50 Leading Companies of The Year 2020
The Silicon Review
“Our commitment to quality and service excellence means you can count on MultiTech products and its people to address your needs.”
The concept of adding sensors and intelligence to basic everyday objects was an often discussed concept during the 1980s and 1990s but apart from some early projects like the internet-connected vending machine, the progress in this industry was slow as the technology was not developed enough to accommodate the ideology behind the Internet of Things (IoT). It took technology around a decade to catch up with the ideology and MultiTech became one of the first companies to grab on to the venture and develop it beyond what was thought to be possible.
MultiTech designs, develops, and manufactures communication equipment for the industrial Internet of Things — connecting physical assets to business processes to deliver enhanced value.
The company was incorporated in 1970 and is headquartered in Mounds View, Minnesota.
MultiTech Synopsis
Factors Keeping MultiTech Ahead in the Race
MultiTech has consistently connected businesses in previously unimagined ways, from the earliest analog systems, to the cellular heart of today’s industrial IoT, to the lowest low-power wireless technology and beyond. MultiTech’s excellent service and products are trusted by its loyal clients across the globe to address their needs. Its history of innovation assures that MultiTech stays ahead of the curve with the latest technology and will see your solution to the end.
The IoT is creating new customer experiences and unparalleled economic values while improving the quality of life for countless individuals around the globe. By providing the means to connect ‘things’ to the internet, MultiTech delivers a deep understanding of businesses and governmental organizations, which transform the way we live and work. The benefits of IoT can be sorted into three broad categories:
Making Money — Creating new services that leverage new, remote, or on-demand data leads to the invention of new products and services, optimizing customer experiences, and reducing labor-intensive tasks to focus the manpower towards revenue-generating activities.
Saving Money — Enabling predictive and preventive maintenance, enacting process optimization, and monitoring exceptions result in reduced operational costs, fewer truck rolls, and a higher return on investments.
Compliance — IoT enables tracking and reporting on industry-specific regulations.
While designing and manufacturing communication equipment, the products need to meet a unique set of standards like extended lifecycles, high quality and reliability, high availability, extended temperature ranges, and ruggedness. Having these factors incorporated into the design from the earliest stage of manufacture ensures that they are addressed throughout the manufacturing and assembling process, hence ensuring an unmatched reputation for quality and service. MultiTech adopts this mantra for the production of all its products resulting in high quality while meeting the needs of industry standards.
Outshining Competition: The Right Way
Superior Quality: From its U.S.- based manufacturing plant to countless product and process certifications, MultiTech is committed to the utmost quality in everything it does. That’s why you can find more than 25 Million MultiTech products performing essential duties for businesses around the globe.
Service Excellence: From its comprehensive portfolio to the extensive reach of its distribution network, MultiTech is easy to choose and easy to buy. Thanks to in-house manufacturing and custom design services; broad-reaching expertise and fast, agile development, the company delivers customization and flexibility you simply can’t get anywhere else.
History of Innovation: From the earliest analog systems to the cellular heart of today’s industrial IoT to the latest low-power wireless technology, MultiTech has consistently connected businesses in ways previously unimaginable – and has been doing so for 50 years. The company is continuing its legacy of firsts with innovative devices supporting edge intelligence, LPWA, Private LTE, and 5G.
Tapping into Future Trends
Demand for robust and agile local connectivity with cost-efficient deployment architecture, paired with the need for secure, on-premise data management is driving the appetite for private enterprise networks to support digital transformation and the IoT. Pair that trend with the liberalization of mid-band spectrum policy in the US and abroad and we are facing a paradigm shift in the way cellular networks are deployed; from thousands of wireless operators to millions of sites with their own cellular network, including sports venues, airports, malls, hotels, mines, manufacturing facility, and enterprise office spaces.
Other industry trends that MultiTech plans on addressing this year is enhancing the computing power of its edge devices to support local decision making and optimizing communications and cloud usage along with supporting robust security for connected devices.
MultiTech is among the first few companies to commercialize routers to facilitate such deployments building on its experience of deploying private enterprise LoRaWAN networks.
Future Roadmap
While focusing on edge intelligence, security, and streamlining the customer experience, particularly around the deployment and management of private IoT networks, MultiTech draws a roadmap addressing its customers’ biggest IoT painpoints through a combination of product enhancements, targeted support services, and tailored bundled solutions.
Moreover, the company will be celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year; commemorating five decades spent leading the industry while gazing at a brighter future.
Leadership | MultiTech
Late Raghu Sharma, Founder: Dr. Raghu Sharma received his Bachelor’s degree in Physics from the University of Delhi in 1957. He also earned a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India. While working as a Senior Science Fellow at the National Physics Laboratory on microwave technology, he decided to seek a Ph.D. Although accepted by both Harvard and MIT, he chose to attend the University of Minnesota where he earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Ph.D.
In 1970, he sold his first acoustic coupler and Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. was launched. By 1978, sales had reached over one million dollars.
Stefan Lindvall, CEO: Stefan Lindvall brings more than 20 years of high-level experience in the wireless industry to MultiTech. Mr. Lindvall founded Connected Development, one of the leading wireless design services companies in the U.S. Before Connected Development, he served as President of the Americas at Wavecom and before that held various leadership positions at Sony-Ericsson and Ericsson including, Vice President m2m Sales, Americas. Mr. Lindvall received his MSin Industrial Engineering and Management from the University of Linkoping, Sweden.
“Our mission is to make connected technology easy to adopt and use by focusing on customer needs, developing innovative solutions, outpacing market change, leveraging best-in-class processes, and empowering our team to achieve and grow.”