EXECUTIVE INSIGHT: IDentifying Innovations

Recognised for breakthroughs

such as Code 39 bar code

symbology and the first

handheld 2D matrix scanner,

Intermec Technologies supplies

a comprehensive range of

automatic identification

(AIDC) and mobile computer

systems. Heading up the

regional operation is Henri

Juvanon, Managing Director,

Intermec Asia Pacific. He talks

to CE Asia.

CEA: Could you explain a little about

Intermec’s Asia Pacific operations?

Juvanon: The office here in Singapore

is the headquarters for the region, which

extends from Japan all the way down to

Australia, covering a total of 14 countries

and employing around 160 people. We

have offices in each of the key countries

along with an extensive channel partner

network. In addition, Singapore is now

the center for Printer Global R&D, which

was previously based in Sweden. With

the concentration of electronics supply

chain here, there are a lot of advantages

for that function to be located in this part

of the world.

CEA: And for yourself, you’ve been

with the company for quite a few

years?

Juvanon: Yes, I was sent to Singapore

in 1996 by UBI, a Swedish printer and

scanner manufacturer that was acquired

by Intermec in 1997. Intermec’s Asia Pacific

HQ moved to Singapore from Hong Kong

in 1999 and I was put in charge of building

up the organization – sales, marketing,

service. It was really last year, 2006, when

we accelerated the investment in the

region in terms of people and resources.

CEA: There was news last year of job

losses in the Intermec organization.

Was Asia Pacific affected?

Juvanon: Intermec did undergo some

rationalization last year, mainly striving to

get enhancements on productivity, such as in Europe where we had too many service

centers and consolidated accordingly. And

there were some revenue issues resulting

from the need to ensure our wide product

range conformed to the RoHS legislation.

But Asia Pacific was not affected and the

good news is that 2007 is already looking

much better in terms of sales and qualified

orders and the general market reaction

to our new products. For this region, the

growth area for Intermec has been China

– the sheer amount of manufacturing

investment is driving the demand for

printers and handheld terminals.

CEA: What is Intermec’s positioning

in the AIDC market?

Juvanon: We focus on three main verticals

as priorities: industrial, transportation/

logistics, and consumer goods. In terms

of applications, the focus is warehouse

management, work-in-progress (WIP)

tracking, and field sales automation. There

is big potential in this latter sector – taking

the workforce out of the four walls of the

organization and providing them with the

full power of enterprise applications to

address customer needs.

CEA: And how does Intermec

compete and differentiate itself?

Juvanon: Our drive is very much to

take technology leadership. This means

developing the core technologies that

will be used by us and, eventually, by

our competitors. These of course

center mainly around data capture. A

prime example is the MEMS laser scan

engine, which enables bar code

scanners to be significantly faster,

smaller, lighter and more efficient.

So yes, leading in technology, that is the

Intermec difference.

CEA: Could you highlight some

significant recent or upcoming

Intermec product releases?

Juvanon: For the bar code sector, the

Intellibeam EX25 area-imaging bar code

scan engine can read and decode 1D and

2D bar codes in any orientation, from 15

cm to 15 m and without adjustment. This

is an exciting breakthrough, and it has

made an impact every time we have had

the opportunity to show it to a customer in

his warehouse or on the production line.

Then there is the CV30 rugged, fixed-mount

computer terminal, which is

targeted at mobile vehicle environments

such as seen on our Forklift for the

Future concept. Also targeted for the

same application is the new IV7C rugged

RFID reader.

CEA: It’s hard to avoid the topic of

RFID these days. Your take on this?

Juvanon: I agree that there has been a

lot of hype about RFID but the good thing

about this is that it has generated a lot of

training courses, seminars, etc, and so

customers are a lot more knowledgeable

about it than they were, say, 18 months

ago. Although the ramp-up has not been as

sharp as some of the industry projections, we are seeing more projects and also

noting that customers are coming back for

second implementations, which is always

a good sign.

The other thing to say about RFID is

that the technology should not really be

the central focus; it is there, is improving,

and standards are evolving. Rather, the

attention should be on the process and how

RFID can impact it and provide benefits to

the customer. We have actually turned

down RFID projects that we thought were

technically not feasible or were not being

done for the right reasons. So spending

more time thinking about your processes

is key.

CEA: Do you subscribe to any

particular approach in managing

the Intermec Asia Pacific business?

Juvanon: It is important to establish

guidelines and to make sure that everyone

knows the game plan. And it is very much

about listening, coaching, and training.

Listening – is not just one way, there is a

tremendous amount of information from

staff that you can tap into; Coaching

– holding debriefing sessions to discuss

how we can do things better next time;

Training – not just on technology but

encouraging personal self-development.

And I also try and stress to our sales

staff that it’s not about telling customers

how great an Intermec product is, but

understanding the potential uses the

customer has for that product and how

it can improve his business. When

people see or hear the name Intermec

I want them to think of a company that

makes an effort to understand a client’s

business, acts ethically, and brings

value through the application of its

innovative technology. CEA

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