materialhandlingupdate PRINTING AND LABELING
user-friendly. “I can’t say we look at an iPhone and decide
to use something just because it’s in use in the mass market,
but in general, we are aware of and in tune with what is
commonly used in day-to-day devices, and we take that into
account,” Johnson says.
LIGHT AND EASY
One area that’s been heavily influenced by developments in
consumer electronics is the mobile printers’ form factor—
that is, the look and feel of the devices. Just as smart phones
have gotten progressively smaller and lighter, so too have
mobile printers. It’s not that these manufacturers want to
emulate Apple; there’s a practical reason for it: Shaving just
a few ounces off a printer can make a real difference to
someone who has to carry the device around for an eight-hour shift.
In addition, the user interface has changed greatly in the
past five years to reflect how users interact with their smart
phones, says Johnson. For example, more mobile printers
feature display screens and icons like the ones found on
phones—think of the symbols used to indicate battery
charge status and Wi-Fi strength.
Why should it matter whether the icons are easy to inter-
pret? Shouldn’t cost and print quality be all that counts?
Well, yes and no. As Tom Roth, senior director of printer
product management at Intermec, points out, labor is a
huge cost for warehouses and distribution centers. “It’s
important to keep workers happy and productive on the
shop floor,” he says. “Technology that is intuitive reduces
training time, reduces the number of turnovers, and helps
workers make fewer mistakes.”
The display screens and icons also make workers’ jobs
easier by providing better diagnostics, says Roth. If there’s
a problem with the printer—for example, it’s out of
labels, there’s a jam, or the Wi-Fi signal is weak—the icons
clearly indicate the source of the problem. “Workers no
longer have to guess,” says Roth. “This makes them more
productive.”
TAKING CHARGE OF BATTERIES
In another parallel to what’s happening in consumer electronics, manufacturers are making battery-related improvements to their printers. For instance, some are working to
increase the life of the battery while also making it lighter,
says Johnson. Others have incorporated “smart battery
technology” into their units. This technology can monitor
not only how much charge is left in the battery but also the
number of charge cycles and “impedance” of the battery,
which can be used to predict how much life the battery has
left, says Dan Brodnar, director of product management for
Intermec.
“The overall advantage for customers is that, in many
cases, end users sign up for a battery replacement program
where after 18 months someone comes in and replaces all of
the batteries regardless of whether they need replacing or
not,” says Brodnar. “With this new technology, the battery
will report to the device what its capacity is so you can
choose which batteries to replace versus just throwing them
all away.”
Yet not all changes being made to printers are driven by
innovations in consumer electronics. Some are made in
response to challenges that are unique to the warehouse
Should you stay or should you go?
A mobile printer is good for when the worker is on the
go, such as in picking, putaway, or pallet-building applications. Because the printer is conveniently attached to a
forklift, hung from a shoulder strap, or clipped to a belt,
the associate doesn’t have to waste time hurrying back to
a central location to grab a label from a stationary printer. Printing a label at the point of application also helps
boost accuracy because it cuts down on the possibility the
employee will apply the label to the wrong item, says
Marty Johnson, product marketing manager for Zebra
Technologies.
But just because you decide to invest in mobile printers
doesn’t mean you can kick your big fixed printers to the
curb. If yours is a typical warehouse or DC operation,
you’ll probably want to have both on hand. Most facilities
find that while mobile devices are great for some jobs,
fixed printers are a better choice for others. Here are a
few cases when it’s better to use a stationary printer for
the job.
1. You want to go big. Obviously, you don’t want to
have a printer big enough to print an 8-inch label slung
from your shoulder. So if you have to print a large label
that goes on a chemical drum, for example, you’ll want to
use a stationary device.
2. You print thousands of labels daily. Mobile
printers are capable of printing hundreds of labels a day,
but if you need to print more than that, it’s best to go
with a heavy-duty stationary model that is rugged and
durable.
3. Labeling is a crucial part of your process. If
labeling is a critical part of your process and your printer
goes down, your operation will grind to a halt. So in cases
where a printer can have a major impact on throughput,
it pays to have a high-end unit that can take a beating.
4. Your worker’s not mobile. If you have an operation where the goods come to the worker instead of the
worker going to the goods, it makes sense for the printer
to stay put as well.
