Ecuador uses Zebra Printers to create secure driver’s licenses, national ID cards for citizens
29 June, 2006
category: Government
Ecuador has chosen the Zebra P640i, a dual-sided color printer with a built-in laminator, to create driver’s licenses that also are used as national ID cards for the country’s 13.5 million citizens.
96 Printers to be Located at Government Offices throughout the Country
Ecuador, located in the rugged Andean highlands on the west coast of South America, has a population of about 13.5 million people in an area the size of the U.S. state of Nevada. Ecuador uses driver’s licenses as its national identification card. The cards are a vital form of identification for citizens at home and are also used when driving in other countries such as Spain or the United States.
The government of Ecuador recently purchased 14 Zebra P640i printers to create the driver’s licenses after a three-month halt in its card program. The P640i is a dual-sided color card printer with a built-in, dual-sided laminator that meets the needs of companies and government agencies requiring long-lasting, tamper-resistant ID cards for secure applications. With the lowest consumables cost per card in the industry, the P640i is both efficient and affordable.
The printers that Ecuador had been using were made by another company and had worn out so the country recently sought new printers.
DefenCorp of Guayaquil, Ecuador is now contracted to provide the country with a total of 96 printers that will be installed in Quito and several other cities.
“The Zebra P640i printers were installed and used by the Ecuadorian government immediately after shipment,” reports Cesar Hernandez, the Zebra Card Printers Latin America Sales Engineer. “The first unit printed an amazing 900 drivers’ licenses the very first day with 0% error out of the box, validating Zebra’s reputation for providing the highest quality products for critical applications.
“Both the Ecuadorian government and our partner, DefenCorp, are extremely satisfied with the Zebra cards and very happy with our printers,” Hernandez adds.
The printer installation made the nightly news on several channels in Ecuador, with Ecuadorians expressing relief that drivers’ licenses were being printed once again.
The Zebra P640i
The Zebra P640i provides high security, reliability, ease of use, superior print quality and a low cost per card. With the lowest consumables cost per card in the industry, the P640i is both efficient and affordable for applications ranging from drivers’ licenses and national ID cards to highly-secure employee ID cards for airports, law enforcement and secure government and corporate sites. The P640i prints full color cards and applies a 1.0-mil laminate to both sides of the card simultaneously, creating tamper-resistant cards that last five years or more. With a print speed of 120 cards per hour, its unique card transport mechanism has the capability to micro-step the card during the printing process for excellent color registration, superior print quality and the ability to print very small text that makes printed cards even more difficult to duplicate.
