“Second, it is important to make sure that it is customer and business requirements, rather than a preference for a given technology, that drives the selection criteria. The reality is that different types of systems work better in different applications.” 

Finally, says Mr Goldsmith, there is a growing trend within the security industry generally to integrate and share information between systems to improve security overall, so ports should be looking for a system that can enable that.

Rapiscan says the market for X-ray and scanning systems is still growing rapidly, especially in markets and geographical regions where trade and economic development are accelerating, such as the Middle East, Central Europe, Asia and South America. 

“In these regions, security is very important but so is improving the enforcement of customs regulation and anti-smuggling and anti-narcotics trafficking,” says Mr Goldsmith. “In the US and ‘super ports’ worldwide, there continues to be a strong focus on improving the detection of explosives and nuclear or radioactive materials.” 

Rapiscan’s own developments this year have included continued investment and improvement in its Eagle High Energy X-Ray cargo inspection platform.  “Our engineering and production teams have made a number of changes to make the system easier to operate and maintain and increase inspection throughput,” says Mr Goldsmith. “For example, our Eagle Portal allows port operators to inspect up to 180 trucks per hour. The market acceptance of the Eagle product line has been very good – for example, US Customs and Border Protection has ordered systems for deployment in the US and overseas.”

Rapiscan continues to grow its expertise in leading edge inspection technologies, says Mr Goldsmith. The US Department of Homeland Security Domestic Nuclear Detection Office recently awarded Rapiscan a large R&D contract to help it develop advanced inspection algorithm software.