(Continued on from Part 1 of our NRF 2016 highlights blog)
Honeywell
Honeywell, an AIDC veteran, this year introduced a range of solutions which showcased its strong initiative behind the Honeywell User Experience. Focusing on the user’s requirements and maximizing businesses’ productivity, the company showcased a number of mobile computing, scanning and printing solutions this year at NRF. For scanning, Honeywell introduced the 1602G companion scanner, the Solaris 7820 stationary scanner (aimed at the growing SMB space), as well as two new wireless voyager pistol grip scanners – the 1202G and 1452G. In addition, the company continues to see success of its Youjie brand of scanning solutions and plans to expand its product line to new emerging markets beyond China in 2016. For printing, following the same initiative of customer centric design, the company introduced the Honeywell PC42t is a light industrial label printer developed for price sensitive emerging markets in Asia and around the world. An additional observation, is Honeywell’s greater emphasis around software solutions and leveraging some of its existing software assets – particularly from its Vocollect solutions – to address a broader scope of workforce management requirements. The emphasis here will be on better understand the performance of individual workers and the opportunity to identify and address potential bottlenecks and performance issues.
Opticon
Opticon Inc. is an auto ID and data capture vendor that is well known for its prominent 1D laser and 2D imager scan engines. One of the earliest players in the mobile barcode scanning space, the company this year showcased a range of companion scanning solutions including its new Bluetooth ring scanning accessory and a pair of new scan engines - the MDI3100 (Imager) and the MCD200 (CCD). In addition, the company showcased its color digital signage and electronic shelf labeling (ESL) solutions.
Infinite Peripherals
Infinite Peripherals, a leading mobile scanning/mobile peripherals solutions provider showcased its full line of scanning and payment capture solutions at NRF 2016 as well as introducing its new Mobile POS solution line of mobile scanners including the Infinea mPOS sled, the Infinea mPOS flat, and its Omni kiosk solution. The company has had a successful 2015 serving major companies including United and JetBlue and the introduction of its mPOS line of solutions will continue to drive growth for a company that is riding the growing consumer device adoption in the enterprise space. The company also highlighted its Device Management platform through which businesses can monitor devices and metrics such as battery life and use through a dashboard, the solution will appeal to companies, especially those who are concerned about the ROI of their investments in the store.
Intelligrated
Intelligrated, a major material handling solutions provider this year showcased how the efficiency of the warehouse can be brought to the inside of the store. Key offerings demonstrated at NRF such as its Intelligrated voice solutions and Labor Management System, highlighted how technologies in the warehouse such as voice can be used in store for order fulfillment by store associate for application such as click and collect. In addition, with analytics being a major theme this year across companies, Intelligrated’s LMS solution is flexible to be used for the warehouse or retail to track employee performances and enhance workforce productivity in both the front and the back of the store.
Scandit
Founded in 2009, Scandit is a mobile image processing and cloud computing software vendor. This year at NRF the company highlighted its Scandit applications which leverage its patented SDK to improve workflows in the front and back of the retail. Applications such as its inventory management, asset tracking and clienteling applications enable retailers to leverage intuitive consumer devices to enhance the productivity its employees. In addition, the company introduced its Scandit Case, a rugged peripheral which enables forward facing scanning to create an all in one solution for customers to use without concerns about dropping the device by mistake. The case is able to achieve forward facing scanning by redirecting the smartphone camera and LED light for illumination, aiming and image capture. The case has no additional electronic components but has a dedicated button to press for barcode scanning.
Zebra
Zebra Technologies is a global leader in the auto ID and data capture solutions market. At NRF 2016, Zebra showcased solutions to make businesses more productive and connected than ever before. From a data capture perspective, Zebra showcased its latest personal shopping solution, the MC18 and its new RFD8500 RFID/1D/2D scanning sled.
The MC18 is for consumer applications such as self-checkout, special offers, and price checks. For sales associates, the PSS can be used for inventory management, price checks, stock look-ups, and queue busting. Zebra’s PSS solution can scan 1D and 2D barcodes and are connected through wireless 802.11n for real-time information and data transfer enabling retailer to engage customer preferences, and tastes to increase cart size and sales.
The RFID/1D/2D scanning sled is Zebra’s first universal scanning sled to enable both barcode and RFID scanning for select Zebra and consumer-grade mobile devices, tablets, and smart phones. The sled is available with just RFID or RFID and Imager so users can easily switch between RFID and barcode scanning modes with the tap of a button. With retailers today carrying a range of both RFID tags and Barcode labels in store, the RFD8500 is a flexible solution engaging the changing needs of the retail space today.
Finally, Zebra Technologies showcased its Bluetooth beacon solution for customer engagement and analytics called the MPact platform. The MPact Customer Experience solution utilizes beacon technology to engage customers via their smartphones and other Bluetooth enabled devices for a more personalized and engaging customer experience. Retailers can use the solution to push deals, offers and personalized messages to customers while also gaining insight into store metrics surrounding customer preferences and habits.
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