Machine Vision

Efficient, Ergonomic Fixed Scanning

Packing bench stations—where items are placed into boxes or packages and labeled before shipping to customers—can become quite hectic in busy warehousing and logistics environments. Labor shortages and increasing customer demand in e-commerce businesses have put more pressure on packing teams than ever before. In many conventional setups, employees would retrieve a box, scan the barcode using a handheld scanner, manually peel and affix a shipping label, and then place the box onto a conveyor for shipping.

Zebra packing bench solutions are fully optimized for modern logistics environments, delivering a faster and more streamlined experience. An employee places the box under a fixed FS10 or FS40 scanner, which will flash green and beep, providing visible and audible cues for successful decodes, allowing the employee to work up to 33% faster than in conventional situations.

Warehouse environments today need solutions that are fast, effective and easy to use. Zebra’s FS10 and FS40 fixed industrial scanners are plug-and-play devices that can be plugged into the USB port of a workstation, laptop, tablet or other host device—without need for converting cables—to begin capturing barcode data immediately using Aurora Focus software. In addition, the software’s intuitive interface can be used by beginners and experts alike, allowing companies to improve overall operational efficiency and reduce deployment time, costs, shipping errors and delays that would impact customer satisfaction.

Rugged, Reliable Printers and Built-In Translation

Every second counts when it comes to maintaining a fast, efficient pace at the packing bench. Zebra’s packing bench solutions utilize linerless print technology, which allows workers to print multiple label sizes from one device while eliminating the need for a worker to peel labels—saving valuable seconds on every pack. Zebra linerless printers help cut costs by eliminating trailing label media, which reduces waste for a greener workplace. In addition, Zebra offers a range of other print technologies that are widely deployed in warehousing applications today, including thermal and desktop models for printing shipping and receiving labels, pick and pack labels, pallet labels, RFID tags, packing slips, asset labels, and more.

Another cost-saving feature offered by Zebra for packing bench scanning applications is an HID keyboard offered in Zebra Aurora Focus software that translates acquired data into several different languages, removing the need for a third-party device to translate the default English keyboard into another language. By enabling this feature in the software, the job/output streams over a USB connection to the host PC as if the device were the keyboard.

Barcode Reading and Visual Inspections in One Device

In modern logistics environments, scan tunnels improve tracking and increase sorting throughput. Scan tunnels utilize high-speed fixed industrial scanners, machine vision cameras or smart cameras to capture barcodes that are then decoded by software to verify product information, helping to guide packages of various sizes and shapes to their destinations. Zebra’s barcode solutions make it easy to quickly integrate 1D and 2D barcode reading, data capture and simple machine vision inspection to enhance overall operational efficiency and perform quality checks such as such as package integrity inspection, and label presence and verification including robust character reading.

Because individual customer needs vary, Zebra offers distributed or centralized computation options that can be customized to a company’s unique requirements. With integrated lighting, multiple connectivity options, Aurora Focus software support and a comprehensive set of features for track and trace applications, the FS40 fixed industrial scanner offers a cost effective, intuitive option for scan tunnels. In addition, a single FS40 can perform barcode reading and visual inspections as well as capture barcode and character data in the scan tunnel, in one integrated device. For example, the scanner can have its software upgraded to enable it to detect missing or misplaced logos, stray print and other label defects by counting the number of pixels within a specified region of interest that fall within a certain intensity range, which helps verify label quality as well as capture barcode data in the scan tunnel.

Customers can also deploy Iris GTX smart cameras running Aurora Design Assistant software or CV60 series machine vision cameras combined with Zebra frame grabbers and a 4Sight industrial vision controller running software from the Zebra Aurora™ software suite.

Next Generation Scan Tunnel Architecture

In today’s scan tunnels, one camera or scanner is designated as a "leader" device, which coordinates and communicates with the other "follower" devices in the tunnel. In this setup, all cameras capture barcodes, process data and send it to a designated leader module, aggregating all captured scan data and quickly sending only the information required by the host application.

By deploying the GS20 connectivity gateway—which supports up to 16 cameras or scanners—all other imaging devices in the tunnel can act as single-purpose devices and capture barcodes. Deploying such a device eliminates processing inefficiencies and allows all cameras or scanners to achieve maximum scanning capabilities. In addition, the GS20 requires no coding or technical expertise for setup and offers a rugged dustproof and waterproof design.

Hands-Free Pallet Scanning

Before loading pallets of goods onto a truck for shipping, workers must ensure that the correct pallet is being loaded into the truck from the forklift. A conventional setup may involve a forklift driver navigating to the truck and scanning the pallet either from the seat or directly in front of the pallet using a handheld device. Advancements in automation technologies, however, have streamlined this process.

A common automation application in warehouse loading operations today, forklift scanning systems provide hands-free scanning capabilities. A typical setup may involve two fixed industrial scanners mounted on the front of the forklift between its tines, acting as the eyes of the vehicle. When the forklift approaches a pallet, the scanners automatically scan labels and transmit the captured data to the forklift’s onboard computer, saving significant time, reducing read errors and misloads, and improving loading efficiency and shipping volume.

Rugged, Reliable Track-and-Trace Options

When it comes to choosing the right fixed scanner or smart camera for forklift scanning applications, the rugged IP67-rated FS40 fixed industrial scanner is an ideal option; housed in industrial aluminium with reinforced plastic, accompanied by Aurora Focus software support, managed via an intuitive interface and equipped with an integrated LED array, plus one M12 cable for power and I/O to minimize the risk of cable snags on the forklift. In addition, the FS40 scanners can be transformed into smart cameras with the addition of a software license, enriching the device with machine vision capabilities and eliminating the need to purchase a separate device.

Zebra VS40 smart cameras can also be deployed in forklift scanning applications to fulfil the same needs, while also offering additional machine vision capabilities These include missing or misplaced logo detection, stray print detection and label verification tasks.

Automated Scanning Archway

Like forklift scanning, dock door scanning provides modern logistics environments with a means to efficiently and effectively automate the process of ensuring that the proper pallet is being received, moved or loaded from an inbound vehicle or into an outbound truck. A typical dock door scanning setup essentially inverts the forklift scanning application, mounting two fixed industrial scanners in an arch on either side of the door—as opposed to being mounted on a forklift—for automatic scanning.

When the forklift enters through the doorway, the fixed scanners capture barcode data at high speeds, and the data is relayed to the forklift’s onboard computer, which confirms that the correct pallet is being sent off for shipping. Instead of an operator having to stop and manually scan barcodes—which slows the process considerably—the vehicle can keep moving the pallet into the truck, and the automated system accurately scans the labels, ultimately saving time and increasing shipping output. In addition, the barcode scanners are programmed to scan for codes in a specific region of interest, avoiding any erroneous scans from pallets outside that specific area.

Accurate, High-Speed Code Reading

Reading barcodes on a pallet while a forklift is in motion requires a high-speed fixed industrial scanner. Zebra’s FS40 can process up to 16 different images simultaneously at frame rates up to 60 frames/second. Should the application require it, Zebra Barcode+ software tools can help ensure label presence, confirm correct or incorrect positioning and orientation, and verify that a label is in the correct location.

The FS40 offers a robust design, onboard lighting and a single cable for power and I/O which simplifies installation. For dock door scanning and all other warehouse applications, the FS40 scanner can also be transformed into a smart camera with the addition of a software license, adding machine vision capabilities without having to purchase a separate device. While the FS40 offers the flexibility to customize this solution, dock door scanning can also be configured using Zebra CV60 machine vision cameras, a 4Sight series vision controller and Aurora Vision Studio, depending on the requirements of the environment.