Ruggedized mobile barcode scanners are almost ubiquitous today. You see them in-use during inventories in grocery stores and department stores. They’re used at the gates of military installations when armed personnel are checking the IDs of people needing onto a base. At larger warehouse stores when there’s a long line at the checkout an employee may come by with one to “pre-check” the items in your cart to speed up the process when you get to the register. These are the same devices which can be use with Job Tracking Software in a manufacturing facility to keep track of where a given item is during the manufacturing process.

A Job Tracking Software system will need some method to identify each finished product being made. In some situations it will also be necessary to track some of the subassemblies which are made first which are part of an overall finished product. As barcodes can be made in many sizes, and can also be 1D or 2D, finding the right barcode while the Job Tracking System is developed becomes a fairly simple part of the process.

Ruggedized mobile barcode scanners are now coming equipped with many capabilities, which can all be taken advantage of in a Job Tracking Software system. A number of these scanners are equipped with laser-based 1D/2D scanning modules. While a 1D barcode can hold a few characters of information, a 2D barcode can contain thousands of characters of data. These scanners run a standardized mobile operating system which can run applications specifically designed for a given Job Tracking Software system. As the scanners generally have built-in wireless connections, they can easily display specially-designed screens from web-based Job Tracking Software systems in a small versions of commercial web browser supplied with the scanner. Newer scanners also have built-in cell phone capabilities, making them even more mobile for field applications. And explosion-proof or “inherently safe” scanners are available for use in chemical or mining operations.

The barcode labels for a Job Tracking Software system can be in many forms. They can be printed on paper labels using standard desktop printers, or on rolls of labels using thermal or “receipt” printers. They can also be pre-printed by commercial label companies on paper or plastic labels. Some labels are “tamper-proof”, meaning they either leave a mark behind when removed or can only be torn into tiny pieces, preventing complete removal. For more industrial finished goods such as vehicles or machinery, barcode labels can be etched onto metal tags, with stainless steel being available for more hazardous environments.

Barcode scanners and labels for use with Job Tracking Software systems can be mixed-and-matched to work in a given situation. As these technology advance and as the requirements for the Job Tracking Software changes, if everything is developed correctly it won’t be difficult to make upgrades in the future.

Cambridge Manufacturing Journals


Manufacturing.gov