Tyco Fire & Security allies with MTG

BOCA RATON, Fla.--Tyco Fire and Security expects to help Finnish manufacturer MTG Engineering "find a global route to the market" for its MILS addressable emergency evacuation assistance systems, through a recently signed exclusive distribution and strategic partnership agreement. The March 2 agreement stipulates that Tyco companies around the world will sell, service and install MILS solutions. MILS is a low-level lighting product mounted on walls or floors that integrates with fire detection and building automation and other systems. When MILS receives information from other systems or from the control panel about the location and nature of an emergency, it uses sophisticated control logic to identify the safest egress route. It then activates a lighting stripe--which is robust and visible through thick smoke--that indicates via blinking lights the way a person should exit. Tyco executives say the product will be used immediately in passenger cruise ship and subway system applications, but expects it will also be used in commercial buildings, airports, sporting venues and transportation complexes. "We are finding huge interest among marine passenger cruise lines," said David Bywater, director of product management for Tyco Safety Products, Fire Detection. "We're working with a number of subway systems in Europe and Asia at the moment," he added. Bywater said they're working with the Helsinki railway system in Finland; the locations of other subway projects were not released, although he did say, "We've seen some interest in [subway applications] in the United States. "One big opportunity we see is to work with [Tyco subsidiary] SimplexGrinnell to develop the market in North America," he added. The cruise ship market already has a regulatory requirement for low-level lighting, so it is a market that is familiar with the concept. However, he said, "no one else provides an intelligent addressable system." He noted that there are no code requirements for the product in the United States, but said that it is not unusual for the technology to precede codes. Tyco has also had interest from warehouses and the retail sector, where the products would not be used for emergencies, but rather to guide someone through a large warehouse, or in retail operations to guide a customer to a sale item or specific section of the store. Noting that MTG (Modular Technology Group) is a small company, with 20 employees, Leo Hatjasulo, managing director of MTG Engineering, said he knew he needed to partner with a major industry player like Tyco to get exposure for his technology. Partnering with Tyco will "bring power to the sales and marketing and distribution side of his business," he said.