March 2017

APAC / March 2017 101 , Eirik Bakke of Evolis speaks to APAC Insider about current trends in the industry and how the company fares in the APAC region. Take Risks, Continue to Invest Evolis is the world leader for plastic card personalisation and printing systems. Eirik tells us more about the firm and its services and products. “Our channel network, consisting of specialized card printer distributors, has been built-up over the last 16 years as a 100% indirect business. We also work with system integrators around the world who integrate our machines in tailor-made systems for large scale projects in the identification, security, transportation, government, banking or retail sector. Our solutions range from entry level card printers distributed via IT Office channels, mid- segment products to tailor-made upgradable machines that can integrate, if required, advanced encoding technologies, lamination, holograms and many more security features. “Over the last few years, we started to diversify our product portfolio with digital signature pads, specific software included in our printers, accessories and services such as warranty extensions, customized training and integration services. We are currently in the process of launching business solutions that address specific business sectors such as food retail, banking, etc.” The firm’s overall missions is to enable users in different markets to have access to the best quality / performance / price ratio to customize badges on plastic cards from simple applications such as club cards to badges used for the most complex and secure applications, such as bank cards or government documents. Eirik explains how Evolis differentiates itself from the competition and marks itself out as the best possible option for clients. “We are an independent manufacturing company based in France focusing 100% on the niche market of identification solutions,” states Eirik. “Our open systems are designed to be integrated into various different IT systems of system integrators. Our main competitors are large American groups that also work in other businesses and propose packaged all-in-one systems. Our industrial flexibility to adapt our solutions to customer needs in record time is widely recognized. Our range consists of products that can be upgraded depending on the evolution of a project. More generally spoken, our solutions stand out through an extremely high printing quality and technical reliability as well as constant innovations through our designs, the software suite or the expandability of our printers.” Security has become an important issue for a lot of regions especially the Middle East and Asia. Increasing rates of mobility and migration of the population underscore the need for secure credentials to enable proper identification. “Globally, governments and corporations continue to look for enhanced security features of their official ID documents which will hence require product and service providers to constantly develop new technologies and features. Therefore, we believe that there will be a growing demand for increasingly sophisticated and more secured access control solutions in the coming years. “We also see a lot of new trends and new regulations in our market that we are currently exploring, such as price tags for the food retail sector or self- service terminals in the education and banking sector.” As a relatively small player, Evolis has the industrial flexibility to react rapidly to new trends and stay ahead of the curve. “We know that only ongoing innovations allow a company to remain at the top,” Eirik says. “That’s why, for example, from 2010 onwards, we completely reviewed our product strategy and developed solutions that met all the needs that could exist in the market. And we don’t stop there; we are currently in the process of developing new technologies and solutions to address new market needs.” With regards to the future, Eirik tells us what he/she expects to see, both in terms of the company and the industry. “The products that we are currently developing will address new needs that have been identified. We take risks; we continue to invest. The next years will be marked by product launches, new banking and government projects, and the deployment of our diversification strategy notably with the release of the price tag solution for the retail sector, and investment in our entry level product Badgy distributed through the IT Office channel and the development of the market for payment cards. We will give ourselves the means to expand upon new opportunities! “With the current and future capabilities of smart phone and wearables, we observe an increased trend towards digitalization of mobile credentials. However, we think that for most applications mobile credentials will, for several reasons, be complementary, and not replace existing physical badges and cards. “The trend towards mobile credentials creates several challenges for the various players in the industry. However, it also brings along a world full of new opportunities as well as an avenue of diversification from traditional security solutions.” K Company: Evolis Asia Pte Ltd Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.evolis.com Address: 10 Toh Guan Road, #09-01, Singapore 608838 Telephone: 6862 4618 1702AP14