Apr 16, 2009Elecsys Corp., a publicly traded holding company with three main subsidiaries that provide electronic manufacturing, rugged mobile computing and remote monitoring solutions, has acquired MBBS, a Swiss manufacturer of specialized RFID interrogators and tags that can be hermetically sealed or encased in metal so they can withstand high temperatures, sterilization and other extreme conditions.
Karl Gemperli, CEO of Elecsys—which is headquartered in Olathe, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City—characterizes the purchase as "a really good opportunity for us," stating, "I know people are all doom and gloom with the downturn of economy, but it will come back up. We look for growing and developing markets; the last thing we are going to do is buy into a maturing market. I believe RFID is on the upswing, and this acquisition seemed like a perfect opportunity."
Elecsys expects the acquisition will strengthen all of the other companies it owns: DCI, which provides integrated electronic design and manufacturing solutions; Radix, which produces rugged mobile computing devices used for a variety of applications, including asset tracking and field maintenance; and NTG, which designs and markets remote monitoring solutions for the gas and oil pipeline industry, as well as for other sectors that require remote monitoring.
"All of our subsidiaries, which really are brands, provide solutions that focus on industrial and rugged, harsh environments," Gemperli explains. "This technology really fits."
The all-stock deal offers Elecsys a portfolio of specialized low-frequency (LF) RFID tags encased in stainless steel. The tags in the current product portfolio operate at 125 kHz and employ a proprietary air-interface protocol. However, per a customer's request, the company can provide tags that operate at other frequencies below 150 kHz (the lower the frequency, the greater the penetration depth of the magnetic field generated by a reader's signal). MBBS designed and marketed the tags primarily for medical and industrial applications, such as tracking surgical instruments.
According to Elecsys, the main issue involved in using RFID technology to read or write through metal—such as the encasing that is part of the MBBS tags—is the substantial attenuation of the RF signal resulting from the electromagnetic shielding of the metal material itself. MBBS' MetaluCID technology leverages a custom chip—the patented, proprietary P4057 integrated circuit (IC), which the company developed to read and write data to and from passive RFID tags through metal materials. The front-end analog interface of this IC is optimized for reading and writing a strongly attenuated signal transmitted through metal, the company reports, by utilizing a specially detuned antenna that can operate at frequencies as low as 25 kHz. The technology employs a flat air coil antenna without a ferrite core and designed to maximize the magnetic coupling between the interrogator and the tag antennas, thereby allowing practical implementation of the tag in metal.
MBBS' custom readers are optimized to work with its own metal tags, the firm indicates, but are also compatible with most standard LF tags currently available on the market. MBBS' tags, as well as the interrogators, can be hermetically sealed within a metal case or enclosure. What's more, the firm indicates its technology is conducive to miniaturization, and that for its clients, it currently produces custom tags with diameters of less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inch) at a thickness of 2 millimeters (0.1 inch).
There are quite a few applications in which such tags could be used, Gemperli says, such as those designed to track production in automotive manufacturing. The tags could be affixed to a chassis, for instance, that must then go through painting and high-heat processes. The tags would be able to withstand such processes and still provide tracking capabilities so an automaker could monitor production. Some of Elecsys' customers, including one that manufactures heavy equipment, have already expressed interest in tracking solutions that would leverage the tags, the company notes.
Elecsys is presently in the process of transferring the manufacturing of all of MBBS' products from the MBBS facility in Cortaillod, Switzerland, to its own plant in Kansas. Elecsys plans to rebrand the product line, though Gemperli says no names have yet been decided on. The acquisition will also provide Elecsys with sales and support offices in Europe; the holding company will transform MBBS' office in Cortaillod into its European headquarters.
