An Outside Shot

Pro-Tech's Peter Kaszycki puts it simply when describing the uniqueness of his Georgia-based company. "Take it Outside" is part slogan, part attitude. Kaszycki, president of the 13-year-old firm, puts a premium on protection for kiosks placed in a variety of environmental conditions. He elaborates in this Kiosks.org interview. Please describe your company's primary product or service. Pro-Tech offers a full line of "standard" industrial-grade kiosks for direct use in Outdoor Environments. The DuraView Line is available with either a 15.1-inch or 18.1-inch flat panel display with high-bright options and a outdoor-rated touchsceen that features ½-inch safety glass in front of the touchscreen element. The touchscreen cannot be damaged. The DuraView line features the FS (full-size) series which is a free-standing unit and the MS (mid-size) series which can be wall / pedestal mounted or hung from overhead. All versions have printer, MSR, speaker, keypad, and bar code and wireless options. These units are all rated for direct, outdoor use. What makes your company unique? Pro-Tech is uniquely positioned in the kiosk marketplace due to the fact that we have been providing "industrial-grade" Flat Panel Computer Workstations to the factory automation marketplace for 13 years. Pro-Tech is the number one rated supplier of SlimView Workstations for major, Fortune 500 manufacturers in the pharmaceutical, oil and gas, automotive and food industries. We "grew up" providing Workstations for extremely harsh environments, such at placing flat panel workstations on the top, outside deck of an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico with severe weather exposure, temperature extremes, shock and vibration and rough usage. Entering the kiosk market place, we bring this broad depth of industrial knowledge to be able to offer a full line of DuraView Kiosks that are designed to go outdoors, in varying operating environments. On top of this, we complete all our designs using Pro/E, a 3-D parametric modeling system and we fabricate all the units, "in-house," in our 54,000 square foot, ISO 9000-certified fabrication facility. Final assembly and testing takes place in our expanded 24,000 square foot assembly facility. What is your marketing philosophy for the kiosk industry? Pro-Tech's approach to the market is fairly simple. We provide a full line of kiosks that can be used, without modification, in direct, outdoor environments under harsh conditions. These harsh conditions include high/low temperatures, rain/snow/dust, varying ambient light conditions and un-attended operation. Our marketing slogan is straight-forward: "Take it Outside," meaning you can now run your application outside and capture a larger Kiosk audience. What other business sectors do you operate in? Pro-Tech's core business, for the past 13 years, has been in providing a full line of Industrial Flat-Panel Workstations and Products for Factory Automation to a variety of industries. We are the industry leader in this market segment and we offer both NEMA 4 (water-resistant) and NEMA 4X (water and corrosion resistant) workstations for harsh and/or hazardous manufacturing environments. Our main website: www.protechkiosk.com provides more information. Give a Brief History of the Company Pro-Tech was formed in January of 1990 based on a single business objective: To be able to provide physical protection for computer systems when they were deployed into manufacturing environments. Throughout the years, we have expanded the product offering by adding industrial keyboards, trackballs, cooling, purge systems, flat panel displays and industrial computers. In 1992, we joined forces with Swift Atlanta, a premier metal fabrication company in the Southeast, such that we could offer a complete solution, from product concept, through CAD design and into the actual fabrication/assembly. In 1995 we built a 24,000-square foot design/assembly facility to complement our 54,000-square foot fabrication operation. Why did you join kiosks.org? Joining Kiosks.org was a logical way to not only get the message out about Pro-Tech and our products but to also partner with other manufacturers, suppliers and software developers. We view the "Kiosk" industry as a cooperative effort that requires the disciplines for various companies to make a project successful. What does the future hold for your company's success in the kiosk industry? Various business enterprises are beginning to realize that "convenience" is key to customer satisfaction and increased revenue. Accordingly, these enterprises are always looking for innovative ways of reaching new customers and enhancing the experience of existing customers. Toward this point, Pro-Tech is positioned to help these businesses reach these customers in ALL environments, not just inside the store. This may involve order-at-the-pump or buy-your-ticket outside the stadium. The common theme will be finding a Kiosk supplier that can provide a Kiosk design that holds up to varying outdoor environments and Pro-Tech is well positioned to be of service when these needs arise.