Integrating Easier Barcode Scanning into the Workplace

Barcode scanning has grown in leaps and bounds since its earliest use.

11:29 20 February 2019

It’s no longer necessary for warehouse staff to walk around a larger storage space with a bulky scanner. There are custom solutions that companies can own which will solve many of the accuracy and slow scanning issues that plague multiple barcode scanning tasks today.

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Let’s explore a few of the ways in which barcode scanning can be utilized in the workplace.

OCR and Barcode Scanning

There is a barcode scanning softwareon the market that makes it easier to access a series of barcodes within close vicinity of each other. Instead of painstakingly going through scanning one barcode at a time, Scandit’sinnovative Matrix Scan technology makes it possible to grab a set of them in one go. Then their clever software does the rest by breaking down the high-resolution image to capture every visible barcode in the shot, separately recognizing and then categorizing them.

The software is also able to use optical character recognition (known as OCR) to pick up letters and numbers within an image taken from a smartphone. Combining both features together, it’s possible to pull together barcodes for products and the writing on the product packaging labels or its packing box.

Companies can use this type of labor-saving feature in many different ways to reduce manpower requirements in the warehouse environment for stock checks and other mundane tasks.

Extending Barcode Scanning to More Mobile Apps

It used to be that only a select few mobile apps included a barcode scanner feature. The reason was that it was just too difficult to code a new one as a special feature, and licensing it to pull into the software app was too expensive. The best companies could do would be to have a standalone barcode app installed and hope what it captured could be accessed by third-party enterprise apps,but this often led to disappointment.

However, thankfully times have now changed with some technology suppliers making barcode scanning SDK packages available. These SDKs are pre-programmed code bundles that will let any app that chooses to integrate the SDK be able to offer barcode scanning within their app natively. No more crossing your fingers and hoping it works.

Windows Software to Scan Barcodes Using a Webcam

While a solution to scan multiple barcodes at one time, or a portable scanner on a smartphone are extremely useful, sometimes it’s necessary for a member of staff to grab a barcode on a work PC. They may not have ready access to sophisticated tools and need to use what’s available to them. Most work PCs and laptops come equipped with a webcam these days, which is perfect for this ad-hoc task.

The Windows app bcWebcam runs on Windows 8.0, 8.1 and the latest Windows 10. It enables employees to scan a variety of barcodes using a webcam that’s integral to a business PC. Many barcode types are accepted and recognized including Code 93, GS1, UPC and EAN. The newer QR codes are also valid and are adjusted for rotational angle and other distortions.These scanned barcodes can be captured, cleaned up and identified to make them suitable for use in enterprise-level software.

For companies that use barcodes on a regular basis, having an increasing ability to easily grab one or more barcodes in a split-second makes life easier. There are multiple ways to go about doing that quite affordably now.