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Amtrak, the US train operator, has started to train some of its conductors to scan tickets with an iPhone rather than use the traditional ticket punching method.
The US Corporation oversees passenger train services and on some of their routes they have adopted the use of the iPhone to scan barcodes printed on train tickets.
The company started training its conductors last November and hope to have all 17000 conductors using the scanning device by late summer.
A new barcode ticket scanning system has been adopted by Gatwick Express, the company which provides the rail to air service between Victoria train station and Gatwick airport.
The new barcode system should alleviate the long queues some passengers had to cope with at times of heavy footfall. The system enables customers to print off their own tickets or use an image of the barcode on their mobile device, which can be scanned at the ticket gates.
Marking or tagging one’s possessions is not a new fad. The need to provide product identification has however become more apparent as companies strive to find ways to reduce overheads and make their businesses more profitable.
A business can only be profitable and efficient if it has complete control over its assets. And if this means that each asset has to have a unique number or barcode attached then there needs to be a way of making this possible.
Standard barcode labels would not likely survive if they were exposed to the harsh conditions seen within some factories in the UK. The high temperatures that exist in some factories combined with the dust, dirt and products used do not give simple paper barcode labels a chance to bring their well known efficiency benefits.
If a business needs to use barcode labels in harsh environments, such as in areas which are subjected to heat or cold or even on equipment which is exposed to chemicals, a different type of barcode label needs to be used.
A new mobile computer barcode scanning device has just been launched by Wasp Barcode technologies. The new device is compatible with current wasp inventory control software and is designed to increase efficiency and productivity in logistics, retail and field service environments.
Data processing can be made much quicker when you use barcode labels. The barcode labels can be affixed to every product that you own or have for sale and then tracking and organisation of products can be handled much easier.
We all make mistakes. It doesn’t matter if we are the head of a global business or a trainee clerk, from time to time we’ll do something wrong. It might be that it’s an error with some financial figures or even sending an email to the wrong person, when we make a mistake we just hold our hands up and say sorry. However, if you are conducting a stock take and need accurate inventory figures mistakes can be time consuming and costly, so how can we minimise these?
You’ll find barcodes on just about every product you buy nowadays. Barcodes are an easy way to identify individual products and are regularly used by merchandisers to keep track of stock levels and formulate pricing structures for stock.
Most products’ barcode labels are printed onto the items when the goods are manufactured. However there are some applications which demand for barcode labels to be stuck onto the products after they have been manufactured, but before they are sent to distribution or sold to a customer.
Many people choose to fix after-market barcode labels to all their stock items so that they can be tracked effectively. If you then asked a proportion of these people what the most important characteristic of these labels is, most would say durability.
Durable barcode labels are essential in a factory or other industrial environment where the harsh conditions may play havoc with a simple paper barcode label. Durable barcode labels are able to withstand corrosion, exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures, exposure to UV radiation and constant abrasion.
If you use barcode labels for identification purposes have you thought of how the labels could be used to enhance product security?
Barcode labels are one of the best ways to provide a way of identifying different products. The labels can adhere to just about any surface and provide a unique identification mark which can be read quickly and easily by a barcode scanner. However barcode labels can also be used to provide additional security to an item, you just need the right type of barcode label.