Q&A
The animal beneath the stripes Print in the Channel sat down with Rich Barfield, EMEA product marketing manager, ATS Division and Jack Byrne, EMEA senior channel marketing manager, to check up on Zebra Technologies and hear their plans for the year ahead.
Q: Who are Zebra Technologies? And do you only sell desktop printers? Rich Barfield (RB): At its heart Zebra is a specialist barcode technology company, with a long legacy in this industry that dates back over 50 years. In fact, the company was founded some years before the first barcode was used commercially, in 1974 on a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum in Marsh’s Supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Zebra has a rich history of innovations and market firsts. For example, the first handheld laser scanner in 1979, the first barcode printer in 1982, the first laser-scannable 2D barcode in 1991, and the first wearable computer in 1997. It’s a long list, all of which has helped us become a market leader in thermal barcode print, labelling and scanning technology which, alongside our mobile computing portfolio, are still at the core of our business. Barcode hardware and technology is still our primary focus. Despite that, the last decade has seen significant growth and diversification with the addition of newer technologies to complement our core offerings including wearables, machine vision, even robotics.
every task and budget in three other key categories of print hardware. Starting with industrial printers. These are the 24/7 workhorses, rugged in their design and created for the high-volume demands. The ZT600 series are the premium, feature- rich models, with the ZT400 series being the sweet spot balance of capability vs. budget. In the last year, we’ve refreshed our value- tier offerings and the ZT111 entry model and the ZT231 are proving to be very popular superstars with a lot of customers. Within this category you’ll also find the 24/7/365 workhorses; our print engines. We have a superb network of over 300 print engine specialist partners across the EMEA region who depend on our ZE511 and ZE521 print engines as the beating heart of high- volume, fully automated print and apply solutions, that ensures your online purchases arrive at your front door. The next category is mobile print, which does what it says on the tin; printers you take with you. With these devices you will find USB charging, for on-the-go and in-cab power up, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity, as well as Radio frequency identification (RFID), Linerless and Healthcare, and Rugged versions. Finally, there are our card printers, that print everything from ID badges to loyalty and debit cards. There are also specialty ribbons that can be used for incorporating card security features, such as colour-shifting or 3D effects. RFID and smart card encoding are also available, which proved of specific interest through the pandemic when contactless access control became critically important. Q: What solutions does Zebra provide beyond hardware? RB: Beyond the hardware we have Zebra Certified Supplies, which enhances our labelling capability for our customers. Printing
Rich Barfield EMEA product marketing manager, ATS Division Zebra Technologies
zebra.com
“
We design,
produce and rigorously pre-test our own line of thermal printing supplies to ensure consistent, optimised performance in your Zebra printer
”
Q: OK, so it sounds like there’s a lot more to Zebra than desktop printers. What else does Zebra have to offer in the print and labelling space? RB : Zebra offers arguably the most comprehensive portfolio. If you’ve already read our cover article, then you’ll appreciate that we can provide a printer for just about
CONTINUED
printinthechannel.co.uk
19
Powered by FlippingBook