Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) wins 2010 SME Award
Melbourne-based Future Fibre Technologies (FFT) has won the Small to Medium Manufacturer Award at the 2010 Governor of Victoria Export Awards for the second consecutive year.
The award recognises the company’s global success in developing and manufacturing fibre optic intrusion detection and location systems which protect the perimeters of high value and high-risk assets worldwide, including industrial, military, petrochemical and government sites.
Over the past two years, FFT experienced growth of more than 100 per cent, with 90 per cent of its sales being export related. Around half of the company’s exports are to the oil and gas industry, which is a major growth area for the business.
FFT CEO Rob Broomfield said the company’s core technology, which was first commercialised in 2002, gave the company a strong competitive advantage over other systems.
“Our technology has the ability to pinpoint the location of intrusions over many kilometers of deployed optical fibre, providing the ability to effectively protect critical infrastructures,” Mr Broomfield said.
FFT has developed new artificial intelligence technology that uses advanced signal recognition software to improve discrimination between real events and nuisance alarms, ensuring much higher reliability and increased security for protected sites.
FFT was established as a start-up research and development company in 1994 to create specialist fibre optic intrusion detection technology that protects the perimeters of high-value and high-risk industrial, government and military sites. In 1998, the company developed technology that has the ability to pinpoint the location of intrusions over many kilometers of deployed optical fibre. FFT commercialised its first products in 2002.