Barcoding News

Barcoding and crimefighting seem to go hand in hand. We’ve already seen how a handheld barcode scanner was used to fight off a convenience store robber.

Now comes a story from the UK how a burglar was traced by the barcode label that fell off his chisel.

Thief Roy Watson nearly made a perfect getaway after smashing through the wall of an electrical store to steal £33,000.

But the 38-year-old left behind a barcode from a chisel he used during the break-in.

The inch-long scrap of paper was traced to a Wickes DIY store. Officers trawled CCTV footage and saw Watson buying the tool hours before the burglary.

The crook admitted the crime and has been jailed for two and a half years.

Source: Barcode foils burglar: Thief traced after label fell off his chisel

MSC Home Terminal, the largest container terminal in the port of Antwerp, is a 50/50 joint venture between PSA (Port of Singapore Authorities) and MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company). Located at the Delwaide dock in Antwerp, it is the most important North European hub for MSC. The terminal’s vital statistics are impressive: a total surface area of 1.6 million m², a quay length extending to almost 3 km, and a total capacity of around 4.3 million TEU. It operates 24/7.

Not surprisingly, MSC Home Terminal is equipped with state-of-the-art handling equipment and controlled by high-performance IT applications. A wireless network was recently implemented. MSC Home Terminal decided to replace the aging narrow band system with a modern Wi-Fi 2.4 and 5 GHz network. At the same time the technical department wanted to launch a proactive maintenance system which would enable maintenance messages to be monitored and eventually sent to the straddle carriers. The messages would inform the drivers to bring their straddle carrier in for a service check. Various selection criteria were drawn up for the vehicle-mounted computers. At the top of the list was undoubtedly the ruggedness of the devices, closely followed by the readability and ergonomics of the screens. All teams of MSC Home Terminal were involved in the selection process, from management to dock workers.

A short list of three suppliers was drawn up and their devices were thoroughly tested by users for ruggedness in a tough industrial environment, ergonomics and screen readability. In addition, the technical department and the IT department looked closely at the technical specifications to ensure the selected device had all the necessary features for end-to-end monitoring of the straddle carriers. Finally, the decision was made for LXE’s VX9 Förj vehicle-mount computers. These are rugged, Windows XP-based mobile PCs with 12.1” touch screen display. Around 120 LXE VX9 Förj computers will be installed on straddle carriers at MSC Home Terminal. The Förj is implemented as a FAT client allowing it to communicate with an independent PLC and the TOS.

Zebra Performance class card printers are built to deliver reliability and performance for high-volume card production. Now the most popular of Zebra’s card printers—the P330i, P330m and P430i—offer more features and better performance to provide best-in-class card printers. The following enhancements will be implemented via the new firmware and driver (except where noted):

• Improved data download efficiency with USB connectivity, which increases the overall throughput 10-15 percent when printing with full color ribbons.
• Up to 50 percent faster encoding speeds for Smart Card contact and MIFARE contactless options. (Speed will vary based on conditions.)
• Microsoft certified drivers: Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit), and Windows Vista (64 bit). (Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, XP, and Vista (32 bit) are currently supported.)
• Increased standard memory to 20 MB. (hardware upgrade)

The enhancements noted above will be available via the updated firmware and driver shown in the chart below.

Take advantage of these enhancements immediately by downloading the firmware and driver.

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New technology changed Wet Seal’s price markdown and receiving processes from a nightmare to a dream

New technology changed Wet Seal’s price markdown and receiving processes from a nightmare to a dream. Ron Hunt, Senior Manager of Operations for Wet Seal, a specialty retailer with approximately 400 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, explained how his company reallocated labor hours being wasted on price markdowns and reduced shrinkage with help from the Datalogic Falcon® 4400 mobile computer.

Before, “We used old scanners. Training was difficult … a nightmare,” he said. “This is a dream … You never have to reprogram it.”

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Motorola is pushing the boundaries of wearable mobile computers:

The headset is a prototype hands-free terminal for use in construction or other tough environments where the user has his hands busy, but still needs a computer. Designed to fit under a construction helmet, the Golden-i puts a tiny screen up close to the eye which gives the equivalent of a 15-inch display, and also has a headphone, a microphone along with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi for talking to other devices.

The headset is voice-controlled, and I tried it out. Once you have adjusted the eyepiece for your eyesight, you simply read off the names of the icons to access them: My Music, My Pictures and so on. The voice detection software, supplied by Nuance and called VoCon3200, ignores normal conversation, only listening to commands when there is a gap first, so you can say “my pictures” as part of sentence and it will be ignored.

Source Motorola Golden-i, Virtual Display for Outdoor Types

The Datalogic Memor mobile computer maximizes a compact, light weight form factor for shirt pocket convenience without compromising durability.

This video shows how it can be used for field force automation.

Prepare. To. Be. Rocked.

Multi-purpose desktop printers at affordable prices with SATO’s dependable performance and renowned durability

SATO, a pioneer in the Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) industry and a leader in barcode printing, labeling, and EPC/RFID solutions, announced today the introduction of its new, CG Series of compact, multi-purpose desktop printers.

Ideal for on-demand, low to mid-range volume label or wristband printing applications such as retail shelf and product labeling to layaway and price markdown printing, as well as healthcare wristband printing and office shipping labels, compliance labeling, product identification labels and/or tags, and much more.

The CG Series direct thermal and thermal transfer versions with emulation available are a perfect fit for a variety of applications in healthcare, retail, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, office administration, education and libraries, hospitality, travel and leisure and any other industry where a small footprint combined with value pricing and dependability are a must.

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DS6878-HC cordless bar code scanner inhibits the spread of germs, extends mobility and provides real-time information at the point of care

Motorola announced its newest advanced data capture solution for healthcare – the DS6878-HC cordless 2D imager. The DS6878-HC imager extends the access of critical information to the patient’s bedside, the nurse’s station, operating room and beyond with the highest levels of reliability and performance. Specifically designed to withstand the rigors of everyday use in demanding healthcare environments, the DS6878-HC helps to prevent medical errors, improve patient safety and increase caregiver productivity by providing real-time and convenient access to information.

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Citizen Systems America Corporation, a supplier of world-class printing solutions, expanded its portfolio of Next Best Printing Solutions with the introduction of the CL-S700DT barcode/label printer, the CT-S851 front exit receipt printer and the CT-S601 value receipt printer. All of these new products are backwards compatible with previous Citizen models and fully plug and play with current competitor’s models.

“Investing in new products, in these economic times, is more important than ever” says Oscar Ibarra, Executive Vice President.” Our commitment to R&D and to our customers and partners is stronger than ever. We will continue to deliver the Next Best Printing Solutions throughout the world by offering the best value in their category – richer feature sets, cutting edge functionality and better pricing with the same high quality and reliability that all customers have come to know and expect from the Citizen Brand.”

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Star Micronics announced that multiple models from its point of sale printer line, have achieved certification for Sharp Point of Sale terminals. As a result, of the certification, Star Micronics is an officially endorsed hardware partner of Sharp USA.

“Star Micronics is honored to announce printer certification from an industry-leading technology supplier like Sharp,” said Michael Hanson, Vice President, Star Micronics America, Inc. “By certifying a variety of Star’s printers, Sharp POS terminal users are guaranteed a first-class, dependable and efficient receipt transaction process; regardless of whether it is a hospitality or retail application, independent operation or a national chain.”

“Sharp is continuously acting to provide the best accessories and peripherals for our customers,” said Greg Tucker, Product Planning Manager for the Sharp Pont of Sales division. “We do this by working with the most innovative companies within each category. We are very pleased to work with a company like Star Micronics who excels in their field.”

Star’s SP700 impact printer and the TSP650 thermal printer have both been certified with Sharp’s UP-3500 and UP-800 terminals. The SP700 is Star’s kitchen printer offering, while the TSP650 is most often utilized at point of service. The impact, SP298 has also been certified with the UP-800.