Image-based Barcode Readers Transforming the Logistics Industry

The logistics barcode-scanning market breaks down into three segments. At the entry-level, a mix of conventional area-array imagers and laser scanners read codes on slow moving or stationary objects. At the high-end of the scale, fixed line scan image-based systems handle high-speed, multi-sided barcode tunnel applications. Situated between these two extremes lies an entire range of applications that currently rely on an increasingly challenged generation of laser-based scanners.

Retail distribution centers require meticulous stock control, which includes careful management of purchasing, shipping and warehouse inventory. Laser systems provide high read rates with good-quality printed barcodes when labels are undamaged, but they have difficulty reading codes under less than ideal conditions. Image-based readers can provide improved read rates, but their cost and complexity have limited their use to high-volume distribution centers… until now. A new generation of image-based readers is poised to revolutionize the market, offering sufficient speed at a price point equal to or lower than that of laser-based alternatives.