The Barcode Scanner Reinvented

November 23, 2021 | by Paul Stubbs (Zebra Product Manager)

The humble barcode, that has become part of our everyday life, was first developed in 1949.
If you’ve worked with barcodes for even just the last two decades, you would have witnessed the shift from CCD, keyboard wedge scanners, to USB interfaces, laser scanners and now imager scanners.

The use of 2D, or QR codes, as we have heard of often during the pandemic, has added more meaning to the barcode. Though the technology has evolved, the fundamentals remain the same. A barcode and a scanner. The exciting thing is we’re on the cusp of the next evolution in this technology.
Zebra Technologies is at the forefront of this development, and they call it DataCapture DNA.

DataCapture DNA is a suite of applications that interact with the latest generation of Zebra barcode scanners to unlock improvements in the way of deploying, managing and using these scanners.
Here are a few standout apps that I think can really add a lot of value to the scanning functions within a business and show the breadth of solutions available.

123Scan

Most barcode scanners will need some basic programming to get them to work with systems correctly. 123Scan is an application that allows you to configure multiple scanners with ease. It’s wizard-based interface makes it easy for the first-time scanner administrator to configure scanners as needed, plus up to 10 scanners can simultaneously be configured with the use of a USB hub. This is an excellent time saving solution when dealing with fleets of new scanners. Imagine the time savings when you have hundreds of new scanners to program!

ScanSpeed Analytics

You may not be aware that reading some barcodes may be slowing down your processes. The ScanSpeed Analytics app will help you identify those difficult to read barcodes so you can eliminate them from your inventory. The results are faster scan speeds.

Multi-Code Data Formatting

This application is my favourite as it redefines how a barcode scanner is used, while adding some excellent productivity gains.
The Multi-Code Data Formatting app allows the latest generation 2D imager scanners to scan multiple barcodes in one trigger pull.

For example, you may have a label with multiple 1D and 2D barcodes on it. You can now pull the scanner trigger, wave the scanner across all the barcodes to read them, plus parse those barcodes in the correct order to your host systems. You don’t even need to scan the barcodes in the right order and the data will still be parsed to your systems correctly. The productivity savings are massive!

Having worked in the data capture industry for many decades now, you could say that not many solutions really excite me, but I must admit the DataCapture DNA suite of applications is one technology shift that takes the humble barcode scanner into a new and welcomed realm.

I suppose it’s that ability to unlock the power of the scanner and refine its use that excites me. Furthermore, it adds simple to access efficiency gains for organisations.

‘The future is here’ is a very overused saying, but in this case, I think Zebra has nailed the DataCapture DNA suite that takes the Zebra barcode scanner into a new realm, giving greater value to the investment in a Zebra barcode scanner and of course improved return on investment for owners.

If you want to gain greater value from your barcode scanner investment then I suggest you take a closer look at the DataCapture DNA apps on offer by visiting https://www.zebra.com/ap/en/products/software/scanning-systems/datacapture-dna.html.