The Case for Coordinated, End-to-End, Item-Level RFID/RTLS Tracking Has Already Been Proved

The L-Tron team recently received a blog comment from Eef de Ferrante, Director of the Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (aipia.info), reminding us that item-level tracking systems are often best coordinated at the production end of the supply chain. Said Eef:  “Let’s not forget that barcodes, tags, labels, and indicators are initially a subject…

End-To-End, Item-level RFID Tracking?

When you’re the largest retailer on the planet, you have the power to direct positive change that benefits entire industries. Such was the case in 2003 when Wal-Mart announced what would eventually become known simply as “the mandate,” a requirement that, by 2006, its major suppliers equip all cases or pallets of products with smart…

Zebra: Knitting Your IoT Links

Our blogs have covered the Internet of Things concept before, and undoubtedly will again and again as our industry-leading technology partners develop the myriad of innovations required to transform IoT from concept to reality. The fact is, lots of bloggers are focusing on IoT these days, many bemoaning that its promise isn’t being fulfilled more…

Self-service? Bring it on!

I stopped by the grocery store on the way to work today and used one of its self-service checkout kiosks.  Experience tells me it’s faster than the full-service lines, and I was pressed for time.  Truth is, whether short of time, or not, I’m more likely these days to use a self-service checkout than full-service,…

Zebra: Simplifying Retail Pricing Strategies

As advances in information technology – and more recently, in mobile connectivity – produce evermore-informed consumers, pricing strategies have, of necessity, become increasingly aggressive. With retailers vying to retain the title of “the store that offers the greatest value,” pricing strategies have evolved from among the more static aspects of retail merchandising into among its…

Overloaded Retail Return Processing – Wireless Printing After the Sale

Because I am primarily a visual learner, I’m helped most by those written descriptions that allow me to envision in concrete images the various stages of the processes they describe, and I had just that experience while reading Zebra Technologies’ white paper, Wireless Printing Delivers Efficiency and Cost Savings in Retail, as it described how…

Wireless Printing in Retail Applications

In a recent blog post inspired by Zebra Technologies’ white paper, Wireless Printing Delivers Efficiency and Cost Savings in Retail, I recalled the bad-old days when the mobility of every electrical appliance was limited by the length of its heavy power cord. As for wireless communications, those were all one-way exchanges consisting of transmissions rated…

Wireless Printing, Cutting the Cord

Which makes more sense you, bringing the work to the printer or bringing the printer to the work? There have been a number of sea-change technological breakthroughs within the lifetimes of those of us who’ve been around since the 50s and earlier, and more than a few of them have to do with cutting the…

Material and Printing Options for Barcoded Patient Wristbands

You’ve decided to deploy barcoded patient wristbands, but what wristband materials and what printing options should you select? Zebra Technologies’ recent white paper, It’s All in the Wrist: Improving Patient Safety with Barcode Wristbands, provides valuable insight into the competing considerations that will drive those decisions. Wristband Materials First and foremost, the wristband you deploy…