Manufacturing industry is undergoing a major Blue OceanTM shift in data collection strategy with Enterprise Mobility Solutions plunging into the market. The most established areas of mobile barcode scanners deployed in the manufacturing industry are the supply chain division with results that have been realized. Key areas are and remain: the warehouse (inventory management) & logistics (shipping and delivery).
Traditionally, the warehouse/DC functioned with legacy system that had specialized applications to uploaded information from the warehouse to the centralized systems in batch. Warehouses today have moved to Warehouse Management Systems Specifically using Mobile barcode scanners and portable barcode printers. A single mobile barcode reader can deliver a variety of applications-from imaging at receiving, to high bay scanning at put away, to voice picking and RFID at the loading dock. The ability of rugged mobile computers to get the right person to the right job at the right time with the right information is a major advantage to improving productivity, accuracy, and reducing labor costs. Modern manufacturing warehouse facilities are hundreds of thousands of square feet in size. Having real-time mobile capability from any point in these facilities allows companies to track both people and assets which helps in improving their efficiency. The manufacturing and warehousing environments are dynamic and change constantly. With optimization through real-time rugged handheld computers, and mobile barcode printers, instantaneous changes can be delivered.
On the logistics front, some fleet units use what is known as passive monitoring, where black boxes are actually wired into trucks, and physically track the trucks using Global Positioning Systems. Other tracking devices like smartphones provide driver interaction with GPS tracking. These are rugged handheld computers that not only provide GPS tracking of the fleet unit for purposes of the logistics of delivery, but that also incorporate applications like package scanning and signatures. The driver on a delivery route can talk to others over his rugged handheld computer with real-time information on what packages are and will be delivered. Having real-time information is better than receiving updates every two hours (as in the past). Equipped with GPS, mobile devices can also assist in optimizing routes.
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