SIA New Member Profile: FDI

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member FDI is an expert in access management systems. The company is headquartered in Cholet, France, with its subsidiary FDI GmbH based in Frankfurt, Germany.

SIA spoke with Maxime Rottier, sales director at FDI, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

Maxime Rottier: FDI MATELEC, founded in 1989, emerged as a service provider in electronic board designing. Quickly after the creation, a production area has been developed to support the growing demand for radio frequency identification and electronic access control systems.

In 1990, we released our first key pads and standalone systems for the French residential market. Committed to provide cutting-edge solutions and due to the success encountered, FDI kept investing in its research and development team to launch in 1995 a centralized access control unit.

This milestone was crucial to the company’s success on the French market and, in particular, allowed it to join, in 1995, the very closed circle of five manufacturers authorized by the national French postal services to manufacture VIGIK access control systems to allow professionals to access the common areas of buildings.

Our reputation for excellence ultimately led to FDI’s acquisition by URMET Group in 2000, positioning it as a cornerstone division within the group already specialized in intercom, home automation and video surveillance markets.

Due to our national success and driven by the international connections from the group, we decided in 2004 to export our products and services. Since then, FDI has maintained its commitment to developing innovative and secure solutions for residential and commercial buildings. Today, we are proud that our card readers and cloud access control systems secure more than 2 million installations in more than 30 countries.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings/company unique?

MR: At FDI, we offer a comprehensive range of access control hardware, firmware, software and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) services to support manufacturers and integrators, implementing advanced security solutions for contactless identification and access management. Our offerings include:

• Card readers: We provide a secure and future-proof card reader range, ensuring a flexible, reliable performance with support for a wide range of credential technologies. This solution is fully customizable – our clients make the choice to get it under a generic brand or under their own label.
• OEM: Our team designs/manufactures electronic hardware and software tailored to the specific requirements and objectives of each client, incorporating the latest technologies and best practices.
• Electronic board design and/or production: We assist clients in designing/manufacturing the electronic boards they will assemble into their own finished products. Our experts have extensive knowledge in optimizing the design and the performances while answering the cost constraints.

What is something we might not know about your company – or something new you are doing in security?

MR: A lesser-known aspect of FDI is the scope of application we may address. Indeed, our full integrated manufacturing process offers the capability to accompanying manufacturers and integrators on diversified needs whatever it concerns access control, time attendance, intercom systems, home automation and more. Our technical knowledge and expertise allow us to deal with ready-to-use access systems as well as defense-grade installations using transparent card readers.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

MR: One of the biggest challenges revolves around the migration of the market to secure identification communication and cloud managed systems.

I see three main topics to address in priority:

• Smart cards and readers: Indeed, a lot of nonencrypted readers and prox credentials (125kHz and 13.56MHz) remain widely used for new and renovation projects. It is one of our roles to guide, train and support manufacturers, integrators and their customers to make the transition to more secure smart card and reader technologies. Furthermore, the need to use encrypted and secure identification physical or virtual credentials must not compromise ease of use. Due to that, our clients can make the choice to purchase ready-to-swipe encrypted physical and mobile credentials or configure easily their own encryption for smart cards and readers. Finally, the use of standardized way of communication such as the SIA Open Supervised Device Protocol (OSDP) between card readers and the control units is a clear alternative to unsecured protocols and is a must for greater interoperability and flexibility in system integration, ensuring seamless and efficient access control operations.
• Cloud: At FDI, we see everyday the adoption of the cloud-based systems over premises-based solutions. The benefits to manage the sites from anywhere as soon as you have an internet connection offers a proactive monitoring and reactivity in case threats arise. Our clients also like the fact that cloud-based systems can receive updates without needing to be manually performed on site. It’s important that these updates can be made in a cost-effective and fast manner, to keep buildings and people safe.
• Cybersecurity: Last but not least, some legacy systems have cybersecurity vulnerabilities that often are not revealed. With the difficulty in hiring qualified personnel, these security risks increase with traditional systems.

Our cloud offerings are built with cybersecurity principles by design. In addition, as the threats are in constant evolution, pen testing and performance tests are conducted on a regular basis to preserve a secured environment. In parallel, FDI is in process to certify its products with the highest state authorizations in cybersecurity in France and Europe.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

MR: Being part of SIA is an effective way to understand current trends and future directions. We value the opportunity to being part of a community, collaborate with industry leaders, contribute to developing industry standards and promote the adoption of innovative security solutions with people and asset safety as a benefit.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.