Tracking keys, radios and scanners across a 24/7 cargo hub

In a high-frequency, multi-shift cargo environment, equipment has to be tracked, charged and ready to go at every changeover, with full visibility into who took which device and when it was returned.

Before using the ecos systems, CGN's ground and cargo teams were dealing with regular losses of scanners and radios, equipment handed out with no tracking or approval step, uncharged devices reaching staff at the start of a shift, and significant personnel time spent purely on manual issuance.

ecos installed 8 key cabinets and 12 electronic lockers across different buildings on the CGN grounds, positioned wherever shift teams actually work rather than in a single central location.

Every key, scanner and radio is identified individually via multi-RFID detection the moment it is placed in its compartment — reliably, regardless of brand or model. Each issuance and return is logged automatically, giving CGN's teams full, auditable accountability over who holds which piece of equipment at any given moment.

With ecos key cabinets and lockers, Cologne Bonn Airport has closed the gaps that used to cost its teams time and equipment. Scanners and radios are no longer handed out untracked or uncharged, every device is identified automatically the moment it is returned, and staff have complete visibility into who took what and when — cutting the manual effort that used to go into issuing equipment by hand.

The system also reinforces CGN's obligations as a critical infrastructure operator: controlled, logged access to keys, radios and scanners gives the airport a documented, auditable process supporting its physical-security duties under Germany's BSI Act and upcoming stricter physical-security duties.