SCDigest
Editorial Staff
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 That means that after a pallet of goods with unique serial numbers is built and labeled, a sheet with those serial numbers could be printed and attached to the pallet. Run the pallet by a Visidot reader, and voila – all the serial numbers are captured as the pallet is received.
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Is a Visidot in your future?
If you are like most supply chain and logistics practitioners, your likely reaction is: What is a Visidot?
That’s the same reaction we had regarding the technology from a little known company called ImageID, but the approach is very intriguing. In a sense, it combines elements of both bar code and RFID capabilities, and is worth looking at for a number of supply chain and asset management applications.
The term ‘Visidot” makes it sound like the solution is some kind of bar code symbology, and indeed image ID does offer a color-based symbol of a kind, but the basis of the system from the Israeli-based company is in reality a new generation of bar code reader.
That reader provides several advantages that traditional bar code readers do not:
- Very long range scanning – the claim is that it can read as far away as 150 meters
- Bar code orientation is not important – that isn’t true for traditional bar code scanners except for the more expensive, limited read range omni-directional scanners
- Rapid reads of multiple bar codes – claim is that a full pallet’s worth of case-level bar codes can be read in as little as one second
The Visidot reader can read traditional linear or 2D (e.g., DataMatrix) bar codes, or ImageID’s own simple color coded symbology. Like any bar code scanner, line of site is required, a disadvantage over RFID. However, the technology appears to be able to rapidly scan multiple items from long distances with high read rates and accuracy, achieving the goals of RFID in some applications at potentially far lower costs.
As shown in the illustration nearby, for example, a Visidot reader can scan multiple bar codes in parallel. That means that after a pallet of goods with unique serial numbers is built and labeled, a sheet with those serial numbers could be printed and attached to the pallet. Run the pallet by a Visidot reader, and voila – all the serial numbers are captured as the pallet is received.
(RFID and Automatic Identification Article - Continued Below) |
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“Visidot is deployed worldwide, and currently tracking over 1 million assets per day, mainly performing shipping/receiving verification of pallets in the food and RPC (Returnable Plastic Container) industries,” says Rafi Pilosoph, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for ImageID. Though the customer base is still very limited, a big success came with the adoption of Visidot technology by reusable pallet company IFCO.
