Switzerland-headquartered Markem-Imaje makes industrial marking and coding systems. The firm is a subsidiary of Dover Corporation, which also owns MS Printing Solutions, Caldera Software, Kiian Digital, and J-Teck.

Blue Bite is headquartered in New York and has worked with a number of well-known brands, including Adidas, Redken, Bvlgari and Moët Hennessy.

Its “easy-to-use consumer engagement software tools" enable brands to create custom consumer digital experiences through mobile phones.

Applications include product authentication and traceability, “brand storytelling” and product commerce, which uses products as a new sales channel.

Blue Bite described how the latter option worked: “Consumers scan a connecting technology (like QR or NFC) on the product with their phone, launching an item-specific, dynamic digital experience that encourages reorders, related purchases, resell opportunities and even peer-to-peer selling.”

Vincent Vanderpoel, CEO of Markem-Imaje said he was excited about the potential for Blue Bite within the wider business, which includes Systech software, acquired last year.

He said that the intention was to expand the technology beyond Blue Bite’s established market.

“Additionally, we see an exciting opportunity to adapt Blue Bite solutions to industrial applications and plan to collaborate with other Dover operating companies on this initiative,” Vanderpoel stated.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Blue Bite was established in 2007 and has 26 employees.

Markem-Imaje has 3,000 employees and offices around the world.

Separately, Markem-Imaje has boosted its UK team with the appointment of Grant Walker as account manager for the Midlands. Walker has worked in the industry for more than 40 years, and was most recently key account manager at Kodak, where he worked for 14 years.