Intermec is continuing to invest in new technology with products such as the CN 50 and CN 4 mobilecomputers despite the weak market while cutting personal costs and optimising business processes, a
European manager told CEP-Research.Intermec recorded slower growth last year in terms of volumes and revenues, and this year isa difficult one as well, Jörg Assmann, Field Marketing Manager Germany/Austria/Switzerland, said inan interview at the Post-Expo in Hannover earlier this month.
But the company has other activities apart from transportation and logistics (T&L) thatit can fall back on, he stressed. “We were still able to record growth last year, even though at amore moderate rate than in the previous years. In addition, we have used the time to strengthen ourposition on the market and we expect to recover soon, especially with our new products.”
“From the beginning of the crisis, it was clear to us that we are not going to save onengineering,” he continued. “We have to launch new and innovative products which the market expectsfrom us as this is our future. That means that we rather saved costs in other areas like marketing,labour and optimised our supply chain but we didn’t cut back on investment in engineering.Therefore, we are happy to put a product on the market that distinguishes us from others as itunique in its kind and makes us more competitive. We are positioned as the number 2 on the globalmarket after Motorola.”
Assmann added that the logistics market is very large and profitable as companies usuallyorder very large quantities when they upgrade their fleet with new technology.
At Post-Expo, Intermec presented its new mobile rugged 3G mobile computers CN50 and CN4 forfield mobility applications. The CN50 provides mobile workforces in postal, field service,transportation, and delivery operations the highest-performance 3.75G mobile computer in a small,lightweight, ruggedized form factor. It allows whole sheets of paper to be scanned through EnhancedMobile Document Imaging (eMDI) in order to rationalise business process and improve the cash flow.Whereas documents are often scanned with a flat bed scanner, this tool enables to scan them on sitein a mobile way. The scanned document goes into the system immediately. This is especially relevantfor freight forwarders and transport companies as it allows faster invoicing.
Previously, all the documents were collected once a week at the head office and forwarded tothe unit responsible whereas with the new technology the document is immediately available forfurther processing in the system. “We see it as a big advantage. Our partners have been testing thetool in the last month and we have received very positive feedback. We have presented the productat several trade fairs so far with customers being highly interested in it. Although most of thetransport and logistics companies already have installed mobile devices in their lorries theseadditional functions provide new possibilities we are not even fully aware of. We wait for ourcustomers to tell us where else they can use this technology,” Assmann explained.
Some of the partners the company works together with include Kratzer Automation, PDS, PCO andoData, among others. Once the partners are officially certified, they can integrate Intermec’stechnology which can then be sold further to logistics companies.
“As a big global company, we certainly have a larger focus than T&L only, but it is oneof our strategic pillars. Basically, we are represented in every country of the world through ourpartners. In Germany, our customers include many different forwarding companies and logisticscompanies such as TNT or Hammer Logistik, just to name a few,” Assmann added.
On the whole, the T&L sector as such is definitely impacted by the crisis as shipmentvolumes have fallen dramatically due to lower production, according to Assmann. “Nevertheless,especially in this sector it is crucial to keep investing in a better service to offer added valueto customers. But when they shed labour and drive fewer lorries, less money will be invested as aresult since we have to act upon demand. Therefore, the situation in the T&L sector is probablymore difficult than in other industries, for example, for energy providers. But we’ve hadsuccessful years in this sector and we will surely be able to make use of it as no one can avoidautomation in the end. It is strategically a very important market for us and we provide the fullrange of products for the T&L market including mobile printers, terminal scanners as well aswarehousing tools.”
Assmann concluded: “Looking ahead, we are constantly searching for new partners operating inareas where we are not present yet. With the new product, we have the opportunity to enter newmarkets.”
In 2008, Intermec reported revenues of $891 million, which represented 5% growth compared tofiscal year 2007. This solid year-over-year EPS growth also included the impact of restructuringand transition related costs of approximately $8 million. Therefore, on a core operating profitbasis this growth would have been much greater, the company reported in its annual report for 2008.
