Zebra Technologies and Merck collaborate to create safety and traceability solutions for AI | 23-04-2025 |

Zebra Technologies Corporation an AIPIA member experts in digitising and automating frontline workflows and fellow member Merck KGaA, a leading science and technology company, today announced a new collaboration aimed at co-creating solutions to address challenges around product verification, authenticity, and trust. Through this collaboration, M-Trust™ will be the first cyber-physical trust platform with a mobile computer scanning solution for addressing the growing issues of product safety, traceability and counterfeiting, the companies say.

The collaboration combines data, identity capture and Web 3.0 crypto technologies to enhance product safety, traceability, and data integrity for AI systems. Cyber-physical trust platform M-Trust™ from Merck will integrate Zebra’s TC58 mobile computer capabilities with its own patented authentication technologies The Web 3.0 crypto and mobile computing technologies address growing issues of product safety, traceability and counterfeiting and business need for high quality, trusted data for AI systems, they believe.

With Zebra’s portfolio and experience in mobile computing, asset visibility and identity capture solutions combined with Merck’s patented authentication technologies, the collaboration is designed to create unprecedented levels of security, accuracy and trust in manufacturing value chains, the partners claim. This collaboration will also offer organisations high quality data for training and testing AI models, enhancing analytics capabilities as AI solutions are operationalised.

“By combining our expertise in identification and authentication, both companies will deliver essential solutions for reliable data access across value chains. This integration builds trust in AI systems regarding data authenticity and origin,” said Thomas Endress, head of M-Trust™, Merck. 

The first outcome of the collaboration will be a new handheld reader that works with the M-Trust™ platform. Launched in January this year, the platform enables organisations to ensure product quality and authenticity across their value chains by immutably linking the physical and digital worlds, creating secure digital twins, it says. The platform is designed to adapt to evolving technologies and regulatory requirements, such as the EU Digital Product Passport.

This newly created prototype of the handheld reader device consists of a mobile scanner built on Zebra’s TC58 mobile computer and Merck’s security-pigment detector, the SEC-Reader to scan products and share data with the platform via wi-fi 6E or 5G for verification. This all-in-one solution allows customers to verify products without switching devices and includes features for frontline communication, such as two-way radio, a 16 MP camera, and a 1D/2D barcode scanner.

“We are proud to work with Merck on this important initiative which gives manufacturers and their frontline workers a unique solution to intelligently automate essential verifications in their manufacturing and supply chain operations and greater visibility of assets and inventory,” said James Poulton, Senior VP and general manager, enterprise mobile computing, Zebra Technologies. “Together, we can support customers with connected factories and supply chains.” 

ALL THIS AT AIPIA CONGRESS 2025 AMSTERDAM