Global view of data capture
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 12/1/1999
It's hardly surprising-because he was born in Croatia and educated there and in Sweden, where he's held citizenship since 1971-that Tomo Razmilovic has an international perspective on business. President and chief operating officer of Symbol Technologies, he stresses how "we live in a global economy" in which "worldwide standards will be crucial for future technology advances."Case in point: hundreds of millions of dollars were lost by industry in the mid-1990s while a conflict was resolved over European military and cell phones using the same radio frequency band as wireless LAN technology in the U.S., he says.
As chairman of the Automatic Identification Manufacturers association, Razmilovic is encouraging a global view on data capture technology. And acting to avoid such conflicts as cell phones vs. LANs.
Being instrumental in setting up a Hong Kong office for AIM is but one step he's taken in that direction. "China is a sleeping giant," he says, when it comes to applying new technology. Under his corporate leadership, meanwhile, Symbol reached agreement with China to make the PDF417 bar code developed by Symbol that nation's official, 2-D symbology.
China has begun identifying all bank drafts with PDF417 and will identify cars, bicycles, and other items with the 2-D code. One reason these efforts are likely to progress rapidly, he suggests, "is that China doesn't carry the old baggage of other, prior identification systems."
Whether used in China or elsewhere, bar codes will remain a data capture tool for years to come, he expects. Reasons: Low costs, world standards, near 100% data accuracy. Razmilovic also foresees "the Internet and bar coding as a powerful combination." Together they "will increase bar code usage to a level 100-times what it is today."
E-commerce will be "a key driving factor" expanding many businesses. He predicts his company "could grow, within three years, from yearly sales of $1.2 billion to between $2 billion and $3 billion with 50% of the gain due to e-commerce."
View All Blogs
