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where we work with a customer and a partner on an outcome they want, and we’ll build tools that delivers that outcome. “One completed example is a blueprint called Picture Proof of Delivery with FedEx. The challenge was twofold: FedEx wanted to speed up doorstep deliveries while also improving proof of delivery. Complaints had arisen when parcels were reported as undelivered, and the existing photos were sometimes blurred or lacked enough background detail to show clearly where a parcel had been left.
Future Looking to the future, Greg is focused on ensuring that Zebra maintains and grows its market position. “We are making sure that we’re listening to our customers, partners and disties to understand what their futures are,” he says. “When you’ve got many of the top customers in each of the core verticals, that informs our roadmap going forward, which is important and gives us an opportunity to get the partner voice into the roadmap, which is imperative. “Many partners are evolving, whether they’re onboarding new technologies, new people with technological skills, or acquiring rival businesses, to make themselves look as attractive as possible to the market, or, for some, external investors. “One common theme I’m seeing is recurring revenue and as a service models. It’s imperative that the software assets that we’re building and launching not only deliver value to the partners – i.e, it solves a customer’s problem – but it also becomes attractive to the partner because it gives them a recurring revenue model. If they can bolster their balance sheet with X thousand pounds of recurring revenue on an annual basis, that makes them look a lot more attractive to external investment or acquisition.” Greg adds that Zebra had strong Q1 earnings, bolstered by numerous strong product launches. “There are more launches to come, which will help with the evolution of our partners,” says Greg. “We also plan to continue to expand our partner network into new areas with automation, as well as continually adding new sales resources to ensure that we can cover more partners and customers. “We’re building out a model to ensure that we can cover as broad a portion of the market as possible because as good as the market share that we have currently is, there’s always more to get.” n
Privacy was another important consideration. FedEx needed the data- capture process to comply with local regulations, including the ability to blur people or personal information on labels. Crucially, this had to happen on-device, without relying on a cloud connection, because delivery drivers work in areas with limited connectivity. “Zebra’s AI blueprint addresses this by guiding the driver as they capture the delivery image. The system can recognise whether the parcel is in the correct safe- place location and whether there are any privacy concerns. A visual indicator shows whether the image is acceptable, and any personal data is automatically blurred by the AI before the proof-of-delivery image is completed. “There’s huge potential with AI and that’s informing a lot of products now, and customers are demanding it, whether it automates functions or analyses the data it produces.”
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There's huge potential with AI and that’s informing a lot of products now, and customers are demanding it, whether it automates functions or analyses the data it produces.
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