The cost of blind spots
Warehouses suffer about $70 billion in global inventory shrinkage each year, driven by theft, fraud, and paperwork errors.
In Europe, warehouses are now the number‑one hotspot for freight crime, accounting for 41 percent of all recorded cargo‑theft incidents.
- CargoNet logged 884 supply‑chain theft events in Q2 2025 alone, a 13 percent year‑on‑year jump with losses topping $128 million.
These numbers show why static CCTV and padlocks are no longer enough. Facilities need cameras that spot problems early, guide rapid response, and provide the evidence trail insurers and police demand.
A recent wake‑up call
On 3 March 2025 two men armed with a replica handgun tried to rob Amazon’s one‑million‑square‑foot fulfilment centre in Cambridge, Ontario. The suspects fled but were arrested shortly after, and operations were disrupted for hours. The incident proved that even techforward sites can be caught off guard when alarms, cameras, and access controls are not working in concert.
Inside warehouse crime trends, 2024‑25
Organised gangs are shifting from hijacking trucks to hitting fixed sites, where the payoff can reach millions in a single raid.
Metal, food, and beverage products now rank among the most‑stolen commodities, mirroring price spikes in copper and premium groceries.
Insider theft is rising; many gangs recruit employees for badge‑sharing and fraudulent pick‑ups.
Understanding these patterns helps shape camera analytics and alert rules that actually match today’s threats.
Advanced AI camera use cases that drive ROI
Forklift and pallet tracking – alerts on unsafe speeds, wrong‑way travel, or pallets left in fire lanes.
Package‑level search – type a box ID or SKU and jump straight to every clip where it appears, slashing claim‑resolution time.
PPE compliance – real‑time checks for hi‑vis vests, helmets, and gloves in high‑risk zones.
Fire and battery‑overheat detection – thermal cameras flag hot spots near lithium‑ion storage before flames break out.
Early adopters report up to a 35 percent drop in employee‑related thefts after enabling analytics.
How Coram raises the bar
Coram’s Warehouse Security Camera System turns any ONVIF camera into a smart sensor and streams every event into one dashboard. Key features include:
Edge AI on every camera for weapons, motion anomalies, forklift‑zone violations, and PPE checks.
Shipment verification that links video clips to WMS data for proof‑of‑pick, proof‑of‑load, and instant claims defence.
Dual‑carrier LTE fail‑over so recording and alerts continue if the primary network drops.
Plain‑language Smart Search – “blue pallet jack 14:00‑16:00” instantly pulls up the footage.
“Warehouses don’t just need more cameras, they need cameras that understand when something isn’t right and can prove what happened later,” says Ashesh Jain, CEO, Coram.
Best‑practice checklist
Map blind spots first – mezzanines, staging lanes, and trailer yards often go uncovered.
Integrate video with WMS and access control – let cameras confirm every scan event and badge swipe.
Set role‑based alerts – loss‑prevention teams get theft flags, safety officers get PPE alerts, ops managers see dwell‑time heat maps.
Review analytics monthly – re‑position cameras and tighten rules where incidents cluster.
Conclusion
Shrinkage is no longer a rounding error; it is a multi‑billion‑pound drain that organised crime, insider threats, and process gaps exploit every day. AI‑enabled cameras give warehouses the speed, context, and audit trail that static CCTV cannot. With Coram’s analytics, operators gain more than footage—they gain actionable data that stops losses, streamlines insurance claims, and keeps packages moving out the door instead of out the back.
