A Tablet in the Warehouse? You betcha…
The acceptance of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has generated a lot of buzz over the last few years, with plenty of pros and cons to consider. For most companies, the landscape looks considerably different today than it did 10 to 15 years ago, but the end goals are still the same:
- Increased profitability
- Improved operating efficiencies
- Enhanced worker productivity
With economic and competitive pressures what they are, organizations are looking for ways to alleviate some of the burden placed on the business to reduce expenses and free up capital. In particular, we are seeing efforts to reduce operating expenses that include the use of personal devices. With an increase in remote users and initiatives to reduce operating costs, BYOD helps alleviate some of the burden.
A solid infrastructure and strongly supported set of access rules can offer ease of use without the worry of overextending IT resources. Integration of these devices minimize training time and provide all-in-one accessibility to voice, email and network applications. And remote management becomes easier when they’re operating on the company network.
The good news is that industry manufacturers and software developers are listening to what we need to make BYOD more compatible in the workplace. The tablet, for one, is getting a lot of play in the enterprise environment – and for good reason:
- Lightweight, sleek design
- Relatively large screen size
- Popular personal device for many employees
Tablets are obviously much easier for today’s mobile worker since they are light weight and, well, mobile! But for high-volume barcode scanning applications, consumer-grade tablets don’t quite fit the bill. For one, the form factor makes scanning barcodes on shelf racks or pallets difficult – and when it comes to scanning performance, it’s slow and unreliable in dimly-lit areas (which is the nature of most warehouse environments).
For workers who are performing hundreds of scanning functions each day, productivity could be negatively affected. The good news is that there are ways to subjugate the challenges caused by using devices that make tasks easier in some areas, but impede productivity in other areas.
Putting the Right Device to Work
Industry leaders like Motorola have been successfully delivering Bluetooth® barcode scanners to the marketplace to solve the issue of workers being tethered to their workstation. Now Motorola has taken Bluetooth one step further by offering BT V2.1 on their portfolio of hand-held scanners which support Apple ioS, Google Android and Microsoft Windows.
When you pair the right scanner with the existing tablet, you get:
– Improved ergonomics with a device that is easy to hold and use; designed to fit the workers hand
– Excellent scanning range; from near contact to over 30 inches away
– Superior responsiveness; fast, accurate scanning in any environment and particularly on damaged or hard-to-read barcodes
– Accessibility to remote management tools to simplify the management of devices in and around the organization
The coming together of the tablet and barcode scanners like the Motorola LI4278 and DS3578 still offer portability, mobility and ease-of-use for your employees. Giving them the freedom to consistently operate at the point of work makes their job easier, improves morale, and ultimately increases customer satisfaction.
Why wait? Ask your Vision Computer Works representative to talk with you about solutions to help your employees better utilize their own device.