Screening throughput is a queue problem before it is a security problem. This page shows you how to size gates and scanners for your footfall, what a complete checkpoint includes, and the six mistakes that make screening theatre instead of security.
Enter your numbers. Results update as you type.
Indicative only. Site conditions change the final design — we confirm on survey.
The headline product is rarely more than half the installed cost. These are the parts that get left out of budgets.
The archway. Multi-zone units show which body region triggered, which speeds up secondary checks.
Two per lane. Without these the archway is a light that beeps.
Somewhere to place and open a bag. Screening without a table means bags on the floor.
Clear standing position with sight lines to both the archway display and the queue.
Needed where bag contents matter — courts, airports, government buildings, events.
Mirror trolley or fixed UVSS at vehicle entrances.
Specialist requirement — embassies, high-threat sites.
Cheap, and it improves throughput more than most hardware.
A checkpoint that dies in a power cut becomes an open door.
The honest trade-offs.
| Consideration | Archway (WTMD) | Handheld (HHMD) | X-Ray Scanner | Under-Vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Screens | People | People — secondary | Bags and parcels | Vehicles |
| Throughput | ~500/hr | Manual | ~550 bags/hr | ~60 vehicles/hr |
| Detects | Metal only | Metal, localised | Metal, organic, density | Objects under chassis |
| Operator needed | One per lane | Yes | Trained operator | One |
| Footprint | 1m × 2m | None | Large — 2–3m run | Lane width |
| Typical use | All checkpoints | Every archway lane | Courts, airports, government | Embassy, port, secure sites |
| Relative cost | Moderate | Lowest | Highest | High |
Floor space and queue run. A checkpoint needs a queue approach, the gate itself and a recovery area beyond it. Two metres of total space produces a jam regardless of the hardware.
Electrical interference. Archways are sensitive to nearby metal and electrical noise. Keep them away from lift motors, large transformers and reinforced structural columns where possible.
Level floor. An archway on an uneven floor gives inconsistent detection and false alarms, which trains operators to ignore it.
Lighting. The operator must see the person and the display. Backlit entrances where visitors are silhouetted are a common and avoidable problem.
Power circuit. Dedicated circuit. X-ray scanners in particular draw a significant startup load.
Operator shelter. In an outdoor or semi-covered gate, an operator standing in sun or rain will not screen properly by hour three. This is a throughput factor, not a comfort one.
Operator time is the largest running cost by far — usually more than the hardware over five years. A checkpoint is only as good as the person watching it, and understaffing is what turns screening into theatre.
Consumables are minimal. Archways and handhelds have no consumables beyond handheld batteries. X-ray scanners need periodic X-ray tube service, which is the significant maintenance item in this category.
Calibration. Archways should be sensitivity-checked periodically. A gate set too sensitive alarms on belt buckles and gets ignored; set too low it catches nothing. Both failure modes look identical from outside.
X-ray tube life. Budget for tube replacement across the equipment lifetime. It is a known, scheduled cost — treat it as such rather than as a failure.
The cost nobody budgets: training. An untrained operator on a working scanner provides less security than a trained one with a handheld. We include operator training with every checkpoint we supply.
Every one has cost a real project real money.
The archway beeps. The operator has no way to find out why. So they wave people through, and the checkpoint provides nothing.
Do this: Two handhelds per archway lane. Non-negotiable.
Office lobbies fill between 8:30 and 9:15, not evenly across the day. One gate sized for the daily average produces a 20-minute queue every morning.
Do this: Size on peak-hour flow. The calculator above uses peak, not average.
Electrical interference causes intermittent false alarms that nobody can reproduce, and the gate loses credibility with the operators.
Do this: Survey for interference before fixing the position.
People clear the archway and immediately stop to collect bags and belongings, blocking everyone behind them.
Do this: Plan a recovery area past the gate, not just an approach.
An X-ray image is meaningless without operator training. Untrained staff pass everything, and the scanner becomes expensive decoration.
Do this: Budget training as part of the purchase, not as an afterthought.
A gate that alarms on belt buckles and keys trains everyone — including the operator — to ignore it. That is worse than no gate.
Do this: Calibrate against a realistic threat standard, then re-check periodically.
Screening is a throughput problem before it is a detection problem. A checkpoint that cannot clear the queue gets bypassed, and a bypassed checkpoint detects nothing.
Interference causes false alarms. Operators learn to ignore the alarm, and the checkpoint stops working within weeks.
Each stops the other. Screen them in parallel and rejoin after.
Untrained operators produce security theatre. This is the line most often cut and most often regretted.
Without a place to take an alarm, every alarm halts the primary queue. Design the space at survey.
Everything alarms, operators desensitise, and the checkpoint becomes decorative. Tune it to the actual threat.
A reboot mid-scan loses the image, and the queue backs onto the street.
Screening is a throughput problem first. Size the lane, then choose the equipment.
The primary screen. Zone count tells the operator where the alarm is, which is what keeps the queue moving.
Every product above is one DigiMark Solution imports, stocks and warrants. Pricing is quotation-based and depends on quantity and configuration — request a quotation or ask on WhatsApp.
What a screening tender must state. This is a category where a vague specification produces wildly different quotations.
| Sector | What to specify | Typical scale | The clause bidders exploit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government / defence | Detection zones; throughput per hour; logging and retention; operator training; authorized-distributor certificate | Per entrance | State throughput per hour — without it, bidders quote one archway for a thousand people |
| Airport / transport | Regulated screening standards; parallel bag and person lanes; secondary search area | High volume | Standards compliance is the specification here, not device count |
| Bank / financial | Discreet installation; lobby throughput; alarm handling that does not alarm customers | Per branch | Specify how an alarm is handled in a customer-facing lobby |
| Hotel / hospitality | Low-intrusion screening; guest experience; event surge capacity | Per entrance | State the event surge, not just the normal day |
| Court / government office | Public throughput; weapons focus; secondary search; visitor logging | Per entrance | Peak is usually the opening hour — size for that |
| Factory / industrial | Shift-change surge; tool and material control; outgoing as well as incoming screening | Per gate | Outgoing screening is often forgotten and is usually the actual requirement |
Divide peak-hour footfall by lane throughput. A well-run archway lane handles around 500 people per hour at 7 seconds each. For 600 people in the peak hour, that is two gates. If people are emptying pockets slowly, real throughput drops to 300/hour and you need three. Use the calculator above.
For most Bangladeshi offices, an archway plus handheld detectors is sufficient and considerably faster. X-ray scanners are needed where bag contents genuinely matter — courts, government buildings, airports, large public events. They are expensive, need a two to three metre floor run, and require a trained operator to be worth anything.
Because the archway only tells you that metal is present, not what or where. Without a handheld for secondary checking, the operator either holds up the whole queue or waves people through. Budget two handhelds per archway lane — they are inexpensive and they are what makes the archway useful.
It depends entirely on how you calibrate it. Set too sensitive and it alarms constantly, which trains everyone to ignore it — the worst possible outcome. Set too low and it detects nothing. We calibrate against a realistic threat standard at commissioning and recommend periodic re-checking.
More than people expect. You need a queue approach, the gate itself, an inspection table, and a recovery area beyond the gate where people collect their belongings. Skipping the recovery area is a common error — people stop just past the archway and block everyone behind them.
Yes, and we consider it part of the installation rather than an extra. An untrained operator on an X-ray scanner provides less security than a trained one with a handheld detector. Training is the difference between a working checkpoint and expensive decoration.
Free site survey across Dhaka and Chattogram. Our engineers confirm the design before anything is quoted.