End Users '20 under 40' 2016—Dan Schmelzer

Dan Schmelzer, 34

Global manager, security technology, global security, Cardinal Health

Dublin, Ohio

As the manager for global security technology, Dan Schmelzer oversees security for Cardinal Health's more than 500 locations worldwide.

“I am the main point of contact for everything security systems-related for Cardinal Health, which includes all of the physical control systems—card access, intrusion detection, video surveillance, visitor management, etc.—all of those various platforms used for corporate security globally,” he explained. “That includes establishing what type of equipment we use, where we use it and how we use it, as well as vendor relationships and internal collaboration with various departments such as IT, for example.”

Schmelzer, who has been at the company for nearly five years, spent the majority of that time instituting and rolling our new security standards across the enterprise. “Today, out of the 500 facilities on our corporate platform, we have converted about 250 year-to-date, and we have a road map over the next couple of years to onboard the remainder of the facilities that have not joined the new standard,” he noted.

In terms of promising new technology, Schmelzer said he is very interested in biometrics, “especially with the nature of our business with pharmaceuticals and medical products, it is very important to secure those products. Also, different camera technologies are of interest and we are experimenting with them. Larger megapixel technology is promising. We are using infrared and thermal cameras in certain environments that seem to be working out quite well and have potential for future use. We also have an interest in robotics.”

When it comes to looking at new technology Schmelzer said, “The No. 1 most important thing for us is what we call convergence with IT, meaning any technology platform that we look at has to adhere to our IT standards.”