Two Reasons You Should Consider Fixed Industrial Scanning and Machine Vision Systems

It’s no secret that businesses are under more pressure than ever to increase output, maximize efficiency, and improve quality control. That’s just the nature of the game: Whether you’re a manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, there’s a constant need to do it faster and better.

NEFF has made it our mission to enhance customers’ competitiveness for four generations. In that time, we’ve demonstrated again and again that automation solutions are one of the best tools available to meet these challenges. And, to help us deliver results, we’re always looking for suppliers and partners who can give our customers’ an advantage.

Lately, we’ve seen more and more applications for fixed industrial scanning and machine vision solutions. One of the changes we’ve made as a result is to become an official Zebra Partner.

Zebra has long been a global leader in data and image capture solutions. We’re convinced that their new portfolio of fixed industrial scanners and machine vision smart cameras can easily integrate into existing workflows to help our customers drive higher levels of productivity and accuracy in a wide variety of applications.

There are two high-level reasons that we think most manufacturing and distribution operations should take a close look at automated imaging solutions.

1. The first reason is accuracy: No human-based inspection or tracking system can match the capabilities and reliability of today’s leading fixed scanners and machine vison cameras.

2. The second reason is staffing: Most businesses today are facing critical staffing shortages that often can be addressed with automated systems.

The repetitive nature of manual scanning makes it prone to human error. It’s just hard to rely on workers to maintain total focus and accuracy in the face of monotonous, redundant tasks. And whenever you introduce simple variables such as damaged barcodes or inconsistent lighting, the results become even less reliable. So, any system that relies on manual scanning or inspection needs to account for the likelihood of missed scans. That usually means slowing things down and allowing extra time to account for some level of rescanning.

Machines, of course, excel at monotonous, repetitive tasks—it’s what they’re designed for. And, since Zebra’s automated scanning solutions are engineered around industry-leading decoding algorithms, you can trust them to accelerate read rates and ensure reliable data capture under even the most challenging factory and distribution environments.

With Zebra’s fixed scanners and machine vision smart cameras, accuracy is ensured by a range of advanced imaging functions. For example, ImagePerfect+ captures up to 16 different images, each with its own unique setting for focus, exposure gain, illumination control, and other variables to ensure the reliability of everything from basic barcode scanning to sophisticated visual inspections.

Moreover, the entire lineup is driven by Zebra’s exclusive PRZM Intelligent Imaging technology, which has been proven in literally thousands of industrial applications to deliver the reliable data capture needed to keep operations running at peak capacity. PRZM enables the simultaneous capture of multiple barcodes, extends read ranges and focal distances, and allows a larger field of view to capture more information with less equipment. It enables first-time capture of virtually any barcode in practically any condition, from damaged 1D/2D barcodes on a fast-moving production line to challenging DPM codes printed on curved and reflective surfaces.

Like most well-designed automaton solutions, shifting scanning and image capture to Zebra’s fixed industrial scanning or machine vision solutions can take pressure off your workers and unlock significant time savings. You’ll see a direct savings in labor costs, and you may even be able to shift workers to higher value tasks that deliver maximum impact on your bottom line.

To capitalize the labor savings of any automation system, it’s critical to ensure that the benefits are not weighed down by additional overhead costs because of excessive training and complex support requirements. This is an area where Zebra’s automated imaging solutions really excel.

Zebra has engineered their entire fixed scanning and machine vision portfolio for easy setup, deployment, and maintenance. The key is Zebra Aurora, a unified software platform that Zebra designed specifically to simplify device configuration and management. Aurora utilizes a unique Human Machine Interface (HMI) dashboard that lets operators see and interact with configured scanners and cameras via any web browser. You can even use Aurora to connect a monitor directly to the scanner or camera eliminating the need to install a PC at every workstation for an even simpler installation.

Learn more about Zebra Machine Vision and Fixed Scanners >>