Our Product Pick

Brady (Milwaukee, WI) has presented new printable thermal transfer tags. Intended for warning, maintenance, inspection, and inventory tagging, these products come in stock, pre-printed, and die-cut formats, with five different colors. Delivered fan-folded in the box, they carry improved readability and durability, according to the vendor, with more space for information and barcodes. Users may import data from spreadsheets to reduce entry time via Brady's LabelMark. "With printed tags, instead of handwritten tags, you save hours of time on label creation and also help eliminate mistakes," noted Lori Aeschbacher, Global Product Manager for Benchtop Printers at Brady.

Brady's Printable Thermal Transfer Tags

COMPANY BUSINESS

A Pure Printer Play by TSC

With the two companies "extremely complementary from product, channel, and technology perspectives," TSC Auto ID Technology will purchase the Printronix Thermal/AIDC Business. To complete the thoughts of Sam Wang, TSC's President, "Printronix's recognized excellence in the industrial printing segments is an optimal addition to TSC's strong base in desktop printing. Additionally, Printronix's strength in the Americas and EMEA will also help both companies accelerate growth in these regions." Another point of totality: the SMB and Fortune 1000.

With this move, TSC Auto ID acquires all intellectual and branding rights to Printronix's stationary and mobile printers, as well as its products in barcode verification and RFID (new areas for TSC). A stand-alone company, Printronix Auto ID, will function alongside TSC Auto ID in North America, both located in the "Americas" corporate headquarters in Pomona, CA. About 30 people will come over from the Printronix Thermal/AIDC Business. Earlier, in 2012, TSC and Printronix entered into an ODM (Original Design Manufacturing) relationship, thus establishing "strong working relationships."

"Each brand has its own channel strategy and policies," Kevin Aie, CEO of TSC Auto ID Technology America, told RRN.Com. "In the short term, that will remain the same. After the deal is closed, we will have an opportunity for our resellers and distribution partners to benefit from cross-selling opportunities." Added David Lundeen, VP of Marketing for TSC Auto ID Technology America, "With this acquisition, we're showing we're solely dedicated to the printer market." Deal is expected to close in January 2016.

TSC Auto ID Buys Printronix's Thermal/AIDC Business

Bematech Sees the "Light"

Bematech (Bethpage, NY) has unwrapped "Bemacash," its light, Android-based POS. This proprietary software can be loaded onto three hardware platforms: the 10" SB8010A and 15" SB8015A All-in-One Terminals from Bematech, and the Galaxy 4 Tablet from Samsung. In this bundled approach, the longtime vendor to the channel includes necessary peripherals, some discount in pricing, and subscription-based software delivery (SaaS). Peripherals include receipt printers, barcode scanners, cash drawers, and scales.

Residing in the cloud, Bemacash addresses specialty retail and quick-service restaurants, RRN.Com was told by Nicole Walters, Business Development Manager for Bematech. In particular, it targets merchants seeking more functionality than their basic cash register without the complexities of full-blown POS. As such, Bemacash furnishes inventory, vendor, and employee management, as well as more detailed reporting--"the next level," in the words of Walters. As pricing, she cited an MSRP of $45 per month for one register, and $69 per month for up to three registers. Hardware is purchased separately in the usual fashion.

In addition to new market opportunities, the company's resellers will enjoy ongoing residuals for the life of the account, emphasized Walters. As payment processing, the SP30 and SP300 terminals from PAX Technology (Jacksonville, FL) have been certified. "We don't touch any of the processing fees," stated Walters, "and given the nature of Bemacash, there's no competition with our ISVs." In Bematech's home country of Brazil, "they've had this product for some time, and there's been much success with it."

Bematech Introduces "Bemacash," Its Entry-Level Android-Based POS Solution

Worth Your While

NRF's Big Show - Annual Conference
National Retail Federation
January 17-20
New York City

Inspire 2016
Retail Solutions Providers Association
Jan. 31 - Feb. 3
San Diego

Transact 16
Electronic Transactions Association
April 19-21
Las Vegas

WERC 2016
Warehousing Education and Research Council
May 15-18
Providence, RI

NRA Show 2016
National Restaurant Association
May 21-24
Chicago

ALL IN THE FAMILY

It's Prime Time at POSBANK

POSBANK USA (Carson, CA) has unboxed its new high-end POS Terminal, earmarked Anyshop Prime. With fanless, bezel-free construction and sleek look, Anyshop Prime offers choice of Intel Core Haswell (i3, i5, i7) or Intel Quad-Core Celeron (J1900). Additional enhancements include an optional smart battery to keep the system running in case of power outage, as well as two display sizes--15" or 17"--with projected capacitive touch.

Measuring 14.3 in. (W) x 15 in. (H) x 11.2 in. (D), weighing 16.5 lbs., Anyshop Prime has Windows 7, Windows 8.1, or POS Ready 7. As additional technical specifications, there's 2-GB RAM, 2.5" SATA, and RAID (for Haswell). A full suite of ports includes USB x 8, Serial x 3, and Ethernet x 2. A modular, "thumbscrew" design facilitates installation and maintenance.

As optional peripherals, POSBANK USA offers MSR, 2x20 VFD, and 12" or 15" secondary LCD. In addition, custom colors may be ordered for brand enhancement. Anyshop Prime will be shipped in Q1 2016, according to POSBANK USA, which distributes through Synnex StoreSolv (Greenville, SC). It completes the family of Anyshop e2, Anyshop II, and Anyshop Pro.

Sleek Anyshop Prime by POSBANK USA

Unitech Gets Physical

Unitech America (Cypress, CA) has previewed its new rugged tablet computer for inventory and asset-tracking, designated the TB120. Significantly, it carries an integrated barcode scanner--one- and two-dimensional--as well as 37-key physical keyboard. A 7" capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass withstands 4 ft./1.2 m drops to concrete, with ratings to MIL-STD-810G and IP-65. It runs Android 4.3 ("Jelly Bean").

Less than one inch thick, and weighing 26 oz., the TB120 has TI OMAP Dual-Core CPU at 1.5 GHz, 1-GB RAM, 8-GB Flash, and Micro-SD. In addition to scanner, it furnishes front and rear cameras, NFC/RFID, and optional MSR. Additional benefits include Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and 5200-mAh Li-Polymer hot-swappable battery. As MSRP, Unitech, which sells through resellers, cited $1,330.

"Consumer-grade tablets simply don't cut it when it comes to data collection," maintained Brian Silence, Sales Manager for Unitech America. "Practical features like keyboards help bring tablet computing to businesses in a way that makes sense." Also, Unitech is offering pre-order discounts until launch in mid-December.

Unitech's New TB120 Tablet Computer

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CERTIFICATION

EMV Caught in Sterling's NET

Sterling Payment Technologies (Tampa, FL) has completed U.S. EMV Level 3 Certification with payment middleware "NETePay" from Datacap Systems (Chalfont, PA). Available via the Sterling/Datacap Usage Program, so-called "NETePay for Sterling" follows the "solution-as-a-service" model, creating an attractive recurring revenue stream without upfront investment or risk for the installer, according to the two parties. Sterling will begin deploying the EMV-capable version of NETePay in the coming weeks.

Initially, NETePay for EMV utilizes the VX 805 PIN Pad from Verifone (San Jose, CA), which also handles MSR, PIN, and NFC transactions. Additional hardware options supporting signature capture, unattended applications, and mobile solutions will be released following subsequent re-certifications. Just last week, Datacap also offered NETePay for Vantiv with EMV Level 3 Certification. Many more will follow, Justin Zeigler, Marketing Director at Datacap Systems, has told RRN.Com. [Editor's Note: Including, at press time, Chase Paymentech (New York City).]

"Sterling is proud to partner with Datacap to deliver a market-leading EMV solution that provides a reliable and secure payment option for merchants," volunteered Gary Staub, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Sterling. "This offering provides our reseller partners with the same attractive rental models, rapid deployment, and advanced technical support that our other Datacap products have demonstrated for many years." Earlier, in August, Sterling debuted ShopPOS.com, its lead-generation website for its reseller partners.

Sterling Payment Technologies Certifies NETePay for EMV by Datacap Systems

A Tripwire for POS Security

Tripwire (Portland, OR), one of the stalwarts in network security, has launched its dedicated new solution, entitled Tripwire POS Threat Protection. It will be included with the firm's flagship product, Tripwire Enterprise. From its start in 1997, Tripwire now serves more than 9,000 organizations, including eight out of the top ten global retailers.

Tripwire POS Threat Protection delivers 35 new policies and 55 new tests designed to secure POS, with its focus on weaknesses and exploitable configurations commonly recognized by cyber thieves. Its new capabilities detect and notify IT security teams if devices, servers, and payment card network infrastructure experience specific changes that leave them susceptible to compromise. It defends against a wide variety of brute force and malware attacks, including variants of RAM scrapers (e.g., BlackPOS, Alina and Trackr, MalumPOS, and vSkimmer).

"Retailers require both preventative and detective controls," advised Ken Westin, Senior Security Analyst for Tripwire. "In order to mitigate the most sophisticated cyber attacks, retailers need to harden their environment as well as decrease the mean-time-to-resolution when there is an incident. Tripwire's latest POS solutions are based on recommendations from industry leaders and actual attack data, an unprecedented approach designed to solve both of these problems."

Tripwire POS Threat Protection Guards Against RAM Scraping Malware

Code Corner

Dynamsoft (Vancouver, BC, Canada) released Version 4.0 of its barcode software development kit (SDK), which now handles PDF. Expanded support includes two-dimensional Data Matrix and PDF-417. Also, for enhanced platform integration, the .NET Version of the SDK will support "AnyCPU" from Visual Studio. As readers may know, Dynamsoft's Version 4.0 provides an application programming interface (API) for C, C++, ActiveX/COM, and .NET. As such, it allows users to decode barcodes from various image file formats or PDFs. This past summer, the company added support for decoding barcodes from GIF, in addition to existing BMP, JPEG, PNG, and TIFF. "These upgrades continue to expand application reach for our barcode reader SDK," indicated Amy Gu, VP of Dynamsoft. "They build upon an already established simple and intuitive use of APIs to implement barcode reading within just a few lines of code. This is on top of Windows and Mac Versions."

NOTES FROM THE FIELD

Speaking of NCR, Who Gets the Hardware?

Investment titan Blackstone will invest $820 million in NCR Corporation, in an effort to hasten the historic vendor's transformation into an integrated software and services company. NCR will use this investment to help fund its repurchase of $1 billion of its common stock. In connection with the investment, NCR will expand its Board of Directors from 9 to 11, with Chinh Chu, Senior Managing Director, and Greg Blank, Managing Director, both of Blackstone, upon closing in December. This follows earlier efforts to sell NCR.

"After concluding a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives, the NCR Board has determined that executing our strategic plan with Blackstone's assistance is the best way to accelerate NCR's transformation and build long-term shareholder value," reported Bill Nuti, NCR Chairman and CEO. "Blackstone is an experienced technology investor with a long-term perspective that can help us continue to drive our higher-margin software-related revenue, deliver world-class service globally, optimize our manufacturing processes and supply chain, and rationalize costs. This investment is a strong vote of confidence in our future growth potential."

Elsewhere, NCR has broken ground for its new world headquarters in Atlanta, GA. Estimated at cost of $300 million, located at the corner of 8th and Spring Streets, in the heart of mid-town, dubbed "Transaction Alley," this facility will benefit from proximity to Georgia Tech and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, according to NCR. "It's going to be one of the most dynamic tech communities in the world," stated Nuti.

NCR's New World Headquarters in Atlanta

Small Thinking at Microscan

Microscan (Renton, WA) has fashioned the "world's smallest" barcode readers for embedded applications and OEM. A trio of ultra-compact form factors are offered: MicroHAWK ID-20, ID-30, and ID-40. As benefits, there's corner-exit cabling to fit space-constrained environments and advanced optics to read codes and inspect elements at variable distances and orientations, providing added freedom in device mounting.

MicroHAWK ID-20 is the most feature-rich barcode imager of its size, according to the vendor, at under 1.6 inch/40 mm square and weighing less than 1 oz. From power to set-up, the ID-20 takes less than one minute to begin decoding. Similarly, the MicroHAWK ID-30 has an unprecedented ease of use and flexibility, featuring an IP-54 rated aluminum enclosure, optional add-on integrated LED lighting, and RS-232 and USB. Lastly, the MicroHAWK ID-40 is the world's smallest barcode imager with Ethernet. At less than 1.75 inch/45 mm square, the ID-40 allows hundreds of configurations and carries an IP-65/67 rating.

All readers include sensors from WVGA to SXGA to QSXGA, standard or high density functionality, speed of up to 60 frames per second, one-dimensional or two-dimensional direct part mark decoding, and programmable LEDs. Once installed, MicroHAWK barcode readers are remotely adjustable using the new browser-based "WebLink" user interface in order to change focus, barcode type, and expected application; to program input and output; and to save barcode reader settings locally without physical access to the device. All this eliminates the need for mounting adjustments or redesigns of turn-key equipment as end-user requirements change.

Ultra-Compact MicroHAWK Barcode Reader From Microscan

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Peripherals
AnywhereCommerce
Bematech
Elo Touch Solutions
Harbortouch
Hewlett-Packard
Partner Tech
Pioneer POS
POSBANK USA
Posiflex
PowaPOS
Shopify
TEAMSable

Barcode & Transaction Printers
Brother Mobile
CognitiveTPG
Honeywell Scanning

Cash Drawers
MMF POS

Data Collection
CipherLab
Code Corporation
Datalogic
Honeywell Scanning

Integrated Payment Solutions
Cayan
Datacap Systems
Discover
Mercury/Vantiv
Moneris

Keyboards & Mobile POS
Cherry, ZF Electronics Corp
PrehKeyTec

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
CognitiveTPG
Epson America
Star Micronics

Thermal Printers
Seiko Instruments USA

Touchscreens & Monitors
Elo Touch Solutions

INSTALLATIONS

Whistling Up Multi-Channel at Mercury

Mercury/Vantiv (Durango, CO) has brought its payment processing in line with omnichannel platform provider, UniteU (Pittsford, NY). With this partnership, retailers have seamless in-store and online payments, as well as multi-channel gift card integration, according to the two parties. The first merchant to launch with this new offering is American Workwear, which operates eight "Whistle Workwear" branded stores in the state of Washington.

As its POS, American Workwear runs Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS). In addition to integration and coordination of cross-channel payments, customers of the work clothing and footwear retailer may use the payment processor's gift card, named MercuryGift, both in-store and online. Customers may also purchase the gift cards online, as well as browse inventory.

"Given UniteU's expertise and deep retail experience and Mercury's payments knowledge, it is a natural fit to work together to building American Workwear's omnichannel platform," relayed Matt Ozvat, VP of Developer Integrations for Mercury/Vantiv. "Several of our other retailers are launching with the solution soon, and we're thrilled to be able to offer this next-generation shopping experience that retailers are seeking to create." On its part, UniteU also links with Retail Pro, NCR CounterPoint, NetSuite, and VRB in POS, and Cayan, CyberSource, Shift4, and PayPal in payments.

Mercury/Vantiv Partners With UniteU for Omnichannel Retailing

Infor Keeps Trucking

Infor's Distribution SX.e has been chosen for enterprise resource planning by Midwest Wheel. With six locations, Midwest Wheel is one of the largest truck parts distributors in the Midwestern U.S. Previously, Midwest Wheel relied upon legacy technology introduced in 1990. Addressing critical functions such as e-commerce, accounting, and warehouse logistics, the new system eliminates manual data entry while building detailed summaries of customer sales history.

"Every day our organization is faced with purchasing, ordering, general management, and many other business-critical tasks," expounded Steve McEnany, VP of Marketing and Technology, Midwest Wheel Companies. "Infor Distribution SX.e 10.3 represents forward-thinking technology with the intuitive user interface and functionality that makes it easy for all of our users to do their daily tasks no matter what department they may be in, while keeping everyone in the organization informed as to what is happening." Midwest Wheel also will utilize Infor's "Ming.le," the social collaboration platform integrated via Infor ION, its purpose-built middleware.

"Midwest Wheel is the perfect example for how a company can use innovation to proactively help meet the shifting dynamics of the distribution industry, while investing in a comprehensive solution that can lay the foundation for continued growth," suggested Kelly Squizzero, Industry and Solution Strategy Director at Infor Distribution (New York City). "With Infor Distribution SX.e, Midwest Wheel can gain greater visibility into various facets of their organization to help better meet customer demands. We hope the strong relationship between Infor and Midwest Wheel will stand as a benchmark for success within the ever-changing wholesale distribution industry."

Midwest Wheel Deploys Infor's Distribution SX.e for Truck Parts Distribution

Channel Factoid

Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, and administrative errors, rose in the U.S. from 1.28% of sales in 2013-2014 to 1.97% of sales during 2014-2015, according to the "Global Retail Theft Barometer." Seasonally, retailers said that 46% of their yearly losses occurred in winter, followed by autumn (24%), spring (18%), and summer (12%). Seems to follow layers of clothing! In terms of segments, apparel (2.28%), pharmacies/drugstores (2.25%), and non-grocery retailers (1.9%) witnessed the highest shrink rates. The most stolen items included footwear (for apparel), batteries (for home improvement), mobile device accessories (for electronics), wines and liquor (for food and beverage), and razor blades (for health and beauty). Overall, the study found U.S. retailers reduced their loss prevention spend to 0.50% of sales. The most common loss prevention store solutions included closed circuit television/direct video recording (83%), alarm monitoring (78%), and security guards (63%). The most common merchandise protection solutions deployed to prevent retail theft included electronic article surveillance (68%), spider wraps/security keepers (41%), and advanced inventory control tactics (27%). In terms of guilt, employee theft ranked first among problems (45%), with shoplifting next (36%).

HELLO GOODBYE

Ducks in Order at Heartland

Heartland Payment Systems (Princeton, NJ) has promoted Christopher Sebes from SVP to EVP, where he will oversee its point-of-sale-focused business unit, Heartland Commerce. Sebes was CEO of Xpient Solutions when it was acquired by Heartland Payment Systems in November 2014. Over the past two years, five leading retail and hospitality ISVs--Xpient, pcAmerica, Dinerware, Digital Dining, and LiquorPOS--have been gathered under the banner of Heartland Commerce. Both David Gosman, former CEO of pcAmerica, and Jeff Riley, former CEO of Dinerware, serve as SVP of Heartland Commerce.

In addition, industry veteran Jeremy Grunzweig has joined the payment processor as SVP for the Retail Division of Heartland Commerce. Grunzweig served as COO of the Retail Division of Micros Systems when it was purchased by Oracle in June 2014. Before his move to Heartland, his title was Regional VP of Sales for Oracle Retail.

"These are exciting and happy times for Heartland," exclaimed Robert Carr, Chairman and CEO. "The increased responsibilities Christopher has assumed and the addition of Jeremy further cement Heartland Commerce as a major player in this important sector of our ecosystem. We are bringing leading enterprise resource planning functionality to small and mid-sized businesses across the country and our continued growth plans are impressive."

Christopher Sebes, EVP, Heartland Commerce

ShopKeep Stocks Up

ShopKeep (New York City), one of the leading developers of iPad POS, has enlisted Michael DeSimone as its COO. With two dozen years of experience working in financial services and technology, DeSimone most recently served as CEO of e-commerce service provider, Borderfree (now part of Pitney Bowes). His hiring comes on the heels of two other additions to the company's executive team--John Baule as CFO and Andrew Gorrin as CMO--as momentum builds for an IPO.

"Over the past year, ShopKeep has grown exponentially and it's important for us to be strategic about how we continue to operate and scale the company," commented CEO and President, Norm Merritt. "Mike's extensive experience in operations, as well as his deep understanding of the market, will be incredibly important to us as we work to introduce new services that benefit our merchants. I am excited to work closely with Mike to chart ShopKeep's continued path forward, and further our mission of helping small businesses take back Main Street."

"Having grown up in my family's restaurant business, ShopKeep's approach of offering a simple cloud-based point-of-sale solution to independent merchants immediately resonated with me personally," shared DeSimone. "Looking ahead, I see a massive opportunity for ShopKeep to expand in both the range of services it provides and the number and type of merchants that can benefit from our platform. I'm looking forward to working with Norm and the other leaders to help the company reach its full growth potential in the most efficient way possible."

ShopKeep Leaders: Michael DeSimone, COO, and Norm Merritt, CEO/President