Barcoding News

1. Introduction

As a small and medium size business that fulfills and ships orders for customers, the “Picking  Process”, if it is not already, will consume more  resources than any other area of your fulfillment operation. Whether you know it or not, you do already have a picking process, even if it is just  the daily ritual of taking the day’s orders and  walking out into the garage to find the items you  need to ship.

The question is, are you going to be comfortable  using that process as you grow and have confidence that you will achieve the most important objective which impacts your customers – accuracy?

Will the process that works for you now with  thirty orders per day still make sense when you  have one hundred thirty orders per day? What  about a thousand? If you are banking on your  own business success in the future, then the answer to that question has to be “No”. Yes?

Now that you know that: 1. Picking is going to  be a huge part of your business in terms of resources and customer impact and 2. Your existing process isn’t going to cut it as you grow.  What are you going to do about it?

Continue reading to learn more about some of  your options and the benefits of being pro-active about constantly evolving tools, technology  and processes – your business depends on it!

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For today’s highly connected retail shopper, having access to the same range of information they experience online is more and more expected even during the brick and mortar shopping experience. Smartphones may provide simple product lookups and pricing but more store functions can be easily expanded on with the right in-store technology. Just as they find in an online experience, being able to search product data and previous purchase history is another way to further empower customer satisfaction.

Whether it’s pulling up more detailed product information, stock levels and locations, or being able to access a gift registry and coupons/promotional items, customers desire to have access to your retail store both physically and electronically.

Expanding the customer experience really comes down to providing the right tools to your customers. Zebra’s line of Interactive Kiosks and robust Wireless LAN are the perfect additions  to any retail environment to provide customers the ability get product information or find an associate at the exact moment they want one.
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Elo, a world leader in touchscreen and digital signage, is now partnering with a world leader in retail software solutions, Retail Pro! This partnership will bring two innovative and customer service focus companies to the forefront of the retail world.

Retail Pro’s robust POS software is installed in over 53,000 locations in 97 countries. They deliver local, accessible and professional support to any size organization and make it easy to grow your business. The same is true for Elo with over 20 million installations and 40 plus years’ experience they have seen it all! Solutions range from 10” mobile displays to 70” digital signage displays and many in between.

When pared together, Retail Pro software and Elo hardware are a powerful, customer-centric, and flexible Point-of -Sale solution to help you create an engaging customer experience and boost your bottom line.

Contact one of our POS specialists to learn how Elo and Retail Pro can improve retail efficiency for you.

Datalogic has announced a new addition to their popular QuickScan family of bar code readers – the QuickScan QBT2131 linear imager.

Linear bar codes still hold a relevant position in the data capture marketplace. The new cordless imager has an extra-wide field of view and extra-long scan line that enables the reading of long bar codes at closer distances. The sharp and highly visible scan line, coupled with the enhanced depth of field, ensures bar codes read at intuitive distances.

The QuickScan QBT2131 reader employs Bluetooth Wireless Technology allowing transmission of data to the host through its base station as well as to any commercial or embedded Bluetooth v3.0 device. This imager can also be connected to any tablet using either iOS or Android operating systems via the Bluetooth HID profile.

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When choosing a mobile computer or barcode scanner, one of the last things on anybody’s mind is what kind of battery I should buy with my device. Even worse, sellers fail to explain how the battery alone can save a company on time, money and productivity.

Research shows that companies lose at least 20 minutes of productivity every time a battery is changed mid-shift. Here’s an example of what device downtime can cost:

• 500 devices in operation
• 500 devices x 1 battery failure each = 500 mid-shift failures per day
• 500 mid-shift failures x 20 minutes each = 167 hours lost each day
• 167 hours/day x $9.00/hour = $1,503.00 per day
• $1,503.00 x 360 days = $541,080 PER YEAR in lost productivity

Don’t take chances with your batteries – IPT Productivity+ Series batteries run 15% – 20% longer and guarantee 100% compatibility with OEM devices including Symbol, Zebra, Motorola, Honeywell, Intermec, LXE, Datamax-O’Neil and Vocollect.

The ability to remotely manage a fleet of printers and their operations is a must have for many businesses. Printronix offers the PrintNet Enterprise solution to its customers free of charge with the purchase of a Printronix thermal printer.

PrintNet allows an entire fleet of printers to be configured to the exact specification for the most effective and efficient printing in the following ways:

• Organize, regulate and manage Printronix printers from a central location via LAN/WAN connectivity
• React to printer issues quickly with alerts sent to a specified email address or mobile device
• Apply remote front-panel lockout to specified printers which will eliminate unapproved users from making changes to the printers configuration
• Remotely set printer configurations, install firmware updates, and resource files to multiple printers all at one time

The capability to access any single printer or multiple printers remotely is a value added feature provided free of charge with Printronix thermal printers. Contact your knowledgeable Barcodes, Inc. sales representative for more information on how PrintNet can help manage your network of Printronix Printers.

TSC’s high-performance MX240 series printer has won the prestigious INDUSTRIEPREIS 2015 “Best of 2015” award in the category of Intralogistics & Production Management.

INDUSTRIEPREIS each year honors those companies supplying the marketplace with the the most innovative products and solutions. The awards are given in 14 categories, ranging from the automotive industry to component suppliers. A panel of independent experts that includes professors, scientists, industry experts and specialized journalists chooses the winners. Products and solutions are evaluated based on innovation, production readiness, benefits (e.g. increased profitability and efficiency), value, practicability, ease of implementation and other criteria.

“We are delighted to be honored with this prestigeous award,”” said Ladislav Sloup, General Manager of TSC EMEA. “This national German award is further evidence of the quality and performance of TSC‘s products.”

Most ID card printer manufacturers have their own software. Datacard’s TruCredential, Zebra’s ZMotif CardStudio, and Fargo’s Asure ID have various versions and levels of sophistication. All have general design capabilities, and then advance to allow for additional benefits including but not limited to centralized databases, visitor management, and network capabilities.  But are the various software choices only compatible with the same brand of printers? The answer is no.  The software mentioned above are compatible across brands. Your choice should depend on ease of use and features set.  Datacard’s new TruCredential has an extremely easy user-interface and allows you to design process flows for your typical ID needs.  The software, recently released, offers the best of multiple Datacard software (ID Works and TruPhoto).

Always feel free to consult an ID professional with any questions on what is the best software for you.

Datalogic has announced the launch of the newest additions to the world renowned Magellan family of in-counter scanners – the Magellan 9300i and Magellan 9400i scanner/scale with 100% full digital imaging capabilities.

The new scanners have digital imagers in all scanning planes to provide seamless reading of 1D and 2D codes without requiring item orientation by the cashier. Datalogic’s patented imaging technology  maximizes ergonomic comfort and throughput for both seated and standing cashiers. The Magellan 9400i is also available with support for Digimarc Barcode digital watermark reading to further enhance ergonomics and checkout speed.

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Honeywell offers the first in a series of next-generation mobile workforce solutions – the Dolphin 75e mobile computer, a sleek, intuitive, reliable and easy-to-use hand-held device that gives enterprises the flexibility to choose either the Windows Embedded 8.1 Handheld or Android 4.4 KitKat platforms. With a deep knowledge of discreet enterprise systems, Honeywell designed the Dolphin 75e to improve workflow performance and increase efficiency for companies around the globe.

Honeywell’s Dolphin 75e is powered by the leading-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, a 2.26-GHz quad-core processor with 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of FLASH, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and capacitive touch with universal glove usage capabilities. The device offers a variety of input and output modes for operations needing to deploy multiple applications easily to increase productivity. The Dolphin 75e device offers a superior user experience with a field-proven, pocket-sized design and easy-to-use interface that encourages fast and easy adoption with minimal training resources. Equipped with state-of-the-art battery technology and a durable IP67-rated design, the Dolphin 75e computer powers through a full shift and beyond.

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