MyAdvantech The Magazine for Global Advantechers and Partners Autumn 2007 No.1 Advantech’s TDCS Enables the Passage Across “The Roof of the World" Mobile Technology Lends a Human Touch to Healthcare Digital Signage Jazzes up Your Life PICMG 1.3 Brings a Quantum Leap The Next Standard in the Industrial Computing Contents Published by Viewpoint Advantech Co., Ltd. 05 Advantech’s Globally Integrated Publisher Enterprise Transformation K.C. Liu Address No.1, Alley 20, Lane 26, Rueiguang Road, Joyful eLifestyle Neihu District, Taipei, Taiwan 114 06 Mobile Technology Lends a Tel +886-2-2792-7818 Human Touch to Healthcare Website www.advantech.com 10 Information - Its Omnipresence Editorial Supervisor Corporate Marketing 12 Mobility First, Security Foremost Editorial Committee Sharon Chuu Charlene Tang Technology Forum Meg Chen Lynette Andersen 15 Programmable Automation Controllers Chuck Harrell Find Their Niche…Everywhere! Edna Garcia Rosanne Lee 18 Exploring Video Surveillance Trends Wolfgang Heinz-Fischer Monika Paitl 20 PICMG 1.3 Brings a Quantum Leap Martin Marshall 3 James Kiley MyAdvantech Andy Taylor Special Report David Antoniuk Jean Chu 24 Extraordinary Wonders on the Tibetan Plateau Jessie Lin Mandy Chen 26 Qingzang Railway Soars Skyward Monica Sun Art Director Inside Advantech Charlene Tang 30 Building a Hothouse for the Next Great Invention Editorial CONDÉ NAST INTERCULTURE GROUP – 32 Advantechers around the Globe Interculture Custom Media Director Sophia Liao Address 15F, No.51, Sec.2, Jilung Road, Taipei, Taiwan 110 Tel +886-2-2732-8899 Editor-in-Chief Nora Huang Managing Editor Peggy Lai Art Editor Jane Yang Initial Issue 2007.09.30 MyAdvantech is published for ADVANTECH Co., Ltd. by Interculture Custom Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Viewpoint Transforming Advantech into a GLOBALLY INTEGRATED ENTERPRISE acing the ongoing globalization trends, and to In terms of market positioning, Advantech will Fposition Advantech as a competitive player in the adapt to supply Application-Ready Platforms and Ser- fast growing vertical markets, Advantech will launch vice-Ready Platforms, in addition to existing General a comprehensive Globally Integrated Enterprise (GIE) Computing Platforms, with special emphasis on devel- transformation program from now on and throughout oping the Industrial Automation, Medical Computing, year 2008. Gaming, Self-service, Real Estate Intelligence, Vehicle For years, Advantech has been actively expanding Computing, and Digital Signage vertical markets. its global presence to accommodate market needs. All Besides vertical sectors, we will continue to serve ex- these efforts have transformed Advantech into a Multi- isting general ePlatform customers with our current national Corporation (MNC) spanning Europe, Ameri- segmentation models: Design To Order Services (DTOS) cas and all of Asia. Recently, Advantech has experi- for key accounts, Channel Sales Forces (CSF) for chan- enced slower than expected growth. I believe that one nel partners, and Direct Marketing Forces (DMF) for of the root causes is the out-dated MNC structure. The general accounts. “GIE” term was invented by IBM and has been adopted As vertical sectors conduct end-to-end commu- by many successful global enterprises; I firmly believe nication across regions, regional heads will become 4 GIE is also the right way for Advantech to expand into enablers who coordinate, administer and host the local 5 MyAdvantech the future. working infrastructure. Most regional heads may also MyAdvantech Advantech’s present organization and operations take lead in one key vertical business sector. With are still based on the traditional MNC model. This regard to supply chain management, the newly estab- model sets boundaries between product divisions and lished Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC) will stream- sales regions, which limits our potential growth in line the logistics process and provide customers with this ever changing and competitive global market. I effective end-to-end services. The whole idea is to op- deeply believe we need to transform Advantech into timize Advantech’s business process and work flow at a real GIE company to facilitate the next generation the right place with the right talent, regardless of their of growth. To be competitive, we need to change from location and department boundary. the one-headquarter-multi-regions model to the GIE All GIE operations and processes will be system- model. In the GIE model, the key success factors are atically designed with help from IBM’s professional to establish direct command chain and end-to-end do- consulting service. Later this year, the company will main knowledge transfer within each vertical sector formally announce the GIE organization adjustment to from the product divisions to the sales teams. Another kick off this new GIE model in 2008. Hopefully by 2010 key factor lies in serving the vertical markets from the Advantech will be a fully-fledged GIE. I predict that customers’ point of view. Sales teams will no longer be these new changes will foster both the professional limited to selling products from just their own product growth of our global business as well as the personal groups; they will also sell products from other groups, growth of all Advantechers. and even external alliance partners to deliver total solutions. This will also help to reduce redundant re- source consumption and internal conflicts. KC Liu, CEO of Advantech Joyful eLifestyle Mobile healthcare services are no longer a fantastic, out-of-reach practice possible only in movies, thanks largely to communication technology advances. The emergence of mobile healthcare vehicles Mobile Technology Lends a and in-home care facilities has made life easier for both medical carers and patients with difficulties who need to travel distances. Script by Zheng Junzhong | Translation by Shannon Hu | Photography by Shi Jihong Human Touch to Photograph provided by Taiwan Digital Images and Advantech Healthcare 6 7 MyAdvantech MyAdvantech rs. Smith, a chronic asthmatic These scenarios evoke in many mobile communication technologies Mawoke from her dreams to an people a sense of envy: “Wouldn’t it and facilities. It can also be divided overcast, dreary morning and began be wonderful if such convenience was into two categories, and both are im- her routine measurement of peak ex- available to me when I seek medical portant elements of a mobile health- piratory flow rate (PEFR or PEF). She attention!” As a matter of fact, these care network: mobile healthcare facil- keyed in the index into her cell phone technologies are becoming more and ity installations and operations, and to uplink it to her hospital’s computer more readily available in real life, and distance healthcare and health minis- monitoring system. She then received more accessible to all; the impres- trations away from the hospital. a text message on her cell phone that sive development of which should be Mobile communication technology reminded her to increase her medica- credited to rapidly advancing “Mobile advances have been seminal in propel- tion dosage and check to see if her Healthcare” technologies. ling the rise of mobile healthcare. With PEF has been effectively lowered after- WLAN, 3G mobile telecommunication, wards. Wireless Technology Unleashed Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and ZigBee technolo- Next, Dr. Coles who was making his the Potential of Mobile Healthcare gies gradually coming in full bloom, rounds, found himself standing by the How is Mobile Technology defined? and tablet PC’s, cell phones and PDAs bed of a small boy at the children’s hos- Deputy Chairman Mr. Xu Minghui of growing more lightweight and power- pital explaining the boy’s bone fracture the Information Department at Taipei ful, all the requisite infrastructure is conditions to his father. Dr. Coles ac- Wan-Fang Hospital provided a pithy in place, which in turn, can be an ex- cessed the hospital database using the definition: “Mobility is the antithesis cellent motivator for furthering mobile medical tablet PC and wireless network of stationary. Mobile healthcare can be healthcare. mounted on the medical equipment more generally explained if one looks Additionally, the advent of an aging platform to retrieve the boy’s X-ray, at it from that point of view.” The term society and growing healthcare provi- which came immediately to life on the is, in the main, defined by a capacity sion also promises bright prospects for monitor. Dr. Coles spent less than five for servicing patients anytime, any- the mobile healthcare market and in- minutes to put the father at ease by up- where with accessible medical care dustry. According to the statistics from dating him on the boy’s status. and resources by means of manifold the United Nations, the population of Joyful eLifestyle when making their rounds. This abil- has propelled Advantech to launch a ity will greatly simplify the work of series of development programs for the nursing staff, supporting them healthcare. Advantech’s solid foun- with greater efficiency, while lower- dation in industrial computing has ing the risks of erroneous diagnosis or invested the company with excellent prescriptions. technological strengths in the develop- POC-S155 mobile healthcare plat- ment of mobile healthcare products: form is an innovative solution designed such as nursing carts currently em- by Advantech with valuable input pro- ployed by the children’s ward at the vided by Chang-Gung Medical Sup- Taipei Veterans General Hospital, or plies & Equipment Corp, INQ Gen the in-home care solution co-designed Technology, and Yiyang Medical by Advantech and Kaohsiung Medical Supplies. POC-S155 offers excel- University. The Company is also work- lent versatility with optional spec- ing to expand and introduce similar ifications in keeping with the care facilities inside ambulances in the need of the users: the height, future. accessories and size can be In addition to fulfilling fundamen- proportionately modified. Ad- tal medical requirements, Patient In- vantech’s new slim and light fotainment Systems in hospital wards Medical Tablet PC also aims are another growing new trend.