Case study | Parksol outdoor guidance solution, Germany

Parksol outdoor guidance solution. Situation

Leipzig is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. With a population of 605,407 inhabitants as of 2021, it is Germany’s eighth most crowded city and the second-most densely populated city in the area of former East Germany after Berlin.

In 2020 a newly opened supermarket REWE in Leipzig was built after demolishing an old shop. These premises have passageways and connect with the rest of the buildings. This project had to be one with more space, ensuring integration into the old part of the building and environmentally friendly solutions.

REWE is trying to make a clear statement about climate protection, its employees, and customers. It was awarded gold in Green Building certification according to DGBN. The company has set a goal for itself – a climate goal. By 2022, it aims to cut its carbon footprint by half compared to 2006.

It is no secret that many people come to the supermarkets, the flow also changes, and customers would like to find a parking space upon arrival. There are 350 places in the whole parking lot. As the supermarket is in the residential area, many people got used to leaving their cars overnight in the parking lot, which caused some issues for other clients to park the vehicles, which often blocked the place of unloading of goods in the shops. That was the main problems why REWE supermarket needed the Parksol outdoor guidance solution. The goal was to find the best way to solve the issues and perform tasks. To have real-time employment reports. Receive notifications about vehicles parked for a long time (> 30 min.). Ensure an accessible delivery area at all times where parking is not possible. Archive employment history.

Goals

This project aimed to propose and implement a system that would ensure no cars in the parking lot too long, especially those that do not even visit the supermarket. Moreover, to limit time on the site so the customers could find a vacancy. As well as the place of unloading of goods would always be free and would not stop the operation of stores. And of course, all this together would Reduce environmental pollution. Also, information on overdue cars in the car park had to be available to the operator K + S GmbH at all times to ensure proper enforcement.

Solution

The solution for the improvement was to install a Parksol field management system on the territory of the shopping center, consisting of 12 field cameras, which broadcast videos to P-BOX image recognition controllers. Then the data is transferred to a local server.

One camera is specifically designed to monitor the loading location and immediately notify you if there is any car parked in it so that you can grab it. No LED signs were installed at this stage as this solution solved the performance issues, but you can easily add this later to provide more comfort to the customers. Because there are different types of users (operator, owner, integrator), a script module and an API (application programming interface) module have been added to increase the system’s functionality.

Using the script module, the user can modify event messages by changing logical tasks, and through the API, it can integrate into 3rd part systems currently used by the client.

After all the implemented innovations, additional benefits have emerged, such as:

• Statistics and reports
• Stored copies are necessary for the most efficient operation of the car park and can be modified to suit customer needs.
• The system detects vehicles that exceed their free time (30 min. Free of charge) and sends a message to the specified accounts. It can also send a photo or open a live stream from the cameras.
• They were adjusting the lighting of the car parking compartment upon entry. As the car enters the parking, the lighting becomes brighter, and when the vehicle leaves, the lighting becomes less bright during the dark hours of the day. This reduced electricity costs.

The success of the project made an impact on the business. The operator ensures that enforcement services are on time, customers will find free parking spaces additional income opportunities. After analyzing the parking lot occupancy data, it is possible to create a different business model, f.e., which would be adapt. For example, owners could rent the area to the residents of the residential area. Another advantage is that pollution is reduced: by adding LED signs, customers can find free parking spaces in less time and idle in less time. Better ROI: combining different business models – enforcement, car rental, etc. Can significantly affect ROI.

Additional system features:

• Can modify online reports to operate parking areas most effectively according to customer needs.
• The system captures vehicles that are overstaying free time (30 min free of charge) and sending notifications to designated accounts. It can also send the picture or open a live stream from cameras.
• Adjusting the lighting on the car parking when the car enters.