiary of the Siemens concern, the “VAC” made tests to find a suitable signal element. Working together with the people from the trade, a list was drawn up of all the re- quirements such a system needs to fulfil. To better co-ordinate research and development Certus was founded in 1991. Certus used their own supermarkets as laboratories to carryout effective tests.

A main criterion for the development of the Certus EAS System is the ability to detect, even when a moving shopping trolley is placed between the gate panels. Certus not only fulfils this criteria, it can also detect secured items inside a metal shopping trolley. This demonstrates, that large quantities of metal do not overpower the system and render it temporarily out of function.

After numerous years of development, Certus arrived at the point to present the system to the retail trade. In 1996 the Certus System was presented to the public for the first time at the EuroShop. Visitors were amazed at the features demon- strated - detection in and around a moving metal shopping trolley, detection on metal products and in aluminium lined bags. Such advantages have enabled Certus within a relatively short time span to reach large volumes of system sales throughout Europe. To maximise the effectiveness of the sales and service activities, we work closely together with independent dealers, spread throughout Europe and beyond. Each individual dealer can meet the individual needs of his own countrymen. Our European coverage puts us in a position to offer the Certus range of security products to a European customer base with the necessary technical support. Our dynamic research and development team work continually on improving the Certus security products. We strive also to expand upon our range of products. New introductions include:

• Mono Gate Panels with side dependent detection
• Fully transparent Gate Panel design
• Virtual fully 3D detection systems
• Migration of the RF EAS Technology into an EM Gate Panel
• Migration of the RFID Technology into an EM Gate Panel
• Remote access and control of EAS systems
• Shopping Trolley Control Systems with picture recording and remote access
• Gateway Control Systems