Securing A Precious Metals Dealer From the Ground Up

• Client: A precious metals dealer and refiner.

• Industry: Precious metals trading and refining (gold, silver, platinum, palladium)

• Referral Source: Jewelers Mutual

• Scope: Vault construction, UL-rated safes, video surveillance, access control, alarm, perimeter and rooftop detection, walk-through metal detection.

• Timeline: 12-18 months from commitment to completion, phased around the facility's construction.

• Core Systems:

  • Bosch (Video, Access Control, Alarm)

  • ZKTeco (metal dectection)

The Client

This client buys, sells, and refines precious metals. Beyond trading finished product in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, the company refines scrap gold and produces its own bars, nuggets, and pure gold products in-house. It is not a retail environment. Clients visit by appointment, often to buy or sell tens of thousands of dollars in metal in a single transaction.

That business model creates a rare security profile: high-value, highly liquid inventory concentrated in one facility, with outside visitors regularly walking the floor.

The Challenge

When Rolland Solutions first met the company, it was operating out of a small facility with security that had not kept pace with the value inside the building:

• A residential-grade home alarm system protecting a commercial precious metals operation.

• Fire-rated safes rather than UL burglary-rated safes.

• No video surveillance, no access control, and no internal security measures.

The owner also knew the problem was about to get bigger. The company planned to move within a year or two, and volume at the new facility was expected to quadruple.

The Initial Engagement

The Takeaway

The facility opened with protection designed for the way sophisticated criminals actually work. Bad actors scope a target before they act. They study the exterior, note the cameras, and sometimes book an appointment posing as a legitimate buyer to see the inside. At this facility, what they find is layered, visible deterrence at every point of approach: exterior and parking lot coverage, perimeter and rooftop detection, access control at the doors, monitored vaults and safes, and cameras watching the highest-value zones even when the building is empty.The installation went smoothly, with minimal issues at every phase. Just as important was how questions got handled along the way. When something came up, the owner made one phone call, got an answer, and moved on. That responsiveness became a defining feature of the relationship.

Six months after opening, the results spoke for themselves. The client came back, not with problems, but with expansion. Rolland added walk-through metal detectors and handheld wands (ZKTeco) to screen personnel and visitors, plus access control on additional doors beyond the original scope.

The refiner came to Rolland Solutions as a referral from Jewelers Mutual, which provided a short list of qualified security providers. Rolland was the local option, and the team drove out to walk the facility in person, assess the operation, and evaluate safe requirements firsthand.

That first project was focused: Rolland supplied UL-rated TL-30 safes to bring the company’s storage up to standard. But the visit did more than solve the immediate problem. Walking the facility, asking qualifying questions, and understanding the operation built the trust that would define the next phase.

During that process, the owner mentioned the planned move and expansion. Rolland stayed in touch.

The Solution

When the move became real, the owner asked Rolland Solutions to bid on the complete security package for the new facility. Rolland was not the only bid, but won on the strength of the relationship, demonstrated expertise, prior work performed, and more than 100 years of company history, backed by the Jewelers Mutual endorsement.

The new site was an existing warehouse with office space. The offices were remodeled. The warehouse, where the real work would happen, was a blank slate with electrical service and nothing else. No wiring, no cameras, no security infrastructure of any kind.

Rolland designed and delivered a complete, integrated protection ecosystem:

• Vault construction, sequenced first so the building remodel could be completed around it

• UL-rated safes connected to the alarm system

• Bosch video surveillance, access control, and alarm, fully integrated on a single platform

• Cameras that double as alarm devices in high-security zones. Inside the vault, camera-detected motion triggers the alarm when the system is armed after hours

• Rooftop laser detection to identify anyone scaling a wall or attempting a rooftop entry

• Exterior coverage of the building and parking areas

• Remote management of video and access control, giving the owner full visibility from anywhere. The vault alarm remains intentionally isolated from remote connectivity to preserve its UL listing

The Process

For businesses holding high-value, concentrated inventory, security is not a product you buy once. It is an ecosystem designed around how your operation actually runs, and a relationship with a partner who answers the phone.

This engagement started with a safe purchase. It became a ground-up protection ecosystem for a facility handling quadruple the volume, and a client relationship that keeps growing.

The Results

The project ran 12 to 18 months from commitment to completion, driven by the phased nature of the build. Vault manufacturing alone took two to three months. The vault went in first, construction and remodel continued around it, Rolland returned to pre-wire, and then came back for final trim-out once construction wrapped.

The installation went smoothly, with minimal issues at every phase. Just as important was how questions got handled along the way. When something came up, the owner made one phone call, got an answer, and moved on. That responsiveness became a defining feature of the relationship.

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