US-based Zebra Technologies is a leading global provider of rugged and reliable specialty printing solutions, including on-demand thermal bar code label and receipt printers and supplies, plastic card printers, RFID smart label printer/encoders, certified smart media, and digital photo printers. Automotive Products Finder spoke to Mr Shailesh Deshmukh, Territory Manager (India), Zebra Technologies. Excerpts

What does Zebra Technologies supply to the auto sector?

Zebra Technologies is a leading provider in speciality printing solutions. Facilitating the manufacturing industry by providing accurate and end-to-end solution for identification, bar code and RFID label solutions assist in providing information about material management, work-in-progress tracking, quality control and product identification. In the manufacturing sector, automotive industry is the one, which faces obscurity for its supply chain management.

A wireless Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) is a Zebra product implemented by various automotive clients. The WhereNet Corp system, which is an industrial information system, is driven by wireless tags, fixed position antennas and web-enabled software. It locates and tracks inventory using extremely low-power radio frequency tags and communications network. Antennas positioned inside and outside the factory receive tag transmissions and deliver tracking information to a computer. The system then identifies the location of the tag within 10 feet of its exact position.

How do these products help the automakers and other auto sector companies enhance their efficiency?

Zebra Technologies offer solutions to satisfy specific automotive industry product identification, production tracking, and logistics requirements. Connecting products and processes with Zebra supply chain solutions ensures gaining visibility and control throughout the operation. Zebra printers are highly reliable for mission critical material management, shipping and track-and-trace operations. The track and trace operation is basically to maintain traceability and documentation on the products. This operation is not very labour oriented, here; RFID labels prove to be accurate or accessing and recording information without paper work.

Material management involves integration of Zebra printers with enterprise applications and networks, to keep track and manage materials anywhere. Our unique bar coding solutions also help component manufactures track spurious parts. Manufacturers are aware of spurious parts doing brisk business in the market but they are unable to track them. Bar coding can track and trace the product once it is out of manufacturing plant and can help in differentiating the fake parts from the genuine ones.

Now that you are in India, what are your plans for growth here? How much of your overall revenue is generated from sales into the auto sector, and also in India?

Zebra has been registering over 60% growth Y-O-Y over the last 3 years. Prior to our launch in India we were present through our channel partners. Now we intend to extend our growth to other cities apart from Mumbai. We would also like to explore opportunities in the Tier II and Tier III cities. There is amazing potential in these cities and we would like to surely take this market seriously.

The manufacturing industry has been growing at a rate of 27.5% globally. This would also include the automotive industry, as the major chunk of manufacturing comes from them.

Are the auto makers your main target audience in the auto sector, or also other companies like auto component makers, vendors, suppliers, distribution networks, etc?

It's across the supply chain in the auto segment - distributors, suppliers and all.

Which are the automotive clients the world over that zebra deals with? And in India?

Zebra has been supplying their products for the world's best automotive clients. Jaguar, Ford Group, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Volvo, Peugeot, Opel, Valeo, Faurecia and Avtovaz are a few of them. In India, we have been associated with the automotive industry for the past five years and have been catering to TVS, Toyota Kirloskar Motors and Tata Motors among several others.