In potentially hazardous environments where flammable gas or other combustible/ignitable materials exist, it is necessary to invest in intrinsically safe (I-safe) equipment.

Intrinsically safe equipment has wiring that is not capable of releasing a sufficient amount of electrical and or thermal energy that would cause any sort of ignition. By limiting the amount of power available to the equipment in hazardous areas prevents the equipment from reaching a level that would be able to ignite gas, preventing the devices from creating sparks or a substantial amount of heat.

Industries that would benefit from intrinsically safe devices are those such as chemical, oil and gas, whom would need I-safe devices for inventory data collection, work-in-progress and shipping/receiving.

In order to officially be considered I-safe, devices must be labeled with the exact IS rating for the equipment, the name of a nationally recognized testing lab that performed the tests and a certification stating the types of hazards for which the device is safe.

For more information on which devices are Intrinsically safe, learn more here.

Socket Mobile recently released their new Bluetooth Cordless 2D Barcode Scanners, the 7X and the 7XRx. The new scanners are lightweight, ergonomic and compact and work across a variety of different applications.

The 7X and 7XRx support Bluetooth Human Interface Devices (HID, allowing users to “plug-n-play” without the hassle of installing software. Another neat feature about the scanners is a built-in tactile vibration mode that emits scan confirmations.

The 7X model is the standard version and is ideal for hospitality, retail, asset tracking, field service and inventory control applications. The 7XRx is designed for healthcare applications, particularly patient wristband identification and has antimicrobial casing to protect against the spread of potentially harmful bacteria.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nowadays, everything in the supply chain needs to be labeled and barcoded in order to ensure accurate tracking. This includes even the smallest, most intricate items, such as circuit boards.

Printed Circuit Board (PCB) labels are especially designed for circuit board applications and are high temperature labels that allow for easy tracking of electrical components throughout the production process, in addition to the labeling of finished products. Having the right labels for circuit boards allows for the withstanding of heat up to 280 degrees. In addition, it’s important to consider that the label’s adhesive material is able to withstand high temperatures of up to 1000 degrees and be durable enough to last throughout the life of the circuit board.

In order to properly print PCB labels, it is recommended that a thermal transfer printer with a minimum of 300dpi, preferably 600dpi, be used. To ensure this, a resin ribbon is recommended. Because of the small and intricate nature of a circuit board, it is also recommended to use a label applicator, which can be integrated into the printing process for easy application directly to the circuit boards.

Learn more about barcode labels here. If you have any questions on PCB or other barcode labels, feel free to e-mail me at mmclean@barcoding.com.

If you’re launching a new product, or want to give your goods more visibility on the web, Amazon.com is a great way to go. There’s only one catch—if you want to sell products on Amazon, you’ll need a barcode. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1
If you’re in the US, you’ll want to choose a UPC (Universal Product Code) and if you’re in the UK, you’ll want to choose an EAN (European Article Number)*. Folks in the US should contact the GS1-US and people in the rest of the world should contact the GS1 regarding a membership application. Once you are a member (note: there is an annual fee), you will be assigned a unique company code to use on all of your products. This number will act as a prefix for your barcode. The rest of the barcode will be comprised for each specific product, since each number must be unique for the product and size. For example, if you are selling homemade shampoo in a 12 oz. bottle and 16 oz. bottle, that would require two different numbers.

*If you are self-publishing a book, you will need to use an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), or if you need to barcode a monthly publication, you will need to use the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN).

Read the rest of this entry »

IntelliTrack recently released its next version of Data Management Software (DMS) for inventory, stockroom, check in/out, fixed assets and package tracking applications.

The IntelliTrack DMS Version 8 includes support for most Microsoft operating systems and offers new kitting features for Check In-Out processes. These new features allow for multiple assets to be assigned to a kit so that the kit can be treated like any other piece of inventory. In addition, the DMS allows for kits to be reserved, checked out or assigned to a certain individual, location or department.

For more information about IntelliTrack and their products, learn more here.