Wednesday, May 20, 2009: Advanced Industrial Computer Systems (AICSYS) has been manufacturing industrial chassis for more than 17 years and specialises in single board computers. It has been a prominent supplier of original equipment manufacturer (OEM)/original design manufacturer (ODM) IPC products to many leading IPC companies in Europe, Asia and North America. Private labeling and behind the scenes support to have been AICSYS’ primary functions. However, recent changes in the global IPC market have caused AICSYS to re-evaluate its position. As a direct result, AICSYS has released a line of products, which bear the AICSYS name and focus primarily on ruggedized industrial chassis and a highly focused line of single board computers. Steven Liu, vice-president, AICSYS, talks to Atanu Kumar Das of Electronics Bazaar about the company’s India growth plans and the distinguishing factors that make AICSYS a success.
EB: How long AICSYS has been existent in the market and what are its growth plans for India?
AICSYS has been a key player in the industrial PC market for more than 17 years. AICSYS established a name for itself fairly quickly as an OEM supplier to prime companies in the industrial market. Several years ago, AICSYS also began to design and manufacture its own line of industrial PC products.
We strongly believe that India is an emerging market, well on its way to becoming a global powerhouse. It’s a fine country with ample resources and unlimited potential.
AICSYS is of the opinion that this nation is going to be the next dragon of Asia. Due to its rapid development, the Indian industrial PC market is bound to grow as well. Major markets where these PCs are increasingly being used include Internet appliances, telecommunication and network infrastructures, embedded systems, security systems, test equipment, automotive computers, industrial control systems, vending machines, ATM machines, portable/handheld computers, GPS, environment monitoring, etc.
AICSYS plans to become an eminent local supplier of industrial computer hardware and erect the AICSYS brand as a credible IPC supplier in India. We intend to focus on SBCs, chassis, LCD/KVM products and OEM opportunities. Our goal is to perch ourselves in the foreground of the market and form strategic alliances with major players.
EB: What are the product categories that AICSYS offers? Who are its target customers?
AICSYS products can be classified into five basic categories—single board computers, industrial chassis, LCD and KVM products, servers and systems and OEM/ODM products. Within each of the above categories you will find an extensive offering of products and accessories. Custom design and development is what we excel in. An OEM is a typical AICSYS customer.
AICSYS plans to become an eminent local supplier of industrial computer hardware and erect the AICSYS brand as a credible IPC supplier in India. We intend to focus on SBCs, chassis, LCD/KVM products and OEM opportunities. Our goal is to perch ourselves in the foreground of the market and form strategic alliances with major players.
EB: What qualities make AICSYS stand out amongst its competitors? What strategies do you employ in order to attract customers?
Today’s quality-oriented consumers are increasingly brand-conscious. Due to the overwhelming choice of products in the marketplace, they tend to look for and rely on the brands they can trust. Our commitment in AICSYS is to proffer products that will effectively meet consumers’ needs for more advanced industrial computer products. AICSYS sets itself apart from its competitors in more ways than one. We have been a part of the industry for over 17 years, during which time, we have been responsible for the production of several breakthrough products, owing to a highly competent design staff. If we are not able to solve a customer’s application issues with off-the-shelf products, we design and develop custom-made solutions for him. In the industrial PC industry, quality is a major issue. Therefore, a very stringent quality control programme is applied to each one of AICSYS products. Furthermore, we offer extremely competitive pricing to our customers. Even our custom designs are affordable undertakings for any budget. A chief distinguishing factor of AICSYS has been the high standards of manufacturing it has adopted and maintained.
We use standard print and webbased advertising in order to propagate our brand. However, we are the proudest of the patrons that come to us through referrals as a referral from a satisfied customer einforces our confidence that we are doing our job well! There is nothing more satisfying than a satisfied customer.
EB: How has recession affected AICSYS and how has the company fought back?
The global market has definitely been impacted by the current financial situation. Buyers are extremely conservative when purchasing and projects are taking longer to take off. At AICSYS, we are combating this grim situation by continuing to do what we do best—provide outstanding customer support combined with extremely competitive pricing. We are also focusing on our ‘(EOL) Replacement Programme’—when a customer’s chassis reaches its end-of-life (EOL), we offer him and his project hope by continuing to manufacture his case for him.
EB: What are the major technological changes that have taken place in the industrial computer market?
The term industrial PC refers to single board computers, embedded computers, industrial chassis, KVM drawers, LCD panels and industrial peripherals. These industrial grade PCs are fabricated to endure harsh environments in the industrial area, which include both outdoor environmental operations and plant shop floor areas with high humidity, extreme temperatures and strong vibrations. Today, a typical application can have a RISC or Core2Duo processor packed into a large rackmount chassis or an embedded case no bigger than a disk drive.
At AICSYS, we have embraced state-of- the-art chipsets and also launched a line of embedded systems that have been modelled for usage in digital signage, military, medical and mobile applications.
Electronics Bazaar, South Asia’s No.1 Electronics B2B magazine
