Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2011 14 Angel Playing Cards A ngel Playing Cards doesn’t yet claim 100% accuracy for its industry- leading products, but it does claim 100% commitment to attaining that goal. An example of total focus on quality is that if a casino customer raises an issue about an Angel product—whether it relates to Casino Angel pre-shuffled cards, the Angel Eye baccarat shoe or one of the company’s other casino-quality playing card ranges—the company will call what is in effect a management meeting to discuss the issue. “Our company director, the general sales manager and myself, we review the report, check it, and we have a special meeting within a few days,” explains Yasushi Shigeta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, based in Kyoto, Japan. “We check every aspect of the situation to understand what has happened. Once we start business with a customer, we aim always to keep that customer,” adds Mr Shigeta. Angel Playing Cards are acknowledged in the Asian gaming industry for having the lowest failure rate of any product in that category. And that shows in the sales performance. Angel has a good majority share of the Macau market for casino playing cards, and 100% of the Singapore casino market. Consistent quality helped Casino Angel pre-shuffled cards win themost nominations in the category of ‘Best Table Gaming Essential’ in Inside Asian Gaming ’s Supplier Awards 2010 in March. The judges praised the quality and virtually error-free record of Angel’s pre-shuffled product. Angel also claims a remarkable share of the global market for electronic baccarat shoes, because of the accuracy of its card reading capability. A big portion of the baccarat tables in Macau and Australia use the Angel Eye system. That gives the economies of scale that allow intensive research and development of the product and in turn improves the security and efficiency of the product for casino operators. Mr Shigeta’s professional background in management consultancy—he entered the sector after graduating with a degree in Information Science from Kyoto University in 1990—probably helped him keep an overview on quality-related issues when he joined Angel three years later. He worked his way up from middle management to become a director of Angel Group in 1995, finally being appointed to the top job in 2005. Mr Shigeta and his team spoke to IAG at the recent Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas and explained how Angel has built its reputation for quality, and how it plans to develop that reputation further. Inside Asian Gaming: Please explain the role of the Angel Eye shoe in maintaining and building your market share among casino operators. Yasushi Shigeta : In contrast to American and European operators who may put heavier relative importance on efficiency and convenience, what Asian operators require first is security. Use of the Guardian Angel Japan’s tradition for high quality manufacturing is being maintained in the casino sector by Angel Playing Cards Singapore’s two casino resorts—awarded 100%market share to Angel cards