From SCDigest's OnTarget e-Magazine
- Nov. 4, 2014 -
RFID and AIDC News: Cloud Software Offers Tools to Turn Smart Phones into Bar Code Scanning System, Even RFID Readers in Retail and Logistics
Several Firms Proving Tools to Build Scanning Applications on Phones and Tablets; BYOD?
SCDigest Editorial Staff
It's no secret that many companies are at least looking at the possibility of using smart phones as data collection devices in retail, distribution, and maybe even manufacturing.
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VDC says it believes wearable terminals of one kind or another (from traditional industrial data collection providers or through protected smart phones) will dominate the future in many logistics applications.
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What Do You Say?
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Towards that end, a recent blog post by Richa Gupta, an analyst at VDC Research, notes that several technology vendors are supplying Cloud-based software platforms to enable this approach, using the phone's camera as an imager. This is in part reflective of the trend some people are calling "BYOD" - bring your own device - in retail, as well as use of these consumer devices by business instead of traditional data collection terminals.
VDC, for example, cites Scandit, which has developed a platform that enables retailers, consumers and logistics operations to use smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices to facilitate enterprise-grade barcode scanning. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Zurich with a US office near San Francisco, Scandit's clientele now includes retailers such as Ahold, Coop, Homeplus (Tesco), PartyCity, and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Scandit's software platform allows for camera-based barcode scanning at any angle, and VDC says it delivers high read rates. In October, the company released its mobile app suite for retail, with a series of customizable, cross-platform mobile applications for retail sales associates and consumers. This suite includes application templates for mobile shopping, self-checkout, shopping list, clienteling, procurement, and mobile point of sale.
Each of these templates currently contains a combination of several modules: product data cache, list management, user management, barcode scanner, analytics, push notifications, sharing, and payment.
Scandit's platform also allows customers shopping at brick-and-mortar retail locations to use their own personal devices to scan items while they shop, thereby saving time and also cutting costs for the retailer.
There are software development kits (SDKs) for companies that want to build their own apps or extend the templates. Different bar code symbologies are supported depending on the app/kit. For example, a very limited set of bar codes (UPC, EAN, QR Code) is supported for retail consumer use apps, while more industrial-oriented symbologies (e.g., Code 39, pdf417, etc.) are supported for logistics type applications.
Of course, one big concern in retail to an extent and in the logistics area for sure has to do with ruggedness of smart phones versus specialized devices. Scandit, however, points out that there are many different types of sleeves available in the market that can protect these devices from drops and other types of damage, while tablets especially are already seeing widespread use in retail.
(RFID and AIDC Story Continued Below)
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The pricing is nicely available right on the Scandit site: $1,999/year or $199/month for 100 employee devices, i.e. 19.99/device per year, and
$3,999/year or $399/month for 50,000 active consumer devices.
A company's own employees should also in most cases be able to use local Wi-Fi in store or at a DC rather than needing to have a broadband plan.