SST, Inc. and Gener8, Inc. Partner to Develop and Manufacture State-of-the-Art, Advanced Acoustic Sensors for World’s Leading Gunfire Detection, Alert and Analysis Solutions

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Silicon Valley Companies Enhance Design and Manufacturing Quality, Cost Reduction and Time to Delivery by Keeping Business Onshore and Keeping America’s Public Safety Investment in the United States

NEWARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SST, Inc. and Gener8, Inc., both Silicon Valley-based private companies, today announced their partnership in designing, developing and manufacturing the next generation acoustic sensor used in SST’s ShotSpotter™ solutions, the world’s leading gunfire detection, alert and analysis technology solutions. In an effort to support the revitalization and repatriation of American manufacturing, SST and Gener8 created the partnership to further domestic U.S. innovation, support high quality manufacturing products and jobs, and to ensure that investment of funds (including U.S. tax dollars) in public safety solutions remains in the United States. The investment comes amidst a national discussion of gun violence in the U.S. which has lead to increased demand for the ShotSpotter technology and gunfire data throughout more cities as they look to address ways to reduce and curb gun violence.

SST produces ShotSpotter, the most widely deployed gunfire alert and analysis solutions in the world. Every day, police and law enforcement agencies rely on ShotSpotter to combat gun violence and illegal use of guns in cities and communities, as they have for the past 15 years. ShotSpotter gunfire data constitutes a critical component of today’s problem-oriented, data-driven policing strategies and operations, and has been instrumental in helping reduce gun violence and related crime.

Gener8 is a leading full-service design, development and manufacturing company. Over the last 10 years, Gener8 has helped both startups and established corporations turn their technology into products. Gener8’s combination of senior management talent, a large engineering and development staff, and a complete manufacturing operation presents an efficient, one-stop Silicon Valley solution to the challenges of on-time and on-budget product design and manufacturing.

The ShotSpotter solution deploys wide-area arrays of the acoustic sensors in coverage areas that are identified by SST, police agencies and cities as areas of concern related to gun violence and crime. The sensors are paired with audio analysis software that identifies the unique signature of gunshots and other loud explosive sounds in real time. When a gun is fired, the sensors immediately triangulate and pinpoint the precise location of each round fired, in addition to differentiating the gunfire from other loud explosive sounds. The newly designed and manufactured sensors from the Gener8 and SST partnership will support enhanced performance, resiliency, quality and cost for the ShotSpotter deployments.

Major benefits of the new partnership include:

  • Sensor Quality Control and Oversight - Increased ability to improve and maintain product quality by managing factors such as design requirements gathering and reviews; engineering time and cycles; testing; and production.
  • Cost-Containment – Ability to manage and control costly expenditures such as shipping costs, taxes and levies; and shipping, customs and other fees normally occurring in traditional offshore manufacturing. In turn, these savings can be passed onto the SST customer cities and agencies.
  • Speed of Next Generation Sensor Delivery – Effective project management with all teams working in collaboration and in close proximity and U.S. time zones ensures faster delivery of the next generation sensors to meet the increasing demand for the ShotSpotter solution across the U.S.

“Complex manufacturing of this nature is actually less costly here in the U.S. because we can best leverage our individual company expertise and competencies in a more effective and collaborative manner,” said David Klein, Founder and President of Gener8. “This new ShotSpotter sensor is an advanced and next generation product that needs close attention and oversight to fine details in its development. Because of our locations here in the U.S., we’ve been able to work closely during all stages of the design and development, and make the project much more cost effective, dynamic, and less risky by eliminating the obstacles normally encountered in overseas development and manufacturing. This is a very productive and effective partnership.”

“We are excited to have partnered with Gener8 on the development and manufacturing of our next generation acoustic sensors. Sensor quality, performance, and reliability are the first of several critical elements in delivering a precise ShotSpotter gunfire location and detection. The SST and Gener8 collaboration allows each of us to focus on our respective strengths and will, we hope, lay the groundwork for similar collaboration on future projects,” commented James G. Beldock, Senior Vice President of Product Development and Marketing at SST. “It was also important to us that partnering with Gener8 would assure that public funds for public safety and gun violence initiatives in cities here in the U.S. help strengthen the market for U.S. talent, jobs, and competitiveness in the world market. Lastly, it allows us to provide cost savings to our customer cities and agencies at a time it’s needed most.”

About SST, Inc.

SST, Inc. is the world leader in gunshot detection, and its ShotSpotter solutions are the leading gunfire alert and analysis solutions. Its solutions are focused on improving public and community safety by locating gunfire and other explosive events, and ultimately, helping reduce and prevent gun violence and improving intelligence-led policing and community policing initiatives. SST solutions protect cities and countries around the world, with more than 80 installations in four countries and in more than 75 US cities. Privately held, the company possesses a multitude of patents that are the result of nearly two decades of innovation in the area of acoustic gunshot location technology. Information about SST and ShotSpotter can be found at www.sst-inc.com or www.shotspotter.com. You can also follow SST and ShotSpotter solutions on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

About Gener8

Gener8 is a leading Silicon Valley-based firm that provides complete product design and manufacturing services for companies ranging from large, established companies to startups. Serving more than 100 clients since 2002, Gener8 operates from a 20,000 square foot facility which includes fully equipped, state of the art engineering and manufacturing facilities including Class 100 and 10,000 clean rooms for optical subassemblies. Its design services include system architecture, software and electrical engineering, mechanical and optical design, as well as testing and technical research studies. Information about Gener8 and its services can be found at www.gener8.net.

SST, Inc.
Lydia Barrett, 650-833-9534
Vice President, Communications
lbarrett@shotspotter.com

Source: SST, Inc.

Released April 9, 2013