Portfolio news Zetes

Zetes is a leading European system integrator and provider of innovative supply chain, identification and mobility solutions.

30 Jan '14

Zetes celebrates 30 successful years in Auto-ID

What do Niki Lauda, Madonna, Apple Mac and Zetes have in common? The answer is plain simple: 1984 was their year. Niki Lauda became the Formula 1 World Champion for the third time, Madonna was crowned Queen of Pop, Apple launched its first Mac and Zetes was born, one year after the barcode sparked off developments in Auto-ID. Zetes boarded this train and hasn't stopped travelling since.

Starting out with a handful of employees, Zetes was the first company to introduce barcode data capture in its homeland of Belgium. Today, after three decades of growth and service diversification, Zetes employs over a thousand specialists in 16 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Zetes continues to play a pioneering role in supply chain optimization. By driving the introduction of voice technology in logistics, it has been the EMEA leader in voice picking solutions for 10 years. It was the first company in Europe to install a proof of delivery solution, introduce ImageID technology to logistics and was quick to integrate the benefits of cloud computing into its offering. Today, Zetes is the only company to offer a solution suite that enables a fully collaborative supply chain, ensuring efficiency and traceability from manufacturing plant to the store.

After establishing its reputation in goods identification, the company expanded to offer people authentication solutions and became the first company to manage a large-scale national project for electronic ID. Today, Zetes' People ID solution suite supports governments with an end-to-end approach to e-identification. This was recently deployed in Gambia with enrolment posts, data centralization, a personalization site for biometric passports and, coming soon, installation of the first e-gate at Banjul airport.

This track-record provides clear evidence that Zetes has been at the forefront of innovation since its creation in 1984. Its success is based on extensive know-how, long term customer relationships, strategic acquisitions and continuous investment in R&D. As a result, Zetes' solutions continue to meet ever changing and specific market needs, including anti-counterfeiting, traceability, e-commerce, competitiveness, efficiency, consumer health, and citizen protection. When combined with flexible (managed) services packages, Zetes continues to deliver every customer peace of mind both during and after the implementation of their projects.

Celebrating 30 successful years, Cobepa is proud to have contributed to the growth and development of Zetes since its first investment in 1998.