Supplier of the Year
| Nominees | |
| Manufacturer | |
| Alfastreet | |
| Angel Playing Cards Co. Ltd. | |
| Aristocrat | |
| Bally Technologies | |
| Gold Club | |
| GPI | |
| IGT | |
| Shuffle Master | |
| TCSJohnHuxley | |
| WMS | |
Winner: Aristocrat Technologies
Aristocrat‘s name kept coming up again and again when the judges asked operators for comment on Supplier of the Year. Aristocrat’s winning games such as Cash Express are as popular across Asia as they are in North America, proving that if a game’s good it can translate across cultures and languages.
Almost as important as Aristocrat’s strong product range is the reported quality of its after sales. As long ago as 2007, Aristocrat made the decision to set up an assembly line in Macau to build gaming slot machines for the Asian market.
The establishment, known as an order fulfilment centre, employs local people to assemble Aristocrat machines by putting together pre-built modules imported from other parts of Asia under the supervision of technical experts from Aristocrat’s home base in Australia and beyond. This helps to shorten supply lines and speed up delivery times.
By employing local people in the centre, Aristocrat is also helping to create a group of future experts able to speak to local gaming managers in their own language and on their terms. That helps to create a virtuous circle of trust vital to sales and marketing success in Asia.
Honourable Mention: Bally Technologies
Bally made strong progress in Macau in 2008, and is slated to provide a healthy portion of the slot machines at Melco Crown International’s new Cotai resort City of Dreams when it opens later this year.
Bally already has a major contract to provide gaming equipment and management services to Las Vegas Sands Corp’s Asian venues in Macau and Singapore. This is part of a global deal with LVS worth US$56 million signed in 2007 and covering slot, casino management and bonusing systems.
Bally’s impetus is provided by its quality slot products, including the highly popular Hot Shot and Quick Hits series. In 2008, Blazing 7s Hot Shot Progressive maintained its position as Bally’s most popular standalone slot game world wide, and has been issued in Hot Shot Classic format as a tribute to its staying power. At G2E Asia 2008 Bally launched Chinese Kitchen, the first slot to come out of Bally’s product development centre in India.
Bally also offers innovative marketing tools such as Bally iVIEW and Bally Power Bonusing, and industry-leading systems such as floor networking.
Last, but by no means least, the company’s gaming management tools include Bally Business Intelligence Solution. It aids operators in the analysis of dense operational data by allowing them to visualise what’s happening on the casino floor on a minute-by-minute or even a year-by-year basis thanks to thermal imaging-style visualisation of traffic and usage.
Honourable Mention: Gaming Partners International (GPIC)
GPIC supplies all the casino operators in Macau with gaming security equipment and has a 90% share of the market. With such a strong market presence the company was a clear contender for top prize in the Supplier of the Year category.
At G2E Asia 2008, GPIC displayed an unrivalled range of chips, including the Bud Jones, Paulson and B&G brands. The company also featured on its stand some exclusive security features to fight counterfeiting and a new collection of its famous state-of-the-art plaques. The company also held a demonstration of its leading RFID applications in both 125 KHz and 13.56 MHz frequencies.
