“Parking Tickets Are Little Works of Art“
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>> BACK GROUND Photos (2): Stefan Weich Stefan (2): Photos Philipp Halbach (left), Managing Director Fleischhauer Datenträger, in conversation with Marko Ruh, Chief Editor of Parking Trend. Interview with Philipp Halbach, Fleischhauer Datenträger GmbH “Parking tickets are little works of art“ The Fleischhauer Datenträger GmbH What milestones have shaped your compa- era of automated parking systems began at celebrates its 150th anniversary this ny history? the end of the 1960s. year. In an interview with Parking trend Over the decades, many technological as international, Managing Director well as market-related changes have taken So you have always been open to new tech- Philipp Halbach traces the company’s place. Newspaper printing was the first fo- nologies? rich history and takes a look at the cus of the company’s activities. Later, an- This is a survival issue for us in rapidly other milestone was the production of changing markets. We also feel the pressure present and future of the specialist for punched cards, the first machine-readable to change very strongly, but by no means tickets, cards and RFID products. medium. The company name ‘Fleischhauer have it exclusive with our industry environ- Datenträger’ has remained the name of the ment. Just look at how much automotive game to this day because our current tickets, companies are currently changing, just to Mr Halbach, 150 years is a proud number, cards and RFID products for access systems give an example. Of course, over the long how did it all begin? are also modern media . They transport in- distance of 150 years, but also over the past The beginnings of our company are those of formation. decades and years, we have had to critically a newspaper printing plant. Fleischhauer review how sustainable our business model started in 1869 as a printer and publisher for How did the punch card get you into the and our product focuses are in relation to the Wattenscheider Anzeiger. The original parking industry? market developments of the coming years. location of the company was Bochum-Wat- Perforated cards were a medium from the tenscheid. By the way, many of our employ- very early computer age. At that time it was How do you celebrate your company anni- ees still come from Wattenscheid today. The the core business of Fleischhauer. A little versary? connections to the roots of our company later the magnetic accounts followed, which We try to bring it to life for our customers. We have thus remained so to speak. developed very strongly in the 1960s. The used the PARKEN in Wiesbaden for this pur- 38 Parking trend international no. 4-2019 BACK GROUND << pose. We would also like to infect our custom- at the machine. So it’s also a question of user sustainability, also in the area of energy effi- ers worldwide. However, the jubilee is no rea- preferences. Parking garage operators, who ciency of manufacturing processes. As we are son to relax and just enjoy the past, but it is an take this into consideration, will have differ- constantly subject to audits, we ensure that we incentive and aspiration for us to continue the ent technologies available. have an external view of the organisation. story successfully and to retain the necessary adaptability and willingness to change. Which international preferences do you What are the specific characteristics of the observe? product? How do you see yourself positioned at the There are quite big differences in mentality. Parking tickets can be little works of art to- moment, in times of digital disruptions? Cash culture and data protection are impor- day. In principle, we can produce tickets with The age of paper ticket applications seems to tant aspects, but also technical questions of an endless number of different layouts, de- be coming to an end in the course of digi- system networking. The rate of change is pending on the customer’s requirements. For talization. The reality today, however, is a therefore very different in different markets. example, we can individualize individual different one if you look at the availability of We serve customers in 60 countries world- tickets in a cassette in order to link them to digital applications in the parking Market. wide with parking tickets. This gives us a refund systems or competitions, for example. The potential successor technologies for relatively good view of the developments in parking tickets were not invented in the last various regions and of the opportunities Is this a novelty? six months. And that’s why there are empiri- with our products. This variability and quality would be incon- cal values on the significance of these in re- ceivable without state-of-the-art printing lation to ticket-based access systems. Also through special know-how? and processing methods. Whenever indi- The parking ticket is often an underrated viduality and special printing requirements Your evaluation? product. If it were a trivial product, we would are required, we have the corresponding We’re seeing some change in the market not be able to market it successfully outside possibilities. right now. System operators are opening up our home market. From this alone it can al- to new technologies without awarding this ready be deduced that you are dealing with a What about the RFID media you produce? healing quality. I believe that in the coming high degree of specialization. This includes, We manufacture RFID products in the form years it can be assumed that ticket-based among other things, a particularly deep of chip cards, but also as flexible RFID me- and ticketless access systems will increas- knowledge of the system requirements, which dia such as e-tickets, which are used as tick- ingly be used in parallel. Last but not least, are at the same time very heterogeneous. The ets in passenger transport or as admission acceptance by parking customers will then technological competence has developed in tickets. In the parking sector, RFID plays an decide on the further significance of the close partnership with the equipment manu- important role, especially in long-term various technologies. facturers. Our specialization in the processing parking applications. Inside the card there is of thermal paper also allows us to cope with a transponder consisting of a chip and an So you’re not afraid of digitization? the different climatic conditions at the place of antenna. Long-term parking cards are the We don’t want to be the paper ticket’s hymn use of our products and to support the device standard medium for a contactless access to singing in the hope that things will stay the manufacturers in the further development of the parking garage. With these RFID appli- way they were. We realistically assume that their parking applications. cations over the years there have been many other technologies will be used more and developmental steps in close cooperation more. Everything else would be a somewhat What is the significance of quality manage- with equipment manufacturers. Currently, naive notion. ment? you can see efforts in the market, to create For many years now, certifications have been interoperability between systems of differ- Do you therefore believe that parking ga- our benchmark for standardizing our pro- ent manufacturers, and to create media that rage operators should drive on several cesses with regard to quality, environment and functions system-neutral. This is especially tracks? important for large car park operators. This We hear from our customers that they do is important for operators who use different not expect a broad change to ‘ticketless’ in systems. With such hybrid cards several the short term. At the same time, however, chip types are accommodated in one card, experience is gained as to how parkers deal which ensures compatibility with various with the technologies. In Germany, data enabling infrastructures. protection law is also playing a role. If you want to remain anonymous and do not want Is this worth the effort? to leave a digital footprint in the future, you There is already a certain contradiction be- will be better off with a ticket and cash at the tween the conscious technological competi- Modern printing processes enable pay station than if your number plate is reg- high-quality and individually printed tion of systems on the supplier side and the istered at the entrance or if you pay cashless parking tickets. desire for the most homogeneous handling > Parking trend international no. 4-2019 39 >> BACK GROUND possible on the customer side. But this is a contemporary requirement, and I believe 150th anniversary that this has long been clear to equipment manufacturers. of Fleischhauer Datenträger And where will you be in 25 years? From its founding in 1869 to today, Fleischhauer has been dealing with print media. Today I cannot say with certainty what sig- In the first decades of its history, as a newspaper printer in Wattenscheid, the infor- nificance parking tickets, parking cards and mation medium of that time was produced. Later was the company from the Ruhr parking ticket rolls have for our company in 25 years in relation to other product issues. area was one of the first in Europe, which dealt with the production of punched To date, we see good development opportu- cards, the first machine-readable media. According to own data Fleischhauer was nities in these product areas by further ex- the first producer for tickets and park tickets with magnetic stripes at all. These were panding them worldwide. The indirect an- invented in cooperation with device manufacturers. To date, the company has been swer to this question is that we trust in the adaptability of our company. In addition, we developing and producing ticketing and identification technologies.