The pistachio plant that used to film its own camera screen
Primex Farms ran a round-the-clock processing floor on a camera system that could only be watched from inside the building. What changed when the cameras started sending.
Primex Farms processes pistachios in Wasco, California, and is one of the largest such operations in the state according to Spot AI's published account. The plant runs around the clock, with hundreds of workers, machines, and forklifts moving millions of pounds of nuts each season. Its previous camera system could only be reached from inside the building.
"Our old camera system was only on a LAN," says Leo, who is identified in the account only by his first name. "If I saw footage of something, it's because I was on site. If I needed to send it to someone off site, I'd have to wait until they came back. Or I'd record my screen with my phone."
For anyone not standing in front of the screen, a camera system that cannot send a clip out of the building might as well not be there, and Leo's workaround was to film the monitor with his phone.
Notified, not searching
The change at Primex has less to do with picture quality than with direction. The old system waited to be queried; the new one, running Spot AI's video agents, sends alerts out on its own.
The awesome thing about Spot AI is that I don't even have to create a case anymore. I just get notified and check it right away.
According to the account, the agents watch for crowding in hazard zones, missing personal protective equipment, unsafe proximity to machinery, and stalled production lines, and alert the relevant people as those things develop. Leo describes the alert itself: "They found a way to notify me by email and text, and it shows me an image of what I was looking at. If it's an issue or not, I can tell instantly. It's telling me exactly what I need to know."
An image in a text message is a modest piece of engineering. Its effect is that deciding whether something matters takes seconds, from anywhere.
The things nobody reports
The most candid line in the account is about people rather than machines.
The beauty of AI is that it helps you report on the things that maybe some employees don't want to report.
Safety managers tend to know there is a gap between incidents that happen and incidents that get written up. A near-miss or a helmet left off for a minute often goes unreported because reporting it means naming a colleague. A system that flags it without anyone having to speak up removes that step. Spot AI's account says the shared visibility has reduced response times and made safety practice more consistent across shifts.
One screen for three departments
Operations, safety, and security at Primex used to work from separate systems, the account says. Now all three work from the same platform. Spot AI's summary of results is qualitative: fewer bottlenecks, better PPE compliance, faster decisions. No percentages are published.
What is published is Leo's verdict.
Having cameras that talk back to you changes everything. Spot AI has become a real part of our safety team.
Before the switch, the same plant's footage left the building as a phone recording of a monitor.