DC Velocity - July 2015

“Applications for reading bar codes at long range and
[high] speed used to be highly dependent on laser scanning.
But in the past 18 months, that dynamic has started to
change,” Gupta said. “Image-based scanners are now a very
viable contender for any and all applications in distribution
Carter Control Systems in Frederick, Md., is one of those
companies that have seen potential in camera-based read-
ers. When the material handling systems integrator won a
contract to design a new warehouse for a vitamin retailer,
Control’s senior software engineer for applica-
tion development. The integrator installed 18
of the units along the vitamin company’s main
conveyor line.

DATA DELIVERS BIG RETURNS

Speed and accuracy are important, but the greatest value in adopting image-based scanning comes in how you analyze the data. Users are quickly realizing they can do more things with camera-based sensor data than just achieve good read rates, said Jim Anderson, national product manager for vision and 2-D code readers with Sick AG, the German sensor manufacturer.

By using software algorithms to analyze the torrents of data produced by image-based scanners, users can inspect every package on the line to validate its size, position, completeness, and dimensions, Anderson said.

That approach can deliver a quick return on investment (ROI) in several ways, including:

b Reducing the incidence of mislabeled items by running optical character recognition (OCR) software on the image data to compare the information on a shipping label with the text on a package to make sure they match up.

b Ensuring vendor compliance by identifying partners that ship high rates of packages with unreadable labels. Image-based sensors create data that can generate statistics showing the reasons for the problem, such as the position of each label relative to the box or the distance from a label to the corner.

b Avoiding the chargeback fees often levied by carriers on shippers who attempt to tender packages with unreadable labels.

b Achieving cost savings by using precise dimension data to stay ahead of the new dimensional weight fee structures imposed by carriers like FedEx and UPS.

BIG BENEFITS FROM DIGITAL IMAGES

Benefits of image-based code reading will continue to proliferate as computing systems gain processing horsepower. Eventually, they’ll be able to intuit the objects they’re inspecting without even relying on codes, said Robert Beideman, vice president of retail logistics at Datalogic, an auto ID and industrial automation equipment maker in Telford, Pa.

“What if your code reader could look at a box of Wheaties and it can’t see a bar code, but it knows what a box of Wheaties looks like?” Beideman asked.

“There is a lot of power in an image,” he
said. “You can peel back the onion on business
analytics, find pinch points in material handling
systems, or identify parts of the building causing
package damage.”
Another way to wring extra value from images
in a logistics operation is to give each customer
a more customized experience, Beideman said.

For example, in a dispute over damaged goods, a distribution center equipped with image-based code recognition technology could verify exactly when damage occurred to a specific package or even provide photographic evidence that the package was fine when it was shipped out to the customer.

ADVANCED ANALYTICS PAYS OFF

Improvements in vision tools could also allow users to gain business returns through software algorithms that identify problems in warehouse operations, said Matt Engle, director of ID products marketing and logistics at Cognex.

By using a camera-based system that can save information about packages as they roll by on a conveyor, customers can aggregate enough data to identify patterns and solutions.

“A laser can’t save any info on the package as it goes by,
but an image-based reader can. So we can automatically
generate a classic continuous-improvement Pareto chart,”
Engle said, referring to a type of graph that illustrates the
causes of different events. “Say, yesterday my read rates
dropped. Let me go back and look at the data. It could be I
need to train the new operator better, or maybe something
is wrong with the label printing machine.”
Whichever vendor they choose, logistics and DC pro-
fessionals are using image-based technology to meet many
needs in the warehouse. They can balance price, size, and
speed to pick the best scanner for any given fulfillment
center task, whether it’s scanning outbound goods at a dock
door, high-speed operation on a shoe sorter line, low-speed
work on a print and apply line, zone routing with totes,
pick and pack, or order fulfillment from storage.

Regardless of its place in the distribution center, a visual code reader can deliver savings and process improvements to help busy supply chain operations keep up with the speed of modern business.