Absolute ‘Steels’ Laptop Back for BRC

BRC Reinforcement Solutions is the largest manufacturer of steel reinforcement and associated products in the UK. Founded in 1908, BRC has been a leading force in the design and development of bar reinforcement and welded wire mesh ever since. With a turnover of £200 million and 400 employees BRC operates in a highly competitive industry where quick customer response is often the deciding factor of whether or not business is won. When even one laptop goes missing an employee is prevented from carrying out their duties, and in this fast moving market this delay in responding to a client can cost the contract.

The steel reinforcement industry is not known for its acceptance of high technology but this is changing. IT is now at the core of BRC’s operations and it is vital for the continued success of the UK’s number one steel manufacturing company. BRC has been a Computrace® customer since September 2005. Theft has never been a major issue within the company, but they were relieved their laptops were covered by Computrace when a burglary occurred in January 2007. As soon as the stolen laptop connected to the internet it called into the Absolute® Software Monitoring Centre allowing the Absolute Theft Recovery Officers to pinpoint its location. With this vital information the theft recovery officers worked with local police to recover the PC, return it to BRC and charge two individuals with burglary!

“I am always sceptical of new technology until it is proven – but I am now convinced that Computrace works. I was really impressed by the recovery process - I didn’t have to chase Absolute Software at all. They informed me when the laptop started ‘calling in’, not long after I had a call from the police telling me the laptop had been recovered.” Commented Adrian Marks, IT Systems Administrator for BRC.

Adrian continued, “Computrace was selected by BRC because it is a very cost effective system which requires no intervention from our IT team. Implementation was a doddle, Computrace was installed at the build stage by Dell and was activated when we purchased the licenses, and everything else was taken care of. All we had to do was let Absolute Software know when one of our laptops went missing.”