Zebra Technologies
Encyclopedia
Zebra Technologies is a manufacturer of thermal bar code
label and receipt printers, RFID smart label
printer/encoders, card and kiosk printers, based in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Zebra has products in 100 countries around the world. Zebra-brand printers are used by more than 90 percent of Fortune 500
companies.
Zebra was incorporated in 1969 as 'Data Specialties Incorporated', a manufacturer of high-speed electromechanical products. The company changed its focus to specialty on-demand labeling and ticketing systems in 1982, and became 'Zebra Technologies Corporation' in 1986. Zebra became a publicly traded company in 1991. Today, with more than $800 million in annual sales, the company specialises in speciality printer products, printer supplies (consumables) and RFID technologies.
The company with its headquarters in Lincolnshire, Illinois, has facilities worldwide, for example in Vernon Hills, Illinois; Camarillo, California; Wisconsin
; Rhode Island
; California
; Bourne End
and Preston, England
; Heerenveen
in the Netherlands
; Singapore
and Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou in China
.
All of Zebra's design and manufacturing sites are certified to the ISO 9001 international standard for quality management.
Since 2008, Zebra has outsourced the majority of its printer manufacturing to Jabil Circuit
in Guangzhou
, China
.
Zebra's printers make use of a specialized page formatting language called Zebra Programming Language (ZPL). Some printers also use a "Zebra Basic Interpreter" (ZBI 2) to allow the user to capture and manipulate incoming data for use in printing. Labels and documents can be designed using the ¨ZebraDesigner Pro" label design software and printers can be remotely configured and controlled using the ¨ZebraNet Bridge¨ printer management software.
Zebra Technologies acquired the Swedish ticket and kiosk printer company, Swecoin
in 2006.
Barcode
A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional . Later they evolved into rectangles,...
label and receipt printers, RFID smart label
Smart label
Smart Label, also called Smart Tag, is an extremely flat configured Transponder under a conventional print-coded label, which includes chip, antenna and bonding wires as a so-called inlay...
printer/encoders, card and kiosk printers, based in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Zebra has products in 100 countries around the world. Zebra-brand printers are used by more than 90 percent of Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
companies.
Zebra was incorporated in 1969 as 'Data Specialties Incorporated', a manufacturer of high-speed electromechanical products. The company changed its focus to specialty on-demand labeling and ticketing systems in 1982, and became 'Zebra Technologies Corporation' in 1986. Zebra became a publicly traded company in 1991. Today, with more than $800 million in annual sales, the company specialises in speciality printer products, printer supplies (consumables) and RFID technologies.
The company with its headquarters in Lincolnshire, Illinois, has facilities worldwide, for example in Vernon Hills, Illinois; Camarillo, California; Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
; Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
; California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
; Bourne End
Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
Bourne End is a village predominantly in the parish of Wooburn and Bourne End, but also in the parish of Little Marlow, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated close to the border with Berkshire, near where the River Wye meets the River Thames...
and Preston, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
; Heerenveen
Heerenveen
Heerenveen is a town in the Heerenveen municipality of the province of Friesland , in the north of the Netherlands.- History :The town was established in 1551 by three lords as a location for the purpose of digging peat which was used for fuel, hence the name...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
All of Zebra's design and manufacturing sites are certified to the ISO 9001 international standard for quality management.
Since 2008, Zebra has outsourced the majority of its printer manufacturing to Jabil Circuit
Jabil Circuit
Jabil Circuit, Inc. is a provider of electronics manufacturing services. Jabil designs and manufactures electronic circuit boards for major OEMs in a diverse group of industries including automotive, computing and storage, consumer products, medical, networking, peripherals and telecommunications....
in Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Zebra's printers make use of a specialized page formatting language called Zebra Programming Language (ZPL). Some printers also use a "Zebra Basic Interpreter" (ZBI 2) to allow the user to capture and manipulate incoming data for use in printing. Labels and documents can be designed using the ¨ZebraDesigner Pro" label design software and printers can be remotely configured and controlled using the ¨ZebraNet Bridge¨ printer management software.
Zebra Technologies acquired the Swedish ticket and kiosk printer company, Swecoin
Swecoin
Swecoin was a thermal printer manufacturing company based in Sollentuna, Sweden. They also had a US-based sales division, Swecoin US Inc, based in Rhode Island...
in 2006.