Replies to post #37798 on Secure Point Technologies Inc (fka IMSCQ)

[rettacs]

Fact is, the ETD market is Implant Sciences and Smiths (now that Morpho has need acquired). This is a HUGE change from a couple years ago. Implant has never claimed to win all the tenders, but they have been winning a lot of important ones. (Schiphol and STAC are two of the better run security organizations in Europe.)

Most of those Morpho sales have been either of the "in the bag" category or ones that you would be complaining about the impact on margins if Implant had won. Why do you think Safran wanted to be rid of Morpho Detection-- because it was underperforming.

It is a fair knock on Implant Sciences that they have been horrible about communicating recent sales. They are probably correct that our knowing doesn't affect their future, but it is irritating as heck. OTOH, if you dig into the European ETD rollout plan you'll find that we are currently in the gap between major deadlines. Expect another flurry of announcements when the next deadline gets closer.

[tedpeele]

<<What I DO know is, if I were running Morpho Detection and I couldn't even compete for the large, prestigious TSA contract, I'd have R&D working on fixing the issue 24x7. And when I did fix matters, I wouldn't spotlight an old problem.>>

If THE reason I had lost a major contract was well advertised, I would do whatever I could to dispel the fears that were created from that reason in the minds of prospective buyers. There are ways to do this. For example here is what ISC says on their website:

BETTER DETECTION

Our high resolution ion mobility spectrometer design delivers accurate detection and identification of threat substances with one of the lowest false alarm rates (FAR) in the industry– as much as 5 times better than regulatory requirements. This is complemented by rapid clear down (the time to reset after a sample), which is typically just a few second, even after the detection of a threat substance. More accurate results and faster clear down mean better detection.

Morpho, in their press release about their so-called next-gen product said nothing at all about having lower or 'one of the lowest' false alarm rates in the industry. In their product description elsewhere I do find this:

Cutting analysis time to 8 seconds, the Itemiser® 4DX enables security agents to save time and effort, while accelerating the screening process for passengers and staff. Delivering superior precision, the Itemiser® 4DX also reduces the rate of false alarms, enabling security staff and law enforcement to optimize their resources.

No numbers, just a generic claim about their false alarms. Maybe that's just how you and Morpho would do things, but I would be shouting from the mountaintops if the false alarm rate was no longer a concern that the TSA would have.