Insight currency
NEXT-GEN RFID converter
Gaming Partners International expands the realms of chip design and RFID functionality
During a G2E exhibition that positively crackled with new technology, the level of detail, technical flare and design elegance of the latest range of GPI chips continues to amaze amongst all the products on show. The tactile nature of the chips, the weight, the clever creative design flourishes, such as the clear element incorporated into the sides of the latest Marina Bay Sands chips; or the Resorts World Genting chips with intricate chip edges replicating the brand logo. These perfect little pieces of design and engineering are placed into the hands of every customer. They are as much a brand token as they are casino currency, and GPI has combined form and function into corporate artwork with these designs.
“We are making the brand part of the experience,” explains GPI's Kirsten Clark in Las Vegas. “We are incorporating materials with translucent elements, laser edging and very specific customer designs to create something that's unique and practical too, while raising the bar for counterfeiters at the same time.” The integration of all these elements reinforces the message from GPI that these are not chips, they are money. They must be protected in the same way, but at the same time, they can also be as artistically creative and ‘on-message’ with the operator's corporate philosophy in the one perfectly detailed chip.
Having acquired a French moulding manufacturer early this year, that purchase is fashioning the latest designs from GPI, which is taking established brands/logos and is giving them the custom chip treatment. “We are showing our customers exactly what we can do with their design,” enthuses Ms. Clark. “The process is so precise, the layering and the fusing together of the different elements is so tightly controlled that we are able to offer clients amazingly intricate designs, often ones they never thought possible.”
Security beyond the form of the chip comes in the shape of GPI's RFID technology. Having developed the 2.0 version of its Chip Inventory System (CIS), GPI is able to track and authenticate the passage of every chip through the casino with a live link to back of house management systems. CIS allows casinos to automate data gathering and use this information in real-time.
December 2011 Page 52 (Right) Scott McCarthy, Vice
President of Sales, Asia and Nicole
Grauzer,Marketing Manager at
Gaming Partners International,
pictured at the G2E exhibition in Vegas.
"CIS [Chip Inventory System] is not just
about security. My background is in
the cage, so when CIS is used to rid the casino of human error,
technically idiot- proofing by double
checking everything that enters the
cage, the savings a enormous. Not only that, but by
checking the fills and credits at the table, you can see
if a chip inventory is at the wrong table, as the
authentication knows exactly which table has
been issued with which chips. And once they hit that
table you know that they're all
accounted for and where they should
be. There's no need to stop the game to check the inventory, as you know
immediately if all the chips are
where they should be."
Scott McCarthy,
Vice President of Sales, Asia, GPI.
"Operators can see at any time exactly the value of the float and watch live information for fills and credits,” explains GPI’s Nicole Grazier. “CIS banishes the manual processes that reduce efficiency and lead to human error. Using CIS, the operator can track the entire life of a chip, from vault to table to player to cage, tying all of this information into their existing casino management system.”
This level of information enables the operator to react to the events taking place on their floor in real-time. It's been the promise of RFID since the first chip was embedded with the technology, but only now has the technology and the crafting of the systems come together to complete the picture. Speaking to GPI's Scott McCarthy, Vice President of Sales, Asia, Mr. McCarthy’s background is in operations, and it’s his interpretation of exactly what the CIS system can achieve that’s going to open up whole new worlds of functionality for casino operators. “CIS is not just about security,” underlines Mr. McCarthy. “My background is in the cage, so when CIS is used to rid the casino of human error, technically idiot-proofing by double checking everything that enters the cage, the savings are enormous. Not only that, but by checking the fills and credits at the table, you can see if a chip inventory is at the wrong table, as the authentication knows exactly which table has been issued with which chips. Once they arrive at the table you know that they’re all accounted for and where they should be. There’s no need to stop the
game to check the inventory, as you know immediately if all the chips are where they should be."
The value-added argument for incorporating RFID into your chip stocks has shifted from a pure security issue, to one that is now operationally led. “RFID has finally landed on its feet,” states Mr. McCarthy. “In Asia, RFID started in the cage and vault, but now it's taking to the floor, driving performance and by eliminating manual counts, driving efficiency. Version 2.0 of CIS has a limitless set of uses as it allows operators to pull data and use it any way they want. You could, for example, have an alert triggered by a tagged chip, which would alert surveillance and have an automatic response to buy-ins at the table to effectively counter money laundering.”
GPI has developed CIS 2.0 as a modular system, with operators able to pick and choose the package that makes the most sense for their locations right now, with the flexibility to scale up and add further modules in the future. "We have a very clear view of where we are taking this technology,” states Ms. Clark. “In Asia we are seeing very significant developments in RFID technology. It’s a market in which it's incredibly important to have this level of information at your fingertips when there are table caps in place and as we drive down the cost of the technology, the reliability of the system and it's overwhelming functionality is making its case as a value proposition.”
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