With a QR code campaign already underway, Macy’s is already looking to its next technological endeavor, RFID. Macy’s has been looking at RFID technology to better track their inventory.

BY using RFID, Macy’s hopes to be able to keep a more accurate count on their replenishment goods–items that are regularly stoked and automatically resupplied once sold. Ideally, RFID will be deployed across all their stores by the 3rd quarter of 2012, allowing them to track in-stock replenishment goods by size, color and style using RFID.

Learn how RFID can help improve your inventory tracking.

RFID technology is used across a variety of different industries. These days, everyone is looking to do more with less and increase their efficiency—even beverage-makers and distributors.

“Distributor consolidation and line extensions have upped the ante more mission-critical, route-based data collection, said Ken Currie, Barcoding Inc. director of business development and marketing. “Real-time communication and data capture equipment that drive route optimization and execution, route accounting and sales and merchandising operations are now ‘must-haves’ for distributors. There are more choices in available platforms than ever before and the management and integration of these platforms with legacy systems is a daunting task.”

Although upgrading legacy systems seems overwhelming, Barcoding Inc. makes it easy by using automated data capture and wireless technology to aid in the development, deployment and management of supply chain mobility systems. In addition to needing state-of-the-art for distribution center operations, field workers often need mixed systems, such as rugged mobile computers, smartphones, tablets and mobile printers for the most efficient route-based data collection process.

The use of RFID technology is constantly increasing and, “We don’t see the slow-down in platform proliferation happening anytime soon. In fact, the iPod and iPad generation will only make the new workforce more apt to use the technology that they are comfortable with,” said Currie.

Barcoding Inc. is noticing more and more opportunities available to beverage distributors in order to leverage their people, processes and technology, in addition to facilitating the forecasting process. With better forecasting, companies will be able to have, “…greater customer service, improved inventory turn and the ability to make real-time business adjustments to both,” concluded Currie. The ability to make real-time business decisions is priceless—workers need to be able to think on their feet, but now the technology is there for them to make informed decisions.

Learn more about Barcoding Inc. in the food and beverage industry.

This article was based on a feature on pg. 47 of the September 2011 issue of Beverage Industry.

Today, Datalogic released the Magellan 800i barcode scanner, the newest addition to the Magellan family. The Magellan 800i barcode scanner is a fixed retail scanner that’s engineered to aid retailers of all sizes in data collection and productivity.

“The Magellan 800i scanner makes it easier than ever for our customers to take advantage of the high performance and high reliability associated with solid state imaging based products while enabling them to take full advantage of emerging applications requiring reading from mobile phones or decoding 2D bar codes,” said Matt Schler, General Manager of the Fixed Retail Business Unit.

The Magellan 800i barcode scanner also offers:

• image capture
• illumix™ intelligent illumination for automatically adjusting to different ambient light levels
• built-in Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) antenna for linked tag deactivation for improving shrink caused by “sweet hearting”
• large scanning window affixed to an adjustable tilting stand for easy scan volume optimization

Learn more about Datalogic and their products, or contact us about the Datalogic Magellan 800i.

QReo: A QR code created with Oreo cookies.

redpepper, an ad agency with offices in Tennessee and Georgia, recently posted a food QR construction video on their blog. While we’ve seen food QR code constructions with cupcakes, m&ms, and chocolates, redpepper used Oreos to create what they’ve dubbed, “QReo.”

The agency used 441 Oreos to create QReo, which scans with most QR code readers. Watch the video below to see the birth of QReo:

QReo from redpepper on Vimeo.

Barcoding Inc. was recently featured in Business Solutions Magazine, which detailed a recent endeavor with Urban Hanger.

Urban Hanger is a laundry service targeted to apartment/office complexes and university settings where busy professionals and students don’t necessarily have time to drop items off at the dry cleaners, or keep up with laundry. In order to offer the highest level of convenience for their customers, Urban Hanger utilizes technology, offering a website and app to help manage and track laundry orders. To keep up with this constantly changing information, they needed a way to automatically track laundry pickups and deliveries in the field. That’s where Barcoding Inc. came in.

Barcoding Inc. was able to streamline Urban Hanger’s internal processes by integrating mobility and enterprise solutions, ultimately distinguishing them from their competitors and increasing their value proposition to potential building management companies.

The right mobile computer, paired with the right software, allowed the mobile solution to be a success and Urban Hanger customers can now receive real-time alerts. Learn how Barcoding Inc. was able to successfully pair the right hardware and software solutions for a successful implementation.

Do you need help with a business solution? Contact us, or learn more.