In the early 1930s once a month shopkeepers used to count all the stocks manually and then used to order further. Everything was a written as well as manual procedure. Counting of all the bags, packets and products and writing it down is definitely a very tedious project. Very often the number used to be wrong and the shopkeepers used to give number which is approximate. This cannot be considered as a correct system as it was based on the judgement of the shopkeeper. As a result there was of course heavy demand for an alternate program. In 1932, a Harvard University business student, Wallace Flint came with a program where a client can pick up the required product from a product catalogue which has hole punched cards next to them. After punching they used to tear the cards and take it with them. This card could be inserted into an engineered reader machine and then they used to get items through conveyer belt system.
This system was not foolproof. All the equipments used for it were very expensive and difficult to use. This did not work as no retailer could afford this instrument and as a result people went back to their original method. Again in 1948 there was some action which introduced barcodes.
There was a heavy demand from the head of the food companies for some automatic readings of the product information. Drexel Institute of Technologies started working on this project under the guidance of their dean. Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver who were two graduates from the Drexel University were working on labelling and prototype codes.
The main difficulty while working on this project was expensive material, total cost of the project as well as the installation of the equipment at the user end. During 1940 to 1970 many formats of the barcode came into the market with many different codes. In 1973 standard codes had been selected and named as UPC. The implementation of it was quite fast and this barcode was very popular amongst the retail shops.
Today label printing has been improved a lot and can take help from computer. This has made bar codes very easy for the retails shops. Many industrial and military applications started using this bar code. Many more companies came forward for improvement in bar coding. Maybe in future some other technology can be used which is easier than bar codes but today barcodes is the most convenient technology for the shop keepers.
Do you remember an item without barcode? Barcode has been giving security to many retail and consumer industry. Today it is one of the most important security measure device used for theft. First release of barcode has created history in the industry and surprising that first release itself was so powerful that there is no need of improvement in the barcodes over the years. The appearance and capabilities are still the same when it was introduced many years ago. There is hardly any change in it.
You need to create barcodes through label printers as that is the easiest way of creating barcodes. Initially they used to print the same barcode on the packaging of the product which turned out quite expensive. It is easier for any shop owner to keep track of his stock and further ordering without spending too much time on counting each item became possible. It has given precise way of attending shoplifters.
The new RW 420 Print Station from Zebra technologies comes with the latest printing technology to deliver flawless results. This single, compact and lightweight print station includes an integrated printer, and can house a Motorola MC70 or MC75 handheld device. Its ergonomic design with very little weight makes it convenient to use for long periods of time. The streamlined RW 420 Print Station is ideally suited for the mobile worker, who can carry this light device on their shoulder or on a hand strap for customer visits, using it to enter data, complete all transactions with the aid of the magnetic stripe card reader and finally print out the receipts and documents that have to be handed over.
The RW 420 Print Station incorporates all the user friendly features of the Zebra RW printer series. Easy media loading, LCD screen displaying printer status, wireless connectivity and long lasting battery, all combine to ensure that the mobile worker can complete all his tasks while out in the field. These features make it the most convenient, easy to use and efficiency driven device.
Meant for the outdoors, the RW 420 is a rugged device with an IP 54 rating for resistance to dust and moisture. It can withstand multiple 1.8 meter drops to concrete and thus works flawlessly in the field areas, on-the-road and other tough environments.
While using the RW 420 Print Station, the mobile computer and the printer can be simultaneously charged from a single source. This helps to save both time and money, and does not require additional space in the office or on the vehicle. Thus it is perfectly suited for retail, direct store delivery, field service, government, logistics and transportation applications to print invoices and receipts, tickets and estimates, work orders and other vouchers.
The new RW 420 Print Station from Zebra technologies comes with the latest printing technology to deliver flawless results. This single, compact and lightweight print station includes an integrated printer, and can house a Motorola MC70 or MC75 handheld device. Its ergonomic design with very little weight makes it convenient to use for long periods of time. The streamlined RW 420 Print Station is ideally suited for the mobile worker, who can carry this light device on their shoulder or on a hand strap for customer visits, using it to enter data, complete all transactions with the aid of the magnetic stripe card reader and finally print out the receipts and documents that have to be handed over.
The RW 420 Print Station incorporates all the user friendly features of the Zebra RW printer series. Easy media loading, LCD screen displaying printer status, wireless connectivity and long lasting battery, all combine to ensure that the mobile worker can complete all his tasks while out in the field. These features make it the most convenient, easy to use and efficiency driven device.
Meant for the outdoors, the RW 420 is a rugged device with an IP 54 rating for resistance to dust and moisture. It can withstand multiple 1.8 meter drops to concrete and thus works flawlessly in the field areas, on-the-road and other tough environments.
While using the RW 420 Print Station, the mobile computer and the printer can be simultaneously charged from a single source. This helps to save both time and money, and does not require additional space in the office or on the vehicle. Thus it is perfectly suited for retail, direct store delivery, field service, government, logistics and transportation applications to print invoices and receipts, tickets and estimates, work orders and other vouchers.
Zebra has now offered a solution for in-house ID card printing with its QuikCard Printer. The solution lies in the P110i for one-sided Id cards and the P120i two-sided model for ID cards having magnetic strip encoding capabilities. The Zebra QuikCard is a color printer that comes loaded with free software with templates that complete printing process from the start to the finish. Updates for the software can be loaded as and when they are available. It also provides the option of printing cards directly from an excel sheet or database. The Zebra QuikCard ID Solution software enables quick upload of data and this makes the printing of cards even easier.
The printer also comes with a security camera. The Logitech Business Webcam is part of the hardware kit and this also helps to resolve compatibility issues. The camera also enables the organization to take pictures and instantly upload them and print them on the ID card making it more personalized for an employee or a visitor. The Printer also comes with a USB digital webcam along with supplies for producing 200 cards when the printer is purchased. This simplifies the initial operation of the Zebra QuikCard printer. The blank cards provided are durable and have a smooth printing surface since they are made out of PVC. The cards for the P110i are plain while those packed with the P120i have a magnetic strip at the back. The printers can also be used to print barcodes on the cards for security and data purposes.
The Zebra QuikCard ID solution is an all-in-one kit for meeting all ID card printing requirements of offices and organizations. Some of the principal features of the printer include:
• Superior quality 300 dpi printing resolution
• LCD command display
• Fast printing, 30 seconds by the P110i and 40 seconds by the P120i
• Free software in 8 languages
• Compatible with Windows Vista, 200, 7 XP and Server 2003
• Feeder capacity of 100 cards
• Hopper capacity of 45 cards
Companies that manufacture standard barcode labels provide utility design and customized images. There are options included which allow modification of elements like image color, text along with color, font, shape and size as per client requirement. Barcode tag designers will be able to produce different labels in just a few mouse clicks of random or sequential series.
Various industries use customized barcode software to create colored barcodes. These include Transportation, Price/Item marking, Shipping, Healthcare, Warehousing and many others. All major barcode scanners and printers work in conjunction and are able to scan easier due to the presence of the image developer utility. About 30 barcode font standards like Planet, Code 128, Coda bar, Code 11, Postnet, Code 39 etc are supported by the label image creator tool which also stores them in commonly used formats like jpg, jpeg, bmp etc. For efficient and quick production of advanced barcode labels, two major series are used by the barcode label generator. The software is extremely user-friendly which means even non-technical operators can wok it through its Graphical User Interface (GUI) wizard. There is a wide range of compatible systems that barcode sticker utility can work on including key Windows operating systems like Windows 7, XP, Vista, NT, ME as well as Server 2000, 2003, 2008 etc.
Intermec Inc is a market leading organization involved in developing and integrating technologies, products and services that help to streamline supply chain management by effectively tracking and managing assets and information all along the chain. Its core technologies include the most rugged data collection systems, mobile computing solutions, label media, barcode printers and RFID. Known worldwide for the quality of its products and services Intermec has now added features to enhance the functioning of its PF8 thermal desktop printers. It has additionally provided internal Ethernet and support from the Intermec PrintSet configuration. This will improve the printer’s deployment and minimize its maintenance costs especially in lighter applications like transport, in-store retail, manufacturing and office environments.
The PF8 has been selected by organizations like GeoPost since it is the best equipped for its requirements of daily parcel identification with barcodes, for the customers handling hundreds of parcels on a daily basis. The PF8 is convenient, compact and easy to use, and its compatibility with the Intermec PF4 printers proves to be an added advantage. Thus it is easy to migrate from not just the PC4 but also other similar desktop printers using EPL printer language. Its common media specifications and ESIM printer language are added facilitating features in the migration process.
The PF8 also has the Intermec PrintSet that offers a simpler mechanism to configure network and printer settings, upgrading firmware, downloading fonts and graphics, all of which are time saving in the setup process and support later on. The two models of the PF8 include PF8d, which is the direct thermal desktop printer, and the PF8t, the thermal transfer desktop printer. Both come with flexible connectivity meeting industrial standards including optional internal Ethernet, besides parallel, serial and USB. This makes their functioning easy in all networked environments.
Zebra Technologies released its sales figures that reveal a 17% increase in the first quarter sales with a 164.5% increase in net income as compared to the same period last year. This included a 6.6% increase in operating margins. The net income figures stood at $24 million the first quarter, in contrast to $9.3 million during this period in 2009.
The results were disclosed by Anders Gustafsson, the Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies. He attributed this surge in income and earnings to higher demand across geographies, for a diverse range of products and industries. He found that customers were investing in Zebra solutions to improve asset management and augment supply chain visibility. His company hired more sales and marketing professionals to grab more business opportunities in emerging regions across the globe which are classified as high growth areas. The company has been developing more innovative products that score in performance and integration to face the tough competition. This will help Zebra maintain an edge in the future and enhance shareholder value.
That the barcode system is a critical component for linking activities of the supply chain both inside and outside is well recognized by Datalogic Scanning. Material handling in a warehouse, manufacturing, or distribution center environment would have been more difficult, less productive, and costly without this technology. In the exhibition of NA2010, Datalogic Scanning presented a rugged, industrial-strength barcode scanning solution for optimizing the supply chain efficiency.
Datalogic presented a complete scanning solution for handling various materials and logistics challenges like inventory management, tracking, reverse logistics, traceability, etc. Datalogic also featured a premium industrial scanner PowerScan PM8300 as a suitable solution for environments that require laser technology. With an excellent reading range, the PowerScan PM8300 can clearly read barcodes from a long distance. It has a sixteen-key keyboard and a backlit display and offers simple and convenient ways to interact with the host system. With the help of some portable and expensive data terminal, the scanner might be used for various other purposes.
The PowerScan PBT7100 provides Datalogic’s linear imaging solution. With the inbuilt Bluetooth technology, this handheld cordless scanner offers freedom to the operator from using cables while delivering an extremely good reading performance and rugged durability, all at a marginal cost.
Industrial Handhelds Product Manager John Allen said, “The growing demand for 2D codes in material handling environments has started an industry-wide transformation from laser to imaging based technology.” For supporting this change, the PowerScan PM8500 from Datalogic comes with the megapixel imaging technology. Capable of reading both one- and two-dimensional barcodes, this extremely rugged area imager combines the cordless scanner mobility, thereby presenting the Datalogic STAR Cordless System.
Companies that manufacture standard barcode labels provide utility design and customized images. There are options included which allow modification of elements like image color, text along with color, font, shape and size as per client requirement. Barcode tag designers will be able to produce different labels in just a few mouse clicks of random or sequential series.
Various industries use customized barcode software to create colored barcodes. These include Transportation, Price/Item marking, Shipping, Healthcare, Warehousing and many others. All major barcode scanners and printers work in conjunction and are able to scan easier due to the presence of the image developer utility. About 30 barcode font standards like Planet, Code 128, Coda bar, Code 11, Postnet, Code 39 etc are supported by the label image creator tool which also stores them in commonly used formats like jpg, jpeg, bmp etc. For efficient and quick production of advanced barcode labels, two major series are used by the barcode label generator. The software is extremely user-friendly which means even non-technical operators can wok it through its Graphical User Interface (GUI) wizard. There is a wide range of compatible systems that barcode sticker utility can work on including key Windows operating systems like Windows 7, XP, Vista, NT, ME as well as Server 2000, 2003, 2008 etc.
Intermec, the well known company involved in rugged mobile computing solutions, data collection systems, label media, RFID and barcode printers, also develops and integrates products, technologies and services. These are used to track, identify and manage supply chain assets and information.
Intermec has announced improvements in its desktop thermal printers PF8 by including Internal Ethernet and adding Intermec’s PrintSet Configuration support. This will help to improve the deployment of the PF8 printers, minimize maintenance requirements especially in light duty applications like in-store retail, offices, healthcare, manufacturing and transportation sectors.
PF8 has been selected by companies like GeoPost since it is ideally suited to identify express parcels that use barcodes and deal with hundreds of parcels each day. Its compact size and ease of use make it convenient for all customers handling large numbers of parcels and it also has the additional benefit of being compatible with the Intermec PC4 printer.
PF8 printers come with common media specifications, ESIM printer language and additional features that make it easy to migrate from legacy Intermec printers like the PC4 and other desktop printers using EPL printer language. Its PrintSet capability helps to configure network and printer settings, upgrading firmware, downloading fonts and other time saving features.
PF8 printers are available in two models, PF8t-the thermal transfer printer and PF8d –the direct thermal printer. Both have industry standard connectivity and easy drop-in installation in networked environments. They come with the right size and footprint, appropriate features and correct price for applications like healthcare, retail, and other businesses that require fast speeds and minimal IT support for a dependable performance straight out of its packaging.
