Printing & Labelling
IN THIS SECTION
page 40-41 Rise of the Mobile Barcode
page 42-43 Blackroc Distribution partners with PrintekMobile to provide the channel with the latest mobile printing technology
Top five
printer-buying tips
By Tom Roth, director of printer media marketing at Intermec.
C
hoosing the right printer for your operations isn’t an easy task, however below are five tips to
help you make the right choice.
1. Go wireless, mobile and on-demand
Wireless mobile printers allow workers to generate and apply labels literally anywhere in a warehouse or factory. By printing at the point of activity, workers are much less likely to apply the wrong label to an item or package. Positioning the printers closer to areas where the work actually gets done also eliminates ‘deadhead’ trips back and forth from the workstation to the centralised printer. These walks to the printer may take only a few minutes, but multiplied across dozens of workers on multiple shifts, they represent an opportunity for tremendous time savings and productivity improvements.
2. Pay attention to speed, battery life and media
Tom Roth:
“Getting the most out of your printers means understanding what differences exist and what makes the most sense for your business.”
Chosen correctly, an advanced printer solution can provide benefits beyond the reliable printing of barcode labels, driving operational benefits that can help manufacturers remain competitive in a rapidly evolving economy. Variables such as time to first label, print speed, how long the battery lasts, whether the battery is replaceable, how easily media can be loaded, the material used, how often the printer breaks down, and even its proximity to the items to be labelled all have a clear and significant impact on productivity, and thus on total cost of ownership. Ideally, the battery should last for a full work shift so workers don’t have to waste time recharging during the middle of the day.
www.itrportal.com
3. Get the printer that fits your needs and your space
Printers can contribute to productivity by fitting easily into existing work spaces and processes. For repetitive, high-volume tasks such as applying labels, saving just seconds per operation can translate into meaningful efficiency gains. Wireless printers give organisations a lot of flexibility on where printers can be positioned. A wide range of wireless industrial printers support 802.11 wireless LAN connectivity and security standards, and can be installed where labels are needed, not just where Ethernet is available.
4. Choose smart printers
Some industrial label printers are much more IT-friendly than others. Because Smart Printers are capable of bi-directional communication, they can actually reduce their own downtime by re-aligning the barcode if a dot is misfiring or by sending email alerts to IT or operations staff when there is a hardware problem.
5. Choose printers and mobile computers that communicate
Combined with a mobile computer, mobile printers can help direct putaway and picking operations, further improving productivity by balancing workloads and optimising routes throughout a facility. For example, the Intermec PB50 mobile label printer provides a variety of the features listed above, includes fast drop-in media loading and a field- replaceable battery, and syncs with other devices such as the CK3 mobile computer, which helps you improve your productivity.
IT RESELLER – MAY 2010 39
OPINION
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