Barcode Printers

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. . . Who Might Need One

You might be surprised about the many different types of companies which can benefit from a barcode printer, in fact, I’ll go one step further already . . . a mobile barcode printer can be an invaluable piece of kit for many businesses these days. What on earth for? To print barcodes, of course. But who needs ‘em? As I’ve already said, prepare to be surprised at just how versatile a barcode printer is, and how useful a mobile barcode printer could be to help with efficient and cost effective running of your company. They’re used in a lot more places than supermarkets you know.

The Many Uses of a Barcode Printer

Lots of companies use barcodes to label any products which might have a longer than average storage time, be exposed to chemicals or those products which are transferred and shipped through a lengthy supply chain. Lots of companies have their own barcode printers too, for just the very task of printing said barcodes . . . many companies are now realizing the benefits of having mobile barcode printers available so that barcode labels can be produced exactly where and when they are needed (saves the workers having to go to and from the fixed barcode printer). It also helps to improve accuracy quite considerably, each barcode label is printed and applied exactly where and when it is needed . . . to the right stuff!

Well, it is the Barcode Brothers. You try finding a nice song about barcode printers to break up the page! One does ones best you know, to keep life as interesting as possible.

Which Departments Might Need a Barcode Printer

• Manufacturing, Storage and Warehousing – barcodes are a great help when tracking and managing assets, they’re a good method of labeling goods received as well as shipping.
• Logistics and Transportation – you can generate and then apply at the point of shipping, saves any errors or confusion, you can also use a barcode printer to label containers and for cross-docking.
• Mobile Workforce / Field Workers – would find plenty of uses for a mobile barcode printer too. Generating labels outside of plant can be useful for tagging assets (tools, vehicles, equipment), service the old labels found at remote sites and producing barcode labels for a hundred and one other things too.

Types of Barcode Printer

Now that we’ve established just how useful a barcode printer could be for your business, let’s look at the different types of barcode printer available, including their strengths and weaknesses. What makes a good barcode printer . . . and therefore a good barcode? Well, the barcode has to be readable and scanable, that’s what it’s there for, to be read and scanned. The readability and scanability of any barcode depends on the quality of the barcode printer. Four methods of barcode printing are available:

• Inkjet
• Laser
• Dot Matrix
• Thermal

Which is best?

Inkjet and Laser barcode printers do have great print quality, but because they print each barcode as an image this can really slow down the print speed, it uses up more memory you see. They also print a whole sheet of barcodes at a time, not just one, which isn’t always what you want.

Dot Matrix barcode printers often create pretty poor quality barcodes making them difficult to scan. They can also be pretty slow and can’t even manage to print the really small barcodes.

Thermal barcode printers however, can print as little or as many barcodes as you like at one time, they can print really good quality bar codes which are easy to read and scan and they’re also pretty quick. They can print the really small barcodes, even those with high density and can print on many different facestocks and label sizes.

It just goes on . . . and on . . . and on . . . and on . . .

Do not try this at home . . . or at work, especially if the boss is around!