Whether they are buying fried chicken in China or duty-free goods at Dubai International Airport, world travelers are likely to encounter products and technology by NCR Corp., which announced June 2 it is relocating its headquarters to the Atlanta suburb of Duluth and building a factory in Columbus, Ga.
NCR, now headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, operates in 100 countries, according to the company Web site. More than half the company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2009 was from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region, according to the NCR quarterly financial report.
NCR has many huge corporate clients such as Delta Air Lines Inc. and Home Depot Inc. but also some that are not as well known, such as Dicos Fried Chicken in China, which in 2006 purchased 500 electronic cash registers, called point of sale terminals, from NCR.
Last November, NCR’s SelfServ 25 automated teller machine was a winner in China’s Most Successful Designs awards program.
In 2007, Dubai Duty Free, a shop at the airport there, purchased items such as bar-code scanners and thermal receipt printers from NCR through its partner Emirates Computers.
Last year, Aero Mexico deployed 32 self-check-in kiosks from NCR at its new terminal in the Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City.
NCR has factories in Hungary, India and China. In announcing the headquarters relocation to Duluth, in Gwinnett County, and NCR’s decision to build an ATM factory in Columbus, Gov. Sonny Perdue cited Georgia’s “global access” as a key selling point
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest, Mr. Perdue pointed out. Georgia has 10 economic development offices across the globe, half a million foreign-born residents and more than 100 consulates, international trade offices and bi-national chambers of commerce, Mr. Perdue noted.
“You couldn’t slap this smile off my face today,” the governor said when announcing the NCR decision, which will result in more than 2,000 new jobs for Georgia amid a deep economic recession. “This is great news even in the greatest of economic times.”
NCR CEO Bill Nuti cited Georgia’s skilled work force, Hartsfield-Jackson airport, state tax incentives and the Georgia Institute of Technology as reasons for relocating here after 125 years in Dayton.
“The relationship with Georgia Tech is going to be critical for us going forward,” he said. “We are a technology company.”
Peter Dorsman, NCR chief operations officer, also singled out Georgia Tech, specifically its supply chain management program, as a factor in the decision.
Although NCR has factories abroad, the Columbus plant, which will eventually employ more than 800 people, shows the company’s commitment to manufacturing in the U.S. said Mr. Nuti. “We’re all about helping to create the next industrial revolution,” he said.
NCR last year relocated 300 jobs to Duluth and announced plans for the Global Center for Excellence in Peachtree City, a customer service center that will produce 916 jobs over 26 months.
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