Zebra Technologies Announces New Product Design Center
Zebra Technologies Corp., a provider of bar code, kiosk, card and RFID printers as well as real-time location solutions, announced the opening of its new design center in Agoura Hills, Calif. The new facility, which officially opened its doors on March 14, currently houses more than 200 Zebra employees responsible for the design and development of new products. In moving its workforce from a manufacturing environment to the Zebra Design Center, the company aims to create a unique work experience that attracts engineering talent and enables even higher levels of innovation and collaboration around defining, designing and marketing best-in-class products.
“The depth, breadth and performance of Zebra’s product portfolio are unmatched, and we have clear intentions to leverage our competitive advantage by providing a leading-edge work environment. Our new design center better enables our design team to co-create exceptional product ideas that are highly relevant to the expanding application needs of customers across numerous vertical and global geographic markets,” said Hugh Gagnier, senior vice president, business development and operations at Zebra.
The Zebra Design Center in Agoura Hills is located in close proximity to the Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley areas to draw more technical talent from southern California universities. In contrast to typical product engineering facilities where design spaces are segmented into disciplines or projects, the engineering labs, concept-build and test facilities and new product introduction pilot line areas are situated in the center of the facility. This approach is more conducive to overall engineering collaboration and allows, for example, a retail-focused team to share and spark ideas among a healthcare-focused team. Structured with floor-to-ceiling windows and a shared open work area, the space configuration allows employees as well as visiting partners and customers to see work progressing. Branching out from this central space are bright open desk and casual seating and collaboration areas with white boards in which development teams can create and share new ideas.
“The physical work environment can significantly impact design teams’ levels of engagement and effectiveness. We view our Design Center an important part of retaining and attracting additional world class talent,” added Gagnier. “We’ve taken a progressive and industry best practice approach to ensure the most advanced tools are at our employees’ fingertips and meet the evolving preferences of emerging technology talent.”