An Interview with CEO Aviad Matza

MON recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk in some depth with Aviad Matza, the CEO of TAR Ideal Concepts Ltd, an Israeli company making a mark in the military and police equipment and training market.

MT: What is the company’s origin?

AM: TAR Ideal Concepts was established by Tomer Avnon in 1990 as a representative company, aiming to bring the newest technologies and solutions to the special units of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Three decades later, the domestic sales division exclusively represents over 40 companies from around the world and supplies equipment and solutions to the defence and security agencies, the IDF, the police and other agencies.

At the end of the last century, TAR adopted the marketing concept of a ‘One Stop Shop,’ realising that the world is changing and that defence and law enforcement end users stop looking for individual products and prefer, rather, to purchase complete solutions. As a result, a separate international division within the company was created, aiming to provide complete solutions from A to Z for end users in the military, law enforcement and homeland security (HLS) arenas. A sort of IKEA for defence forces.

MT: How does the business model work?

AM: Today we provide solutions to over 50 countries. A complete solutions package ensures not only the quality of the products and their suitability for the customer’s needs, but also the synergy among all the products and systems provided to the end user, along with training and quality assurance. Most governments in the world are heading this way, because they understand that this way they get the best solution in the shortest time and with a single point of contact for any problem that might emerge.

Our main solution divisions are: HLS, Border protection, Intelligence, Cyber, EOD, CBRN, Forensic, Vehicle Modifications & Integration and National Law Enforcement.

MT: What is the company’s export strategy?

AM: Over 50% of our international sales are in Southeast Asia, but we are also very active in Africa and Europe for various large-scale HLS, police and military projects. There has been a large and growing demand in projects for presidential guards in the last 18 months, for which we provide end-to-end solutions for upgrading security, including physical protection and personal gear, anti-drone systems and cyber protection.

MT: Where will TAR Ideal be exhibiting this year?

AM: We recently exhibited at ATM in Madrid and at Milipol Asia in Singapore, where we had a very successful show for our main market. The next show will be ISDEF, of course, were we plan to expand our footprint this year, as this show has become bigger and very relevant for the international market as well as domestic. Later this year we will exhibit at Milipol Paris, in which we will exhibit our newest solutions in a very large stand.

MT: What do you believe are TAR’s unique selling points?

AM: Most end users looking for an integrated solution made for them. TAR is one of the only companies that not only has vast experience in suppling such solutions over the last 30 years, but is also flexible and client-oriented, offering a very wide range of systems under every category. This allows the client to create the best and most suitable solution for his needs in terms of technology, operational needs, political issues and budget.

MT: What is your overarching message?

AM: TAR’s main mission is to adopt our solutions to changes in our market. We see more and more requirements and budgets allocated for what use to be called HLS but has become too many market segments – smart police, EOD and IED, CBRN and first responders, border protection, airport security, counter-drone and, of course, cyber. We have learned that governments focus on domestic threats, both criminal and terrorist in nature. This difference has influenced our new company profile and the type of projects we are focusing because of these changes.

MT: How do TAR’s competitors view the company and what effect does that have on you?

AM: Due to the enormous variety of solutions and services TAR provides, we find ourselves competing with many types of companies and markets, which forces us to become more focused and hire more experts to meet the standards of the growing competition. We also try to cooperate with ’competitors:’ we believe that the size of the market allows room for cooperation that benefits everyone – the client above all.

MT: What does the future hold for TAR Ideal?

AM: TAR will penetrate more markets and will duplicate thoure Asian market success in more countries. We will continue to grow the separate solutions divisions and hire more professionals in those areas, so we may better serve our clients.

MT: Thank you for your time and candour.