Auto-ID for industry
April 1st 2008

When it comes to auto-ID, you won't find a bigger player in Europe than Zetes. Charlotte Stonestreet spoke to Zetes' UK managing director, James Hannay to find out more

Like the technology it drives and develops, as a growth market the auto- ID industry is constantly evolving.

Riding the crest of this progress, the pan- European Zetes Group embarked on an aggressive acquisition programme, becoming a dominant force in the sector. Notably, the company bought Peak Technologies in the later part of 2006 – a move which has strengthened its offerings in voice directed picking, mobile SAP integrations, retail instore applications, POD solutions, print and apply, and forklift management.

Complete solution With high levels of expertise and experience to draw on across the auto-ID and wireless communications sphere, Zetes is well placed to continue its success, particularly now the market seems to be embracing the "complete solutions provider" way of working.

"Over time our proposition has always been that if you come to our company, we'll own the whole problem – but the reality is that, although over the years a number of customers have bought into this idea, a larger proportion have stuck to their traditional roots," says UK managing director, James Hannay.

"However, in the last three to five years we've noticed increased demand for our kind of approach. When I'm sitting with customers now, they are saying that it actually it makes sense to pull all this together. It's a message that's been out in the market for a long time, but now we're really seeing it being taken up." Zetes provides a single source, independent service with wide ranging expertise in software and hardware integration, business process consulting, software development, and professional services and deployment. It offers sector specific software solutions for retail, logistics and manufacturing environments, as well as providing security, infrastructure and cabling, hardware supply, plus full service and support at all levels.

"We don't want to be known for any one thing that we do, we want to be known for the combination of solutions that we bring to the market – we are an integrator that has a range of solutions to meet a range of specific demands in the market place," says Hannay.

Thanks to its acquisition programme, Zetes is well represented throughout Europe.

Each country's subsidiary operates as an independent entity with its own management team, finance system and admin system – yet delivers a common set of solutions. This coverage means that Zetes is very well placed to service the needs of international clients. It also means that the breadth of the Group's expertise is constantly expanding – this is managed via the company's 3i Competence Centre.

Formed around the company's ethos of "innovate, integrate and improve", the 3i Competence Centre works from Zetes Group's head office in Belgium, investigating new applications and ways of integrating the company's complementary technologies.

"As Zetes acquires a new business in a different country, it needs to ensure that any relevant new solutions are taken from that country and driven out across the rest of the Group," says Hannay. "Equally, if we have a flagship software solution it's important that employees in the new country are trained up and ready to deploy it. This is where the Competence Centre comes in.

"For example, when a new subsidiary wants to make use of one of our established technologies, our Competence Centre will step in with a team of experts and the local staff will shadow them. Over time this ensures effective knowledge transfer – while the customer still maintains close contact with their local company."

Research & development Research and development is also based around the Competence Centre. According to Hannay, Zetes looks at demands from whole of Europe and takes the solutions back into the individual countries. This means that, for example, an RFID project in the UK can draw on the knowledge gained from high profile business in France and Germany, giving instant credibility.

One area that is currently very buoyant for Zetes is voice directed picking – indeed the company claims to be the largest provider of this technology in Europe, with over 25,000 active voice users across the continent.

Companies benefiting from increased warehouse efficiency thanks to Zetes 3iVoice include TDG, Superdrug and Coca Cola.

Strengthening its overall solutions provision, Zetes has also recently introduced a wireless forklift fleet management system, which can be deployed in conjunction with any truck mounted terminal. Benefits include reduced operating costs and fleet size, improved operator safety and accountability, and a typical return on investment within 12 months.

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