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MDT Innovations recently received the MSC Malaysia APICTA 2007 Prime Minister’s “Best of the Best” Award for their product – MD-770R RFID Reader Module. SURF! finds out more from Liew Choon Lian, its chairman & chief executive officer and general manager Sim Hon Wai.
Tell us more about the MD-770R.
The MD770R is a new generation, ultra- small (81sq metre), low-cost high-frequency (13.56MHz) RFID reader module using a new architecture, developed by MDT. Its introduction marks a significant milestone for the industry, indicating that the era of mobile RFID has come. It is 9mm x 9mm square and yet it provides all the advanced features and performance of a desktop RFID reader to read and write ISO15693 and ISO14443 Type A and B compliant RFID tags. The MD770R reader module consumes less power than typical reader modules which means it can be used seamlessly on mobile phones and PDAs. We’ve filed patents on MD-700R reader module in Malaysia, Japan, and China.
How long did MDT take to develop the MD770R and how many people worked on its development?
We took about a year to develop this product and there were about 5 people involved in the project.
When was MDT Innovations established and what led you into RFID equipment design and production?
MDT Innovations was established in October 2004 and it is a full subsidiary of Multimedia Display Technologies (MDT). The reasons which led us into RFID were mainly the rapid expansion of RFID in-dustry and also the opportunity to establish RF Japan Co., Ltd in Tokyo in 2003, together with reputable Japanese firms such as Panasonic and Hirata. Sub-sequently, MDT got hold of many advanced RFID designs which allowed us to further embark our own development roadmaps. Besides, our parent company’s involvement in flat panel displays (FPDs) provided the fundamental design know how for RFID.
You have mentioned that MDT Innovations has set up deve-lopment and production facilities in China and other countries. Where are they located and what does each facility do ?
Our parent company Multimedia Display Technologies was appointed to take charge of developing and administrating the RFID Technology Park in Binzhou city in Shandong Province, China, the first of its kind in the world. Together with Capital Information Technology (Capitalit)
in Beijing, MDT established CF-MDT Electronics, Science and Technology Co., Ltd. to oversee the entire development and commercialisation of MDT’s product in China. In Indonesia, we have also appointed a partner JTech Manu-facturing Industry to manufacture our readers. We have also es-tablished with them an operation called JTech Media Innovation to take charge of Indonesia’s RFID market.
Where do you see is your biggest market and why?
As a Malaysian based company, we con-tinue to focus on local market potentials and we plan to roll out as many projects as possible. In addition, China, Indonesia, and India are our key overseas markets due to their need to improve logistics and product anti-counterfeiting in these countries.
What do you see is the long-tern future of RFID and how is MDT Innovations going to be a part of this future?
Currently, low cost and high performance readers and tags provide the key competi-tive edge and this is where MDT Innovations is leading the pack. Also our involvement in the development of new ‘chip-less’ based RFID tags with our partners will subsequently make our company complete with a full range of cost effective RFID products.
How does interest in RFID in Malaysia and other countries in Southeast Asia compare with that in China, Japan, South Korea, North America & Europe? Where is usage of and interest in RFID the greatest right now?
In Malaysia, RFID usage for valued asset tracking and medium scaled warehouse management continue to be of major interest, while logistics supply chain management is still the focus in US and Europe. Our company continues to see great potentia in use of RFID in anti-counterfeiting
applications worldwide and this is one of our key focus areas.
What does MDT Innovations see as the formula for your success?
We believe in targeting the right applications for the right markets with the right product and we’ve long realised that RFID acceptance will continue being hindered if high product costs are not overcome.
Do you have any products besides RFID and do you have any other product lines you will be venturing in?
Our parent company continues focusing on flat panel displays (FPD) and will also be doing paper based displays (OLED – organic LEDs soon. I (Liew) am personally involved in the design and development of ultra low cost solar energy panels and thin film solar sheets which can be pasted on roofs and walls. We are studying the effectiveness of polymer and nano carbon tube to replace existing TFT (Thin film Twisted) techniques. When our product is commercialised, home owners can have wall papers which absorb solar energy and produce the equivalent amount (or even more) of power output compared to using electricity. Outdoor stadiums and lamp posts along the street will be self-sufficient by having their own power supply, just to name a few.
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