Barcoding News

ControlDesign.com has an exclusive preview of Microscan‘s upcoming QX Hawk designed for high performance direct park mark reading.

Selection of a proper code reader is critical to a track-and-trace system’s successful implementation. Microscan says its new QX Hawk is the first high-performance reader with the flexibility to read any mark at any distance and speed in any environment.

Continue reading: Microscan’s QX Hawk Code Reader Simplifies Track-and-Trace Implementation

Microscan will be introducing the QX HAWK, at the Assembly Technology Expo in Chicago on September 21-22, 2009.

Challenge:
A leading Grand Rapids, Michigan-based manufacturer of household cleaning machinery relied on a seven-person staff of full-time employees to manually enter hand-written inventory data. Every part placed into the warehouse and every finished product sent to the shipping dock was recorded on a transfer ticket and later entered into the company’s antiquated warehouse management system. In the hustle of this fast-paced consumer goods manufacturing environment, errors were common and the employees were spending more time entering data than moving product. The system was so inefficient and inaccurate, the company was forced to use three full-time dedicated counters to ensure that inventory levels were sufficient to meet production schedules.

To make the situation worse, the company did not record the locations of parts and finished products, causing pickers to waste time searching for goods in the warehouse.

“One person, the forklift driver, stocked supplies and finished goods within the warehouse,” said a manufacturing systems analyst. “If he was off for a day or on vacation, the entire system suffered because there was no physical or electronic record indicating where he put the stock.”

Solution:
To synchronize the warehousing operations with the rest of the manufacturing operations, the company implemented a home-grown wireless network that incorporated a supply chain management solution with a data capture system. The system relies on bar coded labels and tags, printed on
Zebra® printers, to track the movement of goods into and out of the warehouse.

Continue reading »

Challenge:
Autotote, the nation’s leading supplier of pari-mutuel wagering systems to horse track, dog track, and off-track betting parlors, wanted to find a way to bring the betting window to its customers.

Solution:
A “walkabout” system was developed as an add-on to the existing teller network. Information sent from a handheld is read by the Tote network and sent back to the handheld.

Continue reading »

Challenge:
Bergen Brunswig, based in Orange, California, is the third-largest wholesale distributor of pharmaceutical and medical supplies in the United States. The distributor needed shipping software that could fit the needs of its new direct-to-consumer fulfillment service to various on-line drug stores, run on the company’s AS/400, and be easily integrated with its primary distribution system, ASW by IBS. The company also needed to integrate electronic scales and bar code printers to allow for package labeling and tracking.

Solution:
Bergen Brunswig met its Internet Fulfillment Center’s shipping system requirements through Pfastship-2000 software, produced and installed by Pfastship Worldwide Logistics Inc., an IBM Business Partner. The software integrates seamlessly with the IBS system, electronic scales, and thermal, on-demand barcode printers from Zebra Technologies.

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Chances are, you’re familiar with consumer GPS navigation systems built into many new vehicles at the factory—and widely available in the aftermarket. Such systems offer capabilities beyond basic navigation, which often include points of interest, real-time traffic reports, and speed-limit notification—just what you might want for a business trip or a family vacation. However, when GPS technology is built into mobile computers, it can offer the same familiar navigation, configured to meet business requirements—plus support additional productivity-enhancing applications.

What you’ll learn

• How GPS works.
• Specific uses for GPS to enhance transportation, logistics and field service operations.
• How GPS can operate in synergy with other technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency for mobile operations.
• Industrial mobile computer attributes critical to matching the requirements of GPS applications.

Continue reading »

Challenge:
After a Michigan-based automotive plastics manufacturing company grew by more than 300 percent in just three years, the manufacturer suddenly found itself saddled with 23 different locations, each with different systems, hardware, and processes.

“It couldn’t go on,” said a company product manager. “Developing reports was a nightmare. Identifying efficient manufacturing facilities from inefficient ones was nearly impossible. There were times when one of our factories was buried with work while others were sitting well under capacity.”

Solution:
To bring all of its locations onto a single system, the company implemented a robust enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that could manage production on a companywide basis. Then they integrated a data capture system—anchored by Zebra® printers—to manage the flow of data in and out of the system.

Continue reading »

Challenge:
This 25 year-old Florida-based specialty metals supplier needed a better way to respond to requests for urgent shipments from airline customers without compromising accuracy.

Solution:
The company implemented a bar code labeling system to mark shipments appropriately for their customers’ receipt. “We used to hand-write all the destination information on the materials, which was very time consuming,” says the MIS director. “Now, with bar coding, we quickly print labels as needed and are able to locate all shipments at all times. This is a necessity when we have an AOG status (airplane on the ground), which needs parts immediately.”

Products:
Zebra® S Series™ industrial printer and specialty labels. An industrial printer from Zebra generates labels from eight computer terminals linked to UNIX-based PICK software on the company’s Data General mainframe. Sales people within the office take the orders and assign an order number within the system. Operators within the warehouse pull up the orders on the terminals and decide what materials need to be picked from inventory and how they should be bundled. Long tables, with Interleaved 2 of 5 bar codes marked at every inch, allow the workers to measure the aerospace-grade metal and tally the amount needed for the order.

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VersaKey Programmable Keyboard is versatile and flexible in an ever-changing POS environment

ID TECH, the leading manufacturer in custom and standard POS peripherals, has extended its VersaKey product line to provide a programmable function keyboard for POS systems. After a successful launch of the VersaKey keyboards with magnetic swipe readers in 2006, ID TECH is now offering a more flexible and versatile keyboard for its customers.

The VersaKey Programmable Keyboard is a plug-and-play peripheral device that is derived from the same core technologies found in ID TECH’s top selling magnetic stripe reader, the MiniMag. By using the included KeyUtility software, also developed by ID TECH, users can customize up to 60 programmable keys, allowing for fewer keystrokes and greater efficiency. The VersaKey Programmable Keyboard integrates a fully-functional keyboard with an optional touchpad mouse, and both magnetic stripe and smart card readers into a single, compact device.

Product Features and Benefits:

• 124/135 key layout in a compact 14” form
• Up to 60 programmable and re-legendable keys
• Programmable keys and magnetic stripe reader are configured through the utility software provided
• Smart card reader option
• Multiple language keyboard layouts upon request

In May 2006, Prorammer Bernd Hopfengärtner, cut 324 separate squares in a 275,556 square foot pattern into a wheat field outside Ilmenau, Germany. Together the squares form a valid semacode that reads “Hello, world!”.

This may be one of the world’s largest barcodes ever created.

Visit the official site for the Hello, world! project.

Metrologic’s public FTP site is a good place to check if you are looking for software or drivers for your Metrologic barcode scanner or Metrologic handheld computer.