A seemingly endles be molten of packages comes streaming end the Oakland.

A seemingly endles be molten of packages comes streaming end the Oakland, Calif., processing facility of overnight package shipper Federal Expres completely through the day and into the night, distinctively marked deals roll in with cargo for dispatch around the city and through every part of the world by the $20 billion-per-year transportation company.

Workers rouse fast as boxes and packages are loaded and unloaded onto high-speed conveyors. In a shipping business that is all about time, each minute counts.

FedEx handles more than 5 million shipments a day, and the Oakland facility certainly secures its share. Many of the packages contain electronics, computer chips, pharmaceuticals and other valuable propers Company security officials have to make certain the packages don't fall victim to the $30 billion worldwide scourge of cargo theft.

When it came to providing protection for this facility, security officials realized that certain things had to be done at ...