From storage to pit to disposal, protecting and tracking cards and dice in transit is what Mega Fortris does, and casinos across Asia rely on it to do this as well as it can be done
Malaysia-based Mega Fortris is trusted the world over as a manufacturer of seals, locks, labels, bags, pouches and boxes for the protection of all manner of precious cargo in transit—cash, confidential documents, discs, tapes, medicines, chemicals—whatever its customers most need to get safely and securely from here to there.
“Prevention, Protection, Peace of Mind” is Mega Fortris’ motto, and it’s one to which the size and geographical diversity of its client base readily attest. It’s a list that includes banks and financial services providers, manufacturing and petrochemical and pharmaceutical companies, retailers, food and beverage suppliers, police, security and transportation and cargo handlers on land, sea, rail and air.
The company enjoys the same trust in the gaming industry. If you’ve ever noticed those see-through boxes in which new and used playing cards and dice are transported to and from the tables—chances are they’re Mega Fortris’. It’s a decidedly low-tech solution, almost nondescript, which of course is the idea. Yet there is no margin for error in how it must work. The Mega Casino Box, as it’s called, has to be lockable, but its contents have to be visually apparent and easily accessible. It has to be tamper-proof and resistant to damage and the elements. But it must be traceable everywhere on the property.
Mega Fortris generated 110 million ringgit in 2012 (US$35.7 million)—a 29% increase year on year—by being very good at this sort of thing. It employs 600 people full-time in 19 offices on five continents. Its expertise has been acknowledged by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, which awarded the company its 2012 “Excellence Award”. Its reputation is such that it regularly advises clients on a variety of issues related to logistical security. Casinos turn to it often for consultations that include vulnerability assessments, security audits and compliance with ISO standards.
“Yes, we provide those kinds of value-added services,” says Chief Technology Officer Clement Arul. “We do that for all our customers. We are not only a seal-manufacturing firm. Because security is about how much you can make life difficult for the bad guys. There is nothing hard and safe in this world with respect to IT and digital networks.”
It’s why Mega Fortris has set out more recently to get decidedly high-tech with what it calls its Mega Casino Management System. Shown for the first time at this year’s G2E Asia in May, this is an end-to- end solution for monitoring and managing vital inventory based on some innovative uses of radio frequency identification. The heart of MCMS is an application called Intelliseal, developed in partnership with CaptureTech, a Netherlands company that specializes in active and passive RFID-tracking applications. It employs reusable seals embedded with a passive RFID chip that fixes the location of everything that moves and requires tracking—playing cards, dice, buttons, baskets, vaults, seals, trolleys, you name it—and it does it in real time.
The chip transmits at an ultra-high-frequency 860-965 MHz, providing coverage across 700 to 800 meters, and it is being fine-tuned for reading by existing CCTV networks to integrate its tracking capabilities with the workings of the surveillance and security departments.
“They will have the technology to tag RFID to video,” Mr Arul explains. “It automatically will show where a particular box is.”
Mega Fortris is readying MCMS for full launch in January 2014, at which time the company will be offering to upgrade the Mega Casino Boxes in all its casinos at a nominal cost.
“We are contacting them, telling them what’s coming up,” says Mr Arul. “And if you buy the boxes with our system it makes it more integrated, which makes life easier, and you can already have the CCTV system.”
It’s a compelling proposition.
MCMS is an open-architecture plug-and play platform, modular and customizable to suit an operation’s specific needs, and as evidenced by the CCTV interface it’s fully capable of supporting third-party legacy systems. The communications layer is designed on TCP/IP and digitally encrypted to be especially secure, and it features an offline mode, so even if a network goes down, MCMS keeps operating, eliminating the need to revert to manual paper entry, and when the network is restored the system automatically syncs with the central database so everything is updated and not a beat is missed.
The new US$1.2 billion Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila has deployed a number of the modules, including the comprehensive card-tracking, and Mega Fortris expects at least three other casinos in the Philippines capital will be using MCMS in the next couple of years. Both Crown Melbourne and The Star in Sydney have signed up for the system. MGM Macau is also taking a look.
“They sent staff all the way to Malaysia to see the live system working,” Mr Arul notes with pride.
