A smarter, faster way to respond to alarms in a challenging facility environment.
Ecolab is a global leader in water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Ecolab partners with businesses across industries including food, healthcare, hospitality, and manufacturing to deliver safe, sustainable, and efficient operations.
Founded in 1923, Ecolab has grown into a science-driven company with over 48,000 associates worldwide, including thousands of engineers, scientists, and digital specialists. Their portfolio spans cleaning and sanitation, water and energy optimization, and infection control, helping organizations meet regulatory standards while reducing environmental impact.
The company holds more than 11,000 patents and invests heavily in research to advance sustainability and operational efficiency. Through its solutions, Ecolab helped customers save over 226 billion gallons of water in 2023, reinforcing its commitment to environmental stewardship.
With a century of expertise and a clear vision for the future, Ecolab continues to protect people, resources, and business health delivering measurable economic and ecological benefits worldwide.
The challenge
Ecolab’s Northwich facility in Cheshire is a dynamic, multi-use site that combines office spaces, production areas, and technical laboratories. With staff working across diverse zones and frequent visitors unfamiliar with the building layout, ensuring rapid and clear communication during a fire alarm activation is critical.
Traditional fire alarm systems often rely on static zone plans and control panels, which can make it difficult for occupants to quickly identify the affected area and respond appropriately. In a complex environment like Northwich, this can lead to confusion, delayed evacuation, and increased risk during emergencies.
The challenge was to enhance situational awareness and streamline emergency response without disrupting the site’s operational flow or aesthetics. Ecolab needed a solution that could provide real-time, intuitive information to all building users whether they were employees, contractors, or visitors while integrating seamlessly with existing fire safety infrastructure.
The Solution
To address the challenge of improving fire alarm responses in a complex, multi-use environment, Ecolab implemented the dynamicZM system in the site control office. Unlike traditional static zone plans, dynamicZM uses a dual-image display that combines an aerial photograph of the site with a detailed building layout plan.
This innovative approach ensures that both familiar and unfamiliar users can quickly identify the zone in alarm. Employees who know the building layout can interpret the floor plan instantly, while contractors, visitors, and even the attending fire and rescue service benefit from the aerial view, which provides clear context of the building’s position and access points.
During an alarm activation, the affected zone is highlighted in real time, enabling rapid, informed decision-making and reducing confusion during evacuation. Outside of emergency scenarios, the display serves a secondary purpose displaying welcome messages, safety information, and training updates adding value beyond fire safety.
By combining intuitive visuals with seamless integration into the existing fire alarm infrastructure, dynamicZM delivers a modern, user-friendly solution that enhances situational awareness and strengthens emergency response across the entire site.
Implementation
The dynamicZM system was seamlessly integrated into Ecolab’s existing Advanced Electronics MxPro fire alarm infrastructure. Working closely with Ecolab’s premises management team and the design specialists at Open Protocol Technology Ltd, a bespoke dual-image display was developed combining an aerial view of the entire site with a detailed internal building layout.
This custom solution ensures that during an alarm activation, the affected zone is highlighted instantly on both images, providing clear visual context for rapid decision-making. The aerial photograph helps external responders, contractors, and visitors quickly understand site access points, while the building plan supports staff familiar with the internal layout.
Installed in the main site control room adjacent to the fire alarm control panel, dynamicZM delivers an immediate, graphical representation of any alarm event. This integration enables Ecolab’s safety personnel to coordinate responses efficiently, reducing confusion and improving evacuation speed across the complex facility.
Results
The implementation of dynamicZM at Ecolab’s Northwich facility has transformed fire alarm response across the site. By providing a real-time, dual-image display that highlights the affected zone instantly, the system has significantly improved situational awareness for staff, contractors, visitors, and emergency responders. This clarity enables faster, more coordinated evacuations and reduces confusion during critical moments.
Robert Schofield, General Manager at Open Protocol Technology Ltd, explains:
“Ecolab, a long-standing client, asked for a solution that would allow anyone unfamiliar with the site to quickly locate the source of an alarm particularly to improve out-of-hours responses. We knew dynamicZM was the perfect fit for their needs.”
Peik Aura, Plant Manager at Ecolab, adds:
“We needed a solution that could communicate effectively with everyone; those familiar with our site and those who are not. DynamicZM delivers exactly that, ensuring a fast, coordinated response to any alarm, day or night.”
Beyond emergency scenarios, the display adds ongoing value by sharing safety messages and training updates, reinforcing Ecolab’s commitment to workplace safety and operational efficiency. The solution integrates seamlessly with existing infrastructure, delivering a modern, intuitive approach to fire safety that supports Ecolab’s high standards for protecting people and resources.
