Ben Ames has spent 20 years as a journalist since starting out as a daily newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania in 1995. From 1999 forward, he has focused on business and technology reporting for a number of trade journals, beginning when he joined Design News and Modern Materials Handling magazines. Ames is author of the trail guide "Hiking Massachusetts" and is a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism.
Recent leaps in technology have pushed prices for image-based code readers down in the last 18 months, making them price-competitive with laser scanners and expanding opportunities for data collection throughout the supply chain.
Logistics managers can eliminate inefficiencies if they take advantage of these price reductions to upgrade to two-dimensional (2-D) image-based technology from one-dimensional (1-D) data capture devices such as laser bar-code scanners, industry experts say. For instance, mounting cameras instead of lasers to conveyors will enable DC associates to examine the entire package—rather than just the bar code—as shipments flow past an inspection point. The ability to analyze that flood of new information can help ensure customer satisfaction and improve vendor compliance, reduce shipping costs, and minimize chargeback fees from supply chain partners.
"Laser scanners are equipped only for one dimension, but camera-based imagers can do much more," said Richa Gupta, a senior analyst for auto ID and data capture with VDC Research, a supply chain analyst firm in Natick, Mass.
"They are not restricted to a certain type of symbology; they can take images of the product itself, as well as getting information off the bar code and seeing information imprinted on the package," Gupta said. "There is no limit to the amount of information they can capture. That is the biggest value proposition."
The market has taken notice and pushed global sales of camera-based 2-D readers from $312 million in 2013 to an estimated $338 million in 2014 and $475 million in 2018, according to market research from VDC.
The predicted 8.9-percent rise in sales of image-based readers between 2014 and 2018 comes in sharp contrast to a forecast 3.1-percent decline for laser scanner sales over the same period, VDC says. Global sales of 1-D bar-code readers—including laser scanners and linear imagers—are projected to slump from $244 million in 2013 to $236 million in 2014 and just $208 million in 2018.
BAR CODES STILL A CRUCIAL INGREDIENT
To be sure, bar codes aren't going away. Industries in nearly every vertical category rely on the zebra-striped codes to keep up with the ever-increasing pace and complexity of inventory flow through warehouses and fulfillment centers and on to retail stores.
In past years, laser scanners were the technology of choice for that application, as they were the only devices with sufficient speed and depth of field to quickly and accurately read bar codes on packages as they whisked past fixed points on fast-moving conveyors.
But thanks to recent technology advances in processing power, digital image sensors, and onboard memory storage, image-based readers are finally catching up.
"Applications for reading bar codes at long range and [high] speed used to be highly dependent on laser scanning. But in the past 18 months, that dynamic has started to change," Gupta said. "Image-based scanners are now a very viable contender for any and all applications in distribution centers and warehousing."
Carter Control Systems in Frederick, Md., is one of those companies that have seen potential in camera-based readers. When the material handling systems integrator won a contract to design a new warehouse for a vitamin retailer, it had to draw up specifications for the conveyor, sortation, and manifest processing systems. Among other things, it needed to find an affordable automatic identification (auto ID) reader that could deliver near-100-percent read rates; handle line speeds of 30 packages per minute; and read codes on boxes, shipping labels, packing labels, and invoices. An image-based reader from Natick, Mass.-based Cognex Corp. fit all the requirements, said Marcus Lepage, Carter Controls' senior software engineer for application development. The integrator installed 18 of the units along the vitamin company's main conveyor line.
DATA DELIVERS BIG RETURNS
Speed and accuracy are important, but the greatest value in adopting image-based scanning comes in how you analyze the data. Users are quickly realizing they can do more things with camera-based sensor data than just achieve good read-rates, said Jim Anderson, national product manager for vision and 2-D code readers with Sick AG, the German sensor manufacturer.
By using software algorithms to analyze the torrents of data produced by image-based scanners, users can inspect every package on the line to validate its size, position, completeness, and dimensions, Anderson said.
That approach can deliver a quick return on investment (ROI) in several ways, including:
Reducing the incidence of mislabeled items by running optical character recognition (OCR) software on the image data to compare the information on a shipping label to the text on a package and make sure they match up.
Ensuring vendor compliance by identifying partners that ship high rates of packages with unreadable labels. Image-based sensors create data that can generate statistics showing the reasons for the problem, such as the position of each label relative to the box or the distance from a label to the corner.
Avoiding the chargeback fees often levied by carriers on shippers who attempt to tender packages with unreadable labels.
Achieving cost savings by using precise dimension data to stay ahead of the new dimensional weight fee structures imposed by carriers like FedEx and UPS.
BIG BENEFITS FROM DIGITAL IMAGES
Benefits of image-based code reading will continue to proliferate as computing systems gain processing horsepower. Eventually, they'll be able to intuit the objects they're inspecting without even relying on codes, said Robert Beideman, vice president of retail logistics at Datalogic, an auto ID and industrial automation equipment maker in Telford, Pa.
"What if your code reader could look at a box of Wheaties and it can't see a bar code, but it knows what a box of Wheaties looks like?" Beideman asked.
"There is a lot of power in an image," he said. "You can peel back the onion on business analytics, find pinch points in material handling systems, or identify parts of the building causing package damage."
Another way to wring extra value from images in a logistics operation is to give each customer a more customized experience, Beideman said. For example, in a dispute over damaged goods, a distribution center equipped with image-based code recognition technology could verify exactly when damage occurred to a specific package or even provide photographic evidence that the package was fine when it was shipped out to the customer.
ADVANCED ANALYTICS PAYS OFF
Improvements in vision tools could also allow users to gain business returns through software algorithms that identify problems in warehouse operations, said Matt Engle, director of ID products marketing and logistics at Cognex.
By using a camera-based system that can save information about packages as they roll by on a conveyor, customers can aggregate enough data to identify patterns and solutions.
"A laser can't save any info on the package as it goes by, but an image-based reader can. So we can automatically generate a classic continuous-improvement Pareto chart," Engle said, referring to a type of graph that illustrates the causes of different events. "Say, yesterday my read rates dropped. Let me go back and look at the data. It could be I need to train the new operator better, or maybe something is wrong with the label printing machine."
Whichever vendor they choose, logistics and DC professionals are using image-based technology to meet many needs in the warehouse. They can balance price, size, and speed to pick the best scanner for any given fulfillment center task, whether it's scanning outbound goods at a dock door, high-speed operation on a shoe sorter line, low-speed work on a print and apply line, zone routing with totes, pick and pack, or order fulfillment from storage.
Regardless of its place in the distribution center, a visual code reader can deliver savings and process improvements to help busy supply chain operations keep up with the speed of modern business.
The British logistics robot vendor Dexory this week said it has raised $80 million in venture funding to support an expansion of its artificial intelligence (AI) powered features, grow its global team, and accelerate the deployment of its autonomous robots.
A “significant focus” continues to be on expanding across the U.S. market, where Dexory is live with customers in seven states and last month opened a U.S. headquarters in Nashville. The Series B will also enhance development and production facilities at its UK headquarters, the firm said.
The “series B” funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. With the close of the round, Dexory has now raised $120 million over the past three years.
Dexory says its product, DexoryView, provides real-time visibility across warehouses of any size through its autonomous mobile robots and AI. The rolling bots use sensor and image data and continuous data collection to perform rapid warehouse scans and create digital twins of warehouse spaces, allowing for optimized performance and future scenario simulations.
Originally announced in September, the move will allow Deutsche Bahn to “fully focus on restructuring the rail infrastructure in Germany and providing climate-friendly passenger and freight transport operations in Germany and Europe,” Werner Gatzer, Chairman of the DB Supervisory Board, said in a release.
For its purchase price, DSV gains an organization with around 72,700 employees at over 1,850 locations. The new owner says it plans to investment around one billion euros in coming years to promote additional growth in German operations. Together, DSV and Schenker will have a combined workforce of approximately 147,000 employees in more than 90 countries, earning pro forma revenue of approximately $43.3 billion (based on 2023 numbers), DSV said.
After removing that unit, Deutsche Bahn retains its core business called the “Systemverbund Bahn,” which includes passenger transport activities in Germany, rail freight activities, operational service units, and railroad infrastructure companies. The DB Group, headquartered in Berlin, employs around 340,000 people.
“We have set clear goals to structurally modernize Deutsche Bahn in the areas of infrastructure, operations and profitability and focus on the core business. The proceeds from the sale will significantly reduce DB’s debt and thus make an important contribution to the financial stability of the DB Group. At the same time, DB Schenker will gain a strong strategic owner in DSV,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Richard Lutz said in a release.
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.
Krish Nathan is the Americas CEO for SDI Element Logic, a provider of turnkey automation solutions and sortation systems. Nathan joined SDI Industries in 2000 and honed his project management and engineering expertise in developing and delivering complex material handling solutions. In 2014, he was appointed CEO, and in 2022, he led the search for a strategic partner that could expand SDI’s capabilities. This culminated in the acquisition of SDI by Element Logic, with SDI becoming the Americas branch of the company.
A native of the U.K., Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering from Coventry University and has studied executive leadership at Cranfield University.
Q: How would you describe the current state of the supply chain industry?
A: We see the supply chain industry as very dynamic and exciting, both from a growth perspective and from an innovation perspective. The pandemic hangover is still impacting decisions to nearshore, and that has resulted in a spike in business for us in both the USA and Mexico. Adding new technology to our portfolio has been a significant contributor to our continued expansion.
Q: Distributors were making huge tech investments during the pandemic simply to keep up with soaring consumer demand. How have things changed since then?
A: The consumer demand for e-commerce certainly appears to have cooled since the pandemic high, but our clients continue to see steady growth. Growth, combined with low unemployment and high labor costs, continues to make automation a good investment for many companies.
Q: Robotics are still in high demand for material handling applications. What are some of the benefits of these systems?
A: As an organization, we are investing heavily in software that will allow Element Logic to offer solutions for robotic picking that are hardware-agnostic. We have had success deploying unit picking for order fulfillment solutions and unit placing of items onto tray-based sorters.
From a benefit point of view, we’ve seen the consistency of a given operation improve. For example, the placement accuracy of a product onto a tray is far higher from a robotic arm than from a person. In order fulfillment applications, two of the biggest benefits are reliability and hours of operation. The robots don't call in sick, and they are happy to work 22 hours a day!
Q: SDI Element Logic offers a wide range of automated solutions, including automated storage and sortation equipment. What criteria should distributors use to determine what type of system is right for them?
A: There are a significant number of factors to consider when thinking about automation. In my experience, automation pays for itself in three key ways: It saves space, it increases the efficiency of labor, and it improves accuracy. So evaluating which of these will be [most] beneficial and quantifying the associated savings will lead to a “right sized” investment in technology.
Another important factor to consider is product mix. With a small SKU (stock-keeping unit) base, often automation doesn’t make sense. And with a huge SKU base, there will be products that don’t lend themselves to automation.
With any significant investment, you need to partner with an organization that has deep experience with the technologies that are being considered and … in-depth knowledge of the process that is being automated.
Q: How can a goods-to-person system reduce the amount of labor needed to fill orders?
A: In most order picking operations, there is a considerable amount of walking between pick faces to find the SKUs associated with a given order or set of orders. Goods-to-person eliminates the walking and allows the operator to just pick. I have seen studies that [show] that 75% of the time [required] to assemble an order in a manual picking environment is walking or “non-picking” time. So eliminating walking will reduce the amount of labor needed.
The goods-to-person approach also fits perfectly with robotic picking, so even the actual picking aspect of order assembly can be automated in some instances. For these reasons, [automation offers] a significant opportunity to reduce the labor needed to fulfill a customer order.
Q: If you could pick one thing a company should do to improve its distribution center operations, what would it be?
A: Evaluate. Evaluate the opportunities for improving by considering automation. In my experience, the challenge most companies have is recognizing that automation is an alternative. The barrier to entry is far lower than most people think!