Zebra Technologies

Type	Public (NASDAQ: ZBRA)
Founded	1969[1]
Founder(s)	Edward L. Kaplan and Gerhard Cless[1]
Headquarters	Vernon Hills, Illinois, U.S.
Key people	Anders Gustafsson, CEO
Industry	Computer hardware
Products	RFID printer/encoders, Mobile printers, Card imaging printers, and other peripherals
Revenue	▲$868 million USD (2007)[2]
Employees	3200 (2008)[2]
Website	www.Zebra.com

Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) is a manufacturer of thermal bar code label and receipt printers, RFID smart label printer/encoders, and card 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 $650 million in annual sales, the company manufactures all of its printers in US-based facilities located in Vernon Hills, Illinois and Camarillo, California. The company also manufactures and distributes its printers and supplies from its facilities in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, California, Bourne End and Preston, England, Heerenveen in the Netherlands.. 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 it's 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 is also the owner of the Swedish ticket and kiosk printer company, Swecoin.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} "Edward Kaplan Plans to Retire as CEO of Zebra Technologies; Board Initiates Search for Successor". Vernon Hills, Ill: Zebra Technologies. September 20, 2006. http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/documentlibrary/pressreleases/2006/edward_kaplan_plans0.File.tmp/Ed%20Kaplan%20to%20Retire_09-20-06.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-05. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "2007 Annual Report". Zebra Technologies. http://www.zebra.com/id/zebra/na/en/documentlibrary/annual_reports/2007_annual_report.File.tmp/2007_Annual_Report_for_viewing.pdf. Retrieved 2009-04-05. 

[edit] External links

• Zebra Technologies home page
• Zebra's Corporate Leadership
• An interview with Zebra on their RFID printing products
• Review of Zebra Technologies, Solutions & Printers