Intermec introduces the first tag motion software toolkit in a standardized reporting format. Intermec Advanced RFID Extensions (ARX) effectively identifies RFID tags of interest and discriminates surrounding tags, providing customers and software integrators the tools to essentially eliminate false-positive reporting of tags.

Getting the Most out of RFID

RFID provides business benefits and a strong ROI for many applications including asset tracking, materials management, and inventory control. Many processes for identifying objects and recording their movements can be automated by RFID. Unattended readers ensure that asset and inventory movements are recorded and alerts issued if the material is moved to the wrong place or at the wrong time. With a well designed RFID system you know all the intimate details of where everything is, where it’s been and where it needs to go. By making your systems smarter, you will be able to:

• Realize huge improvements in asset and inventory visibility
• Resolve problems right when they occur
• Reduce capital and operations expenses
• Increase flexibility of your data collection systems
• Achieve new levels of productivity

RFID automated processes rely on the accuracy of reading the right tags: those that pass through a portal, are on a forklift, or are passing by a checkpoint on a conveyor. Because an RFID reader indiscriminately reads all of the tags that it activates, the presence of stray tags, such as those that pass through a nearby portal or are stationary on nearby racks or pallets, complicates the identification of the true tags of interest versus those that are not part of the process in action.

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Industry Need

With increasing pressure on budgets, police and municipal operations are driven to increase productivity and revenues; citation programs pose a common target due to the high-touch environment. Adoption of e-citation among public safety agencies is rapidly increasing due to a quick ROI driven by increased accuracy, legibility (yielding decreased dismissals) and reduced or eliminated manual data entry. However, the ticketing environment has significant performance challenges. Hardware components such as computers or printers as well as citation media must often operate in punishing environments.

The two common E-citation applications have significantly different media requirements.

For parking and local ordinance violations, the citation must endure challenging service conditions. Vehicles are commonly unoccupied, requiring the parking enforcement agent to secure the ticket to the vehicle, often under a windshield wiper. These tickets are directly exposed to rain, snow, wind, and sunlight, conditions which can rapidly degrade common materials. Quick completion is a priority for efficiency; when agents encounter owners returning to a citation in progress, rapid execution is critical.

The time required to issue a citation is also important for moving violations. Drivers commonly complain about the time consumed when being cited. Additionally, exposure to moving traffic poses a safety hazard to both parked vehicles and officers, making rapid citation processing a top priority. While print quality requirements remain high, durability needs are lower since the printed citation is delivered directly from the officer to the driver.

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Industry Need

Ensuring employee safety is a foundational focus of any world-class industrial operation. Fully functional equipment has well-documented procedures and robust safeguards in place to eliminate hazardous conditions. However, during installation and maintenance, significant additional risks such as exposed sources of electricity, mechanical force, or pneumatic/hydraulic pressure are encountered. These risks are mitigated by a well defined set of lockout/tagout policies. As a frequently cited OSHA violation in 2009, the importance of compliant and effective procedures to fully de-energize and communicate equipment status is underscored. Selecting the optimal printers and media to support lockout/tagout helps ensure success of this critical process.

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Industry Need

Modern life sciences commonly require long term preservation of biological material; cryogenic processing and storage provides a means to this end. With a large quantity of small samples in storage, accurate tracking is critical. Barcoded labels (with linear or 2D symbols) are the preferred method, but the extreme environmental stresses can cause failure with standard media.

Cryogenic conditions have become commonplace in multiple applications, ranging from pharmaceutical processing to lyophilization of vaccines. Cryopreservation of tissues and cell suspensions in small vials provides its own set of challenges, requiring conformability to small diameter surfaces and adhesion to low surface energy plastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene. Increasingly common cryogenic shipping of vaccines, tissues, and medicines in liquid nitrogen with temperatures as low as -112°F /-80°C now subjects a greater range of barcoded items to these stresses.

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Application Description

In 2008, the USDA Country of Origin requirements expanded in scope. By March 31, 2009, food manufacturers and distributors need to clearly identify national origin for many products and provide corresponding recordkeeping documents with each shipment. Mishaps in this process can cost time, money, and even valued customers. Users can now streamline, error-proof, and cost reduce this process with Intermec’s Country of Origin Labeling solution.

The Challenge

Meeting the Country of Origin requirement commonly requires multiple steps: A thermal printer images the national origin information on a shipping label, meeting the identification portion of the standard. A separate printer, typically dot matrix or laser, creates the packing slip to meet recordkeeping requirements; this slip is usually folded multiple times and inserted into a packing slip sleeve. Finally, this sleeve is manually matched to the corresponding carton (introducing potential for error) and adhered for shipment.

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Industry Need

Labels are commonly used to convey important information about the products they mark. However, an important element of labeling has become more prevalent: concealing inaccurate or out-of-date information previously in place. These kinds of labels can clearly communicate changed pricing without drawing customer attention, or may enable use of re-tasked or inaccurate packaging. Intermec’s specially designed Duratran and Duratherm Block Out labels provide this important function, reducing costs and improving efficiency.

• • Retail/Price Markdowns – When retail items need to be price-adjusted or product information must be modified, relabeling with a material that obscures the original information saves time and maintains the integrity of the original packaging.

• • Pharmacy/Unit Level Dose – On prescription items, labels are commonly applied over original packaging for distribution to the customer/patient. It is often important that the original printing does not show through. For reliable retail barcode scanning, it is critical to eliminate interference from underlying codes.

• • Warehouse/Logistics – In shipping and receiving operations, labels are sometimes applied to materials that frequently go through multiple use cycles. Shipping containers arriving in a facility can be reused to send materials to another facility by applying a new label over the existing label on the container. Previous information must not be visible through the newly applied label, especially in automated handling systems where it could interfere with routing of the container or carton.

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A Strategic Solution for Law Enforcement Evidence Management

BarcodesInc offers an integrated enterprise mobility solution for governmental agencies evidence management environments. Barcodes Inc’s evidence Tracking With Information Solutions Technologies, or eTWIST, is a Windows Mobile based software, designed for the unobtrusive tracking of evidence. Our Evidence Tracking Software is perfect for law enforcement, military or private enterprise applications requiring the ability to facilitate Chain of Custody and “Protect the Truth”.

Our Evidence Tracking Software relieves resource-intensive tasks, improves accuracy and optimizes time. Using this technology for processing and collecting criminal evidence can enhance case clearance rates and potentially reduce crime rates. Many police officers are confined to a desk repeatedly entering data into back-end reporting systems or on paper, instead of out patrolling the streets. The average police agency receives about 100 cases per week; about 25 of those cases require evidence tracking, taking officers on average 2 hours to input the evidence information into back-end systems or to handwrite reports. Resulting in 50 man-hours each week, or one police officer per year, spent in front of a computer screen entering in repetitive data, often multiple times.

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Industry Need

With nearly 5 million Americans requiring blood transfusions annually, there is a tremendous need for blood products to supply these important therapies. Blood banks and collection centers require robust labels to reliably track blood from the donor to the final recipient; these labels need to survive multiple processing, testing, and storage steps through challenging environmental conditions. Intermec’s blood bag labeling product set enables durable, positive tracking of these critical components.

Bar coded blood bag labels enable the high degree of accuracy required for successful transfusion therapy. Clearly identified blood typing prevents serious complications that could result from donor type incompatibility. Different blood components and storage conditions yield varying shelf life; clear expiration date identification guarantees patients receive only safe, effective products. Formats configured in compliance with ISBT-128 standards provide interoperability with multiple collection centers, processing locations, and hospital systems.

In order for essential data to follow the contents of the blood bag, labels must endure a series of challenging conditions. Labels must maintain a strong bond to the flexible blood bag during centrifugation while whole blood is separated into components. Labels must remain positively attached during standard or cryogenic freezing (plasma and some red cells), refrigeration (red cells), or continuous shaking at room temperature (platelets). The bond must then be maintained during warming, which often includes immersion in a water bath.

Beyond the physical performance needs, blood bag labels must also meet regulatory requirements. The United States Food and Drug Administration mandates compliance with 21 CFR175.105 to increase safety should components of the adhesive migrate through the plastic into the blood bag.

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Question

I would like to start up an inventory business here in my country. I am looking at importing 4 hand held inventory machines that will enable us to carry-out inventory effectively.

I wouldn’t mind if I can get help in seeing how the hand held inventory machine works with RedBeam software.

Answer

RedBeam Inventory Tracking software with a Unitech PA500 can make a great entry level inventory system.

Contact us to find out exactly what software version and mobile computer would suit your specific needs.

We’ve put together a page of QuickBooks compatible hardware to make it easy to find products that will work with your system.

The page includes QuickBooks barcode scanners, QuickBooks receipt printers and more.