"The market needs providers who can deliver the whole solution from one source" says Horst Eckenberger, CEO of primion Technology. Among the newest additions to the product portfolio of the specialist for integrated security solutions are the ADT 1200 designer terminal, prime Visit visitor administration, the IDT 2x Access control panel as well as the pkt design escutcheon reader jointly developed with the DOM company. GIT SECURITY spoke with Horst Eckenberger.

GIT SECURITY: Mr Eckenberger, before we talk about your new product ranges and the year 2015, let us start by discussing a few internal matters. There is the subject of Stock Market listing. The delisting in Frankfurt has been completed, and it will take effect in the coming April (GIT SECURITY reported). primion shares will soon no longer be traded at Frankfurt or at the other German exchanges. Will primion even remain as a stock corporation in the long term?

Horst Eckenberger: The delisting from the stock exchange is a sensible step as over 90% of the shares today are held by our main shareholder Azkoyen. The true trading of shares with pricing doesn't happen anymore because of the low trading volume. And the exchange is no longer primion's main financial instrument. The costs and benefits are not in relation to each other and for that reason the delisting was initiated. The shareholders will naturally keep their status and there will continue to be an Annual General Meeting. It is not currently planned to change the company from an AG to any other legal form.

An important primion project is the improved incorporation of the company's international subsidiaries. How can the current cooperation be described and what do you want to change here?

Horst Eckenberger: Cooperation within the group between our subsidiaries GET Belgium, primion SAS France and Digitek Spain is already at a good level today, especially in regard to hardware. We have a centralised development and production facility in Stetten for the group. There is also a central Product Management function in place within the group to coordinate the differing requirements in the best possible way. We still have to take a step towards group-wide optimisation in the area of software. Time and attendance recording software will remain a decentralised task because of the varying legal regulations in each country. For our Access control and Security management software, we are currently establishing competence centres that will develop software for the whole group - with a uniform technical platform and specifications - to provide interoperability between the individual areas. The first result of this is the standardised visitor administration for the group, prime Visit, developed at the competence centre in GET. The concept of the competence centres should allow us to achieve quicker and more economical software development going forward, while still maintaining the revenue per module.

What does the 'Group Strategy' look like in detail? How are you moving forward here?

Horst Eckenberger: As I said, Time & attendance recording will remain a local matter as we have a high market share in in our core markets of Germany, Belgium and Spain - and we want to defend these. Access control - and with it our psm2200 Security control centre - is our growth driver. All our companies must be able to position this combination successfully in their market, to win new market share and to offer existing customers new options. One market on which we will focus in the near future is the Netherlands, where we want to grow our market share substantially. Of course that also applies to our international network of partners that we're expanding, step by step, to acquire and develop new markets. This strategy is supported by our latest hardware, which, in a new design providing new functionality and modular construction, delivers attractive options at a fair price-to-performance ratio.

You spoke of synergies that should lead to improved handling of Key Accounts. How will the customer themselves benefit from these developments?   

Horst Eckenberger: By unifying our portfolio of solutions it will be easier, especially for customers who already operate complex systems from primion, to maintain these and to keep them technically up-to-date at all times. This will be achieved through more robust solutions, a larger number of commonly-deployed components in the field and of course through better service know-how. This is all very important, especially for our Key Account customers because, as a rule, they source the complete value chain from us - from the planning stage and the installation right through to the maintenance. Internationally active customers will increasingly find the same portfolio of solutions and know-how from our organisation in ever more countries. This corresponds to our 'Follow the Customer' philosophy in new markets.

What are the first decisions that have been taken, and what are the next steps?

Horst Eckenberger: To put our intentions into practice we have designated centralised responsibilities for the group and for our subsidiaries. This gives us a homogeneous presence. In addition, as I already mentioned, we have set up both centralised Product Management and Business Development and also centralised Marketing and Training Services for our partners and customers. The first step in presenting this new unified appearance to the market was the development of a group logo that was first used officially at the Security show. An important next step is now the implementation of a new group-wide, uniform graphical user interface (GUI) that will give our customers an innovative user experience.

Mr Eckenberger, let's chat about the latest developments in your products. At the Security show in Essen you introduced, amongst other things, a multi-functional terminal that is part of the new hardware concept - and with it some new software for visitor administration (prime Visit). How has the market acceptance been so far?

Horst Eckenberger: To put it simply: really positive! The first orders are already in, along with numerous inquiries. The first test installations are up and running and happily the interest is continuing.

The design of the ADT 1200 multi-functional terminal makes a really elegant impression. For those who don't already know the system, what are the main new features for customers and integrators?  

Horst Eckenberger: I would like to differentiate here between the external and the internal values that perhaps are not immediately visible. The unusual design of the ADT 1200 is makes it into a sure-fire eye catcher. It is very robust but at the same time, it can be located in practically any environment, from a smart foyer through to the factory floor. The large touch-screen is easy to use and can be quickly adapted to the customers' requirements. The modular construction greatly simplifies installation. The backplane is fitted with the power and network connections and is supplemented by two further modules - a CPU with touch function and a reader unit. This makes it easy to exchange individual components in the case of a service call. The reader unit can also be supplemented or replaced by a biometric module.

How important is the design - and consequently the user-friendliness and intuitive operation - for your customers when making the purchase decision, compared to the technical functionality?     

Horst Eckenberger: The aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly design is without doubt an important criterion when deciding on a system. That is particularly true for the younger generation. They are much more influenced by products from the consumer world, such as smartphones and tablets, than the 50+ generation. We felt this effect earlier with our Crystal Line readers, for which we received the IF Product Design Award by the way.       

The product family will be growing during 2015. What is on the way?

Horst Eckenberger: Our new ADT design family will be extended by a compact, smaller Time recording terminal that fits into the hierarchy below the ADT 1200. The launch will most likely be in the second half of 2015. We will also introduce a new reader design that optically fits in with the family.

What other new items can we expect from primion Technology during the coming year?

Horst Eckenberger: As I said before, we are working on implementing a new GUI for our software. We will also introduce a new mechatronic escutcheon reader for our pkt (prime key technology) solution together with our partner DOM as well as a new DOM digital cylinder.