Internet communication, real-time radio connectivity, and information transfer using all available electronic methods are examples of modern standards set by Zebra Technologies – a manufacturer of thermal and thermal transfer printers.
For several years, we have been observing the development of a modern medium that has permanently changed our approach to many areas of life. The Internet, as it is called, has in many cases become the primary form of human communication. In the functioning of enterprises, it has become common to use this medium for activities such as: making purchases, finding various information, and exchanging information (from scientific to purely entertainment).
The Internet is also becoming a part of logistics systems. An example of finding connections between the era of electronic information exchange and logistics systems is the new line of Zebra Xi III series printers. Zebra Xi series printers have set the standards for labeling goods with barcodes from the very beginning. Through the use of state-of-the-art thermal transfer print control technologies, the Xi series printers are adapted to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In the era of electronic information exchange, however, it was necessary to go further. The result was the introduction of a new generation of printers to the market that use the Internet to communicate with the user.
The first printer that “Talks to You”.
Currently, the achieved technological level of label printing devices no longer focuses on providing products that will be able to withstand the most difficult working conditions (continuous operation, dust – conditions typical for production halls). This goal has already been achieved by Zebra’s Xi and XiII series devices. The challenge in the era of electronic data exchange was to integrate current thermal transfer printing solutions with the Internet and practically utilize all the possible benefits resulting from this.
While most manufacturers of thermal transfer barcode printers have focused on solutions that provide the user with information about printer malfunctions via the Internet, Zebra Technologies has gone much further. It has created a new family of TCP/IP Zebra XiIII printers, which allow for remote configuration of all printer parameters. In practice, this means that Zebra printers, in addition to informing the user about printing irregularities, allow for remote troubleshooting from anywhere on Earth (via the Internet) by properly configuring the printer.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2001/1.