The Reinvention of the Scanner Gun
Posted on Thursday, April 7th
Anyone who is familiar with the way the world of logistics and supply works will testify that out of all the tools used in these industries, the scanner gun sets itself apart as the most popular. Used by warehouse and supply chain employees across the globe on a daily basis for various purposes, this tool is essential to the two industries. In a context where online shopping has come to play a decisive role in the success of such businesses, it only makes sense that new tools and features be introduced to enable a quicker response to the increasing demand.
The role of the scanner gun within the world of logistics
Essentially, scanner guns are designed to help keep a record of stock entries. They enable the organisation of products through their retail function as well as their tracking as they are shipped out from a company's warehouse to a customer. In fact, as concerns the latter function, it should be noted that they enable the tracking of products anywhere within a business.
Traditionally, scanner guns were designed to complete their basic function only, which is to read bar codes and identify product names based on those bar codes. However, this function has become insufficient in a present context where the volume of online sales and fast delivery requests is constantly increasing. As a result, technology has become an essential factor in the equation of businesses trying to expand and build a reputation on the market.
Improved scanner guns
In today's modern world, bar code reading is not associated exclusively with these traditional scanner guns, but is also identified as an additional function of other technological tools such as smartphones, to begin with. In fact, modified smartphones are now commonly used by companies as bar code readers. Moreover, the traditional scanner guns are gradually being replaced by mobile computers designed to increase the efficiency of their tracking and inventorying applications. These mobile computers are designed to use 2D area image reading functions and read bar codes at tilted angles too, not just horizontally, thus ensuring a simplified, faster, more intelligent and more flexible scanning process.
The future of the scanner gun within the world of logistics
As expected in the context of an ever-advancing technological industry, the scanning systems used by big companies are yet to be improved and inevitably improve the efficiency levels achieved in terms of logistics. The key lies in the increased speed of the scanning process. While the records obtained using the traditional scanner guns needed to be downloaded onto a stationary computer, the modern scanning functions and systems are designed to eliminate this inconvenience. The main improvement lies in their providing instant access to the data recorded by scanning, thus allowing for major time savings to be made in the process of making changes or verification of any kind. Subsequently, these time savings will translate into more efficient product management data processes and increased productivity levels by allowing more time to be spent in the field.
