Kontron Group acquires Swiss Digital Logic to create a global market

Polyscope interviewed Pascal Péquignot, the chief operating officer of Digital Logic and the future CEO of Kontron Integrated Computer, on the reasons for the company's merger and its future direction.

Pascal Péquignot: Digital Logic performed very well in 2009. The order amount in the first half of the year has reached the sales for the whole year of 2008. More than 50% of orders require a large amount of upfront investment before they are profitable, so we need to introduce external funds. Among the many possibilities, we have chosen Kontron, which is also the most future-oriented choice.

Polsycope: However, Kontron has claimed to do a "good deal" at a low price. What do you think?

Pascal Péquignot: The highest profit is not necessarily the best business. We should have already experienced this financial crisis. What is important is the future development prospects. The president of Felix Kunz, when he sold the company, considered the company's development prospects under the control of the company. Because each other's product portfolio is complementary, integration can only achieve a win-win situation.

Polyscope: What are your most important metrics?

Pascal Péquignot: Kontron, which has approximately 2,500 employees and sales of 750 million Swiss francs, is strong in both procurement and sales, and our business will benefit a lot. At the same time, Kontron also strengthened its business in Switzerland through us. Lutterbach, our city, and more than 100 jobs there have benefited.

Polyscope: How important is the Swiss market for Kontron? In turn, what is the importance of digital logic for Kontron?

Pascal Péquignot: Digital Logic has about 6% of sales in the past from Switzerland. In comparison, Kontron is smaller because it is more international. I believe that through our company in Solothurn, Kontron's Swiss business will be taken to a new level, while also supporting the growth of its other regions. In the future, Kontron’s market share in Switzerland will definitely increase significantly. Digital Logic's products add highly reliable, highly integrated computers for more harsh environments outside of Kontron's rail, automotive and military sectors. In this way, Kontron can make more profits among its top customers in its existing business areas. And this will also accelerate the development of our original business. For example, we can get lower purchase prices through the group and mass production in Malaysia. With a certain number of orders, we can provide high-precision products at a lower cost, and our output will increase.

Polyscope: Sounds great. Is there no problem?

Pascal Péquignot: Change is ubiquitous. Mergers will definitely bring about changes in work. For example, a longer decision process, the product portfolio will be reset. The module business is now managed by Kontron. In turn, highly reliable, highly integrated computer services for harsher environments are managed by our company in Solothurn. In general, we are more focused and have a stronger team that helps us achieve our goals. And just a few months after the merger in September, our business has been working very well. It can be said that we have achieved integration in a very professional way. At the SPS/IPC/Drives Electronic Automation Technology Show, we released the Intel® AtomTM Information Processor-based automotive PC MICROSPACE® MPCX28, thanks to successful integration. We have to say that the two companies are very well matched both culturally and in business. On this basis, President Felix Kunz made the right choice at the right time. And I think that, just as he has worked hard and productive in the past 18 years, this approach is also very sensible.

Who is Felix Kunz?

There is no turning back on the road to entrepreneurship. No manager will take up a position in a diversified large enterprise after 18 years of entrepreneurship, and Felix Kunz knows this. Therefore, this entrepreneur who is outstanding in various fields chose not to remain in the daily business of the company, but to serve as the chairman of the management committee of Kontron Integrated Computer Corporation. In addition, he also signed a consulting contract with Kontron. At the age of 48, with the funds that the company has acquired to support the rest of the life, he can retreat behind the scenes and enjoy more personal life. He will spend more time on hobbies, the work of the Solothurner Computer Technology Museum.

Pascal Péquignot, CEO of Future Kontron Integrated Computer Corporation, has served as Chief Operating Officer of Digital Logic Ltd since 2008. After the merger is completed, he will serve as the CEO of Kontron's new company in Solothurner.

Related product introduction

At the SPS/IPC/Drives Electronic Automation Technology Show, Kontron announced its first long-term in-vehicle PC with Intel® AtomTM Z530 processor and Intel® Hub US15W control system. This product provides a dedicated slot for ultra-flat and space-saving PCI/104 expansion cards. The two PCIe MiniCard slots can be used for GPS, GSM/UMTS and wireless network expansion to meet all aspects of customer needs.

This highly flexible performance allows the Swiss-precision fanless Box PC Kontron® MPCX28 to be adapted to a wide range of in-vehicle applications, such as buses, trucks, cars and (auto) carriers. In taxis and buses, it can be used for passenger information systems, video surveillance or ticket checking systems. In trucks, the more common applications are trailer and item management supported by the CAN bus, GPS navigation, and GSM, GPRS and UMTS communications for fleet management. On-site applications include forklift trucking from automated forklift management systems to wireless, bar code or RFID radio support.

The Kontron Box-PC, which is suitable for working environments from minus 25 degrees to above 70 degrees, can be used in a variety of road vehicles. It is equipped with an Intel® Atom Z530 processor, 1.6 GHz, 533 MHz FSB, up to 1 GB DDR2 RAM memory. 256MB integrated graphics, support for DirextX 9 3-D and HDTV, integrated MPEG2- and H.264 decoders reduce CPU stress during HD video recording. In addition, the integrated Box PC has an interface for connecting 2.5" SATA HDD or SDD and high-speed flash memory at the front for data transfer.

Because of the external plug-in, the installation and removal of the storage medium is very convenient. The replacement of the hard drive is equally simple, preparing more space for the entertainment system. With a PCI/104 interface and two PCIe MiniCard interfaces, Kontron products can be connected to expansion cards for more applications, including Dual-CAN bus, GPS, SGSM/UMTS or wireless networks.

In addition, the latest Kontron Box-PC MICROSPACE® MPCX28 also has a variety of other interfaces for the use of in-vehicle applications: two USB 2.0 ports on the front and 3.5 mm cables for audio access. And a SIM card slot for mobile phone calls. There are 2G Ethernet on the back, two USB 2.0 ports, and one SATA interface for other data transmission. Similarly, the DVI-I interface can be connected to an external display with a transmission resolution of 2048 x 1536. Two DSUB connectors are used for the COM interface (RS232) and a side-by-side digital I/O interface that uses the PCI/104 expansion card to provide CAN functionality. All this makes its function unmatched.