Zebra Technologies Corporation, an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, has announced it has entered the fixed industrial scanning (FIS) and machine vision (MV) markets with a new portfolio of solutions that enable track and trace capabilities and quality inspection of manufacturing work in process. Zebra’s suite of machine vision smart cameras and fixed industrial scanners is unlocked by Zebra Aurora™, a unified software platform that can easily set up, deploy and run both cameras and scanners, meeting businesses’ need for simplicity, speed, productivity and efficiency.
Leveraging the same ultra-rugged stationary hardware, Zebra’s fixed industrial scanners and MV smart cameras can inspect production lines and product movement processes, helping improve quality in manufacturing, warehouse and logistics environments. Businesses can reduce complexity and costs by using Zebra Aurora which is designed to drive efficiency and productivity through advanced industrial automation processes. This technology also enables customers to accelerate their solution deployments and add functionality in the future as their needs evolve.
As part of its move into the FIS and MV markets, Zebra has acquired Adaptive Vision, a leading provider of graphical MV software for manufacturing and other industries. Adaptive Vision’s comprehensive set of tools and algorithms help power-users easily create complex MV applications while assisting customers who are relatively new to MV produce full-featured applications without coding. The addition of Adaptive Vision’s MV software, deep learning expertise and team of machine vision engineers will provide manufacturers greater visibility into the status and condition of their goods and assets through visual-based sensing and analytics capabilities.
“The acquisition of Adaptive Vision accelerates our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision as we continue to embrace new methods of data capture to meet the expanding and evolving needs of our customers,” said Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies. “We are pleased to welcome the talented Adaptive Vision team to the Zebra family to help expand our next generation of solutions including fixed industrial scanning and machine vision.”
These new industrial automation solutions expand on Zebra’s Cortexica acquisition and Zebra’s portfolio of vertically oriented intelligent edge solutions including SmartPack™ and SmartSight™ that utilize computer vision hardware and software to improve workflows at the operational edge of business.
“This is an exciting time to join Zebra and bring our machine vision software to help Zebra’s industrial customers operate more efficiently in increasingly automated, data-powered environments,” said Michał Czardybon, Chief Executive Officer of Adaptive Vision. “Our machine vision software and libraries are designed to allow users to easily build MV and deep learning applications, so this is a significant strategic enhancement to Zebra’s new solutions.”
Zebra’s flexible new portfolio includes seven fixed data capture products featuring a unique set of FIS and/or MV capabilities. Businesses can choose the products that meet their needs today and upgrade at any time to add support for new barcode symbologies, increased scanning speeds, or advanced machine vision tools via the simple purchase of a software license.
The fixed industrial scanners improve track and trace capabilities throughout the supply chain with flawless decoding of every part and package moving through production, storage and fulfillment. Capable of reading 1D/2D barcodes, direct part marks (DPM) and optical character recognition (OCR) text, Zebra’s fixed industrial scanners help improve productivity and automate the movement of goods, enhancing the efficiency of warehouse, shipping and returns processes. Zebra’s MV smart cameras are ideal for automating quality inspections in a variety of discrete manufacturing processes, reducing defects as well as validating assembly and tracking information to improve productivity and quality.
“We are excited to introduce our first suite of MV and FIS solutions for the industrial automation market,” said Donato Montanari, Vice President of Machine Vision Solutions, Zebra Technologies. “These solutions will provide a simple, out-of-box experience and superior reliability that enables maximum visibility and the rapid transformation of image capture into actionable business information.”
Zebra is also introducing a new specialized track in its award-winning PartnerConnect program for experienced industrial automation business partners, distributors and systems integrators. These select partners all have deep fixed industrial scanning, machine vision and automation expertise to help provide companies with the best possible solution.
Zebra funded the acquisition of Adaptive Vision with cash on hand. The transaction is expected to be immaterial to sales and profitability in the near term. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.