This Week’s Product Pick

Wasp Barcode Technologies (Plano, TX) has targeted the SMB market with its WDI4500 two-dimensional barcode scanner, which lists at $379. This new device reads all common linear barcodes and two-dimensional formats such as PDF-417, Data Matrix, MaxiCode, and Aztec Code, with support for Microsoft Windows and USB connection port. To enhance performance, the WDI4500 employs patented LED imaging capabilities and an optimized processor to quickly and aggressively scan and input information to spreadsheets, word documents, and databases. In order to accept electronic coupons or paperless tickets, the device also reads barcodes displayed on mobile phones and computer monitors. It works from up to 15 inches away for two-dimensional barcodes and 25 inches away for one-dimensional barcodes and offers an integrated laser aiming guide. Ergonomically designed, the WDI4500 withstands multiple five-foot drops to concrete, according to the vendor. Optional features include stand and extended protection warranty. “In the past, 2D barcode scanners were either too expensive or too slow for most small businesses,” stated Tom O’Shea, GM at Wasp Barcode Technologies. “We’ve solved these problems with the WDI4500, which offers the same speed and accuracy the market has become accustomed to in 1D laser barcode scanners you might find in the grocery store.”

WDI4500 Scanner from Wasp

Worth Your While

VARTECH 2010
BlueStar
August 29-31
Cincinnati, OH

NACS Show
National Association of Convenience Stores
October 5-8
Atlanta

CTIA Enterprise & Applications
CTIA-The Wireless Association
October 6-8
San Francisco

Pack Expo International
Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI)
October 31-November 3
Chicago

AIM Expo
Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility
November 1-3
Chicago

Customer Engagement Technology World
(Formerly KioskCom & The Digital Signage Show)
November 10-11
New York

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Magellan Circumnavigates Imaging

Datalogic Scanning (Eugene, OR) debuted its Magellan 3200VSi single-plane, solid-state scanner powered by imaging technology--an industry first, according to the vendor. Magellan 3200VSi employs new architecture developed by Datalogic Scanning to boost read performance for both linear and two-dimensional barcodes. By handling both sweep and presentation scanning, with omni-directional field of view, the new device helps ensure maximum productivity and ergonomic ease. In addition, it allows retailers to support emerging applications such as barcode-based mobile marketing.

Tailored for medium to high-volume POS environments, the compact-sized Magellan 3200VSi scanner will prove particularly effective in smaller checkout lanes with no requirement for integrated weighing. Actual dimensions measure 5.6 in. x 6.0 in. x 3.2 in. with weight of 1.3 lbs. Interestingly, Datalogic has added Micro SD card reader to facilitate software management, upgrading, and maintenance. Since most of the scanner’s features are software-based, new capabilities may be easily added after initial installation, protecting the end-user’s technology investment, according to the manufacturer.

“We have a new high-performance product that significantly improves the ability to read difficult barcodes that are found in the retail environment, has the option of additional features such as two-dimensional scanning, performs image capture, has the ability to read barcodes from cell phones, and features extreme reliability,” declared Matt Schler, GM of Fixed Scanning at Datalogic Scanning. “This is why the Magellan 3200VSi imaging-based scanner is truly revolutionary. We are pleased to be the first scanning company to combine the benefits of both imaging and high-volume laser technology in one scanner for our customers.”

Magellan 3200VSi Scanner From Datalogic Scanning

APG Arms Its Caddy

APG Cash Drawer (Minneapolis) unwrapped its latest integration product, the Caddy SPM Organizer with supporting monitor arm, which allows for more flexible placement of POS peripherals. Caddy SPM works with any heavy-duty APG Series 100 (16 x 16 in.) or Series 4000 (18 x 16 in.) cash drawer, supports monitors weighing up to 20 lbs., and features standard 75-mm and 100-mm VESA mounting. Unique locating tabs allow secure placement without drilling or fasteners, with cables neatly routed through the half of an inch clearance above the cash drawer. APG also offers the Caddy SP without monitor stand.

“We are very excited to release this new product,” commented Bob Daugs, Business Development Manager for APG. “The Caddy SPM Organizer provides additional flexibility by lifting the monitor off the workstation. It can be positioned to the left or right, tilted up and down, and raised or lowered to fit your unique workstation requirements.” The pole raises 8.5 inches above the top of the Caddy SPM work surface, with secure mounting to handle touchscreen requirements.

APG has also promoted the launch of its new interactive blog as part of an updated website design. The blog will discuss cash drawer products, industry trends, and vertical market opportunities. “It’s a collaborative effort among the company’s engineers, marketing department, product managers, sales team, and senior management,” said Mark Olsen, President of APG, who, many RRN.Com readers know, embraces ongoing business education efforts. 

Caddy SPM Organizer by APG

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Week of July 12

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Week of June 21

PARTNER PROGRAMS

Next From Avnet: RetailPath

Avnet Technology Solutions (Tempe, AZ) intends to expand its vertical market strategy to encompass banking, energy/utilities, and, most significantly, retail. Mike Houghton has been brought onboard by the distributor as VP of Vertical Market Solutions to oversee development of these new specialized SolutionsPath practices. His former employer, Direct Alliance Corp., provides business process outsourcing for Fortune 500 clients across a variety of industries.

“We’re currently doing research on the retail market from a technology infrastructure solutions perspective, and are talking to our reseller partners about their customers’ needs,” Houghton responded when asked about interest in POS and Auto by RRN.Com. “We’ll be able to get into more solutions-specific details once the practice formally launches later this year.” In the retail space, Avnet will look to establish partnerships with leading ISVs, Houghton did note.

“Based on our previous experiences with HealthPath and GovPath, we anticipate that our new vertical market practices will encourage new resellers to work with us, as well as enhance the business opportunities for our existing reseller partners,” Houghton continued. “Our goal is to attract partners who are committed to growing their businesses in these markets. Avnet will provide training and education on both ‘what to sell’ and ‘how to sell’ in solutions for each market.”

Mike Houghton, VP of Vertical Market Solutions, Avnet Technology Solutions, Americas

Try B4 U Buy

Symbology, Inc. (Maple Grove, MN) now lets customers test drive its barcode verifiers. Under the new program, dubbed Try B4 U Buy, clients may try out one of the company’s handheld barcode verifiers for 30 days at minimal upfront cost. After evaluation, they may apply their testing fee towards purchase price, or simply return the hardware with no further obligation.

“Aperture size, portability, and code format are all factors in finding the easiest, most accurate verification/inspection equipment for specific applications,” postulated John Gorowsky, VP of Sales and Marketing at Symbology. “We will provide expertise throughout the selection process, to help ensure that users find the best fit in verifiers. And now, the availability of hands-on testing really takes the anxiety out of the buying decision.”

Try B4 U Buy encompasses most handheld barcode verifiers offered by Symbology, which uniformly address ANSI/ISO certification for industry-specific symbologies. Earlier this year, in order to address the burgeoning healthcare market, the company added laboratory slide barcode labels to its standard product inventory. These labels, used during medical testing procedures, meet critical requirements for material durability and for individual coding/tracking capability. On St. Patrick’s Day, incidentally, Symbology celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Symbology Handheld Barcode Verifier

Code Corner

Kaseya (San Francisco) released its Small/Medium Enterprise Edition (SMEE), bearing the essential building blocks for modest IT departments to automate the administration of their systems. SMEE represents an on-premise solution that liberates IT managers and ensures systems are kept secure and accessible to employees, according to the developer. It provides visibility into the network while creating the platform to deploy software and patches, submit tickets, inventory assets, and facilitate remote computer access for the Microsoft Windows and Mac O/S X platforms. Seven languages are supported: English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, French, and Chinese. To accelerate implementation, SMEE offers instructor-led interactive workshop sessions that augment the online training videos and testing accessible through the product. SMEE also comes equipped with Kaseya’s IT Systems Management Kit. This resource includes hundreds of predefined network views, report templates, third-party device monitoring, and patch approval policies, as well as IT automation scripts for routine maintenance, third-party software deployment, and proactive alerts. It was derived from Kaseya’s global experiences working with IT departments across multiple industries. “Small and medium-sized IT departments juggle many routine tasks while responding to increasing employee and organization needs and requests,” remarked Jim Alves, EVP of Strategy and Product Marketing at Kaseya. “With Kaseya SMEE, IT managers can automate many of the day-to-day IT tasks they may not normally have time to do. In turn, the systems will run more efficiently, resulting in overall improvements in end-user and organizational satisfaction levels and productivity.”

INTEGRATION

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

Servant PC Resources (Lock Haven, PA), market leader in church and nonprofit software, has incorporated Heartland Check Management to provide remote deposit capture and end-to-end processing for its customers. Heartland Check Management, from Heartland Payment Systems (Princeton, NJ) and powered by Transmodus (Oxnard, CA), posts scanned transactions directly into Servant Keeper Church Management software to reconcile all member contributions without manual entry. Additionally, the client can elect to have bad checks handled by Heartland’s automated recovery program.

“This integrated solution offers our clients efficiency, accuracy, and convenience in the processing of donations and contributions,” stated Bill Newman, GM of Servant PC Resources. ”Providing our churches and nonprofit organizations with automated check services in this seamless manner will save time, money, and resources when those things are needed most. We’re excited to work with Heartland and Transmodus to augment our software as we continue to improve ministry management.”

First offered in 1994, Servant Keeper has been deployed in over 22,000 churches. The program manages membership, attendance, contributions, mailings, even child safety, and has been designed expressly to be used by volunteers with little computer training and experience. Transmodus, for its part, provides an on-demand networking platform that delivers check services automation.

Servant Keeper 6.0 Church Management Software

Panasonic Circles the ISVs

The roster of ISVs supporting Panasonic’s Lite-ray POS terminal has grown to eight, following recent integration and certification efforts. Based on the design of the flagship Stingray, but more affordable, Lite-ray now loads the following solutions: Digital Dining/Menusoft, Focus POS, GoldTech Point of Solution, Maitre’D/Posera, MicroSale POS, POSitouch, Wand, and Xpient Solutions. Generally speaking, ISVs certify on both Lite-ray and Stingray, RRN.Com was told by Panasonic.

“It is testament to our position in the market, and to the value of the open architecture in our POS workstations, that these highly rated companies have chosen to work with us,” observed Sam Miyakodani, Group Manager of Panasonic Systems Networks Company (Secaucus, NJ). “These integrated solutions also further the trend to one-stop, seamless POS management deemed essential in today’s retail and hospitality spaces.”

Speaking of Stingray, Panasonic has provided Remote Touch Display as an option. This new configuration allows for placing the display up to eight feet away from the main body via standard cabling for applications that cannot accommodate the entire system. A standard VESA mount has been included on the “Stingray RT” monitor to simplify things. Panasonic heavily promotes Stingray’s high-speed processing and versatile, modular construction as an antidote to diverging end-user needs and changing business conditions.

Panasonic Stingray Remote Touch Display Configuration

Key Advertiser Links

Be sure to visit these vendors for the latest in channel products and offers for resellers.

POS & Auto ID Distribution
BlueStar
ScanSource

POS & Peripherals
Logic Controls
Pioneer POS
Posiflex Business Machines
POS-X

POS Systems - Hospitality
PAR

Barcode & Mobile Printers
Datamax-O'Neil
Godex International

Barcode & Transaction Printers CognitiveTPG

Cash Drawers
APG Cash Drawer
MMF POS

Data Collection Terminals
CipherLab
Datalogic Mobile
Datalogic Scanning
Janam Technologies

Data Collection Software
Wavelink

Integrated Payment Solutions
Datacap Systems

Keyboards
Cherry Electrical Systems

Receipt Printers
Bixolon America
Citizen Systems America
Epson America
Star Micronics

Screen Protection
3M Optical Filters

Self-Service Kiosks
Zebra/Motorola

Video Surveillance & Access Control
ScanSource Security

INSTALLATIONS

One Very Big Halo

Claiming victory in an evaluation of major POS providers, Vivonet (Vancouver, BC, Canada) will provide its Halo SaaS hospitality solution to Sodexo. Halo will be deployed into the majority of Sodexo’s 6,000 dining facilities and retail locations by 2015, according to the two parties, including Jazzman’s Café, Pandini’s, and Sub Connection. In North America, Sodexo serves ten million customers each day in corporate offices, healthcare facilities, retirement homes, schools, and military sites.

Halo will furnish Sodexo with POS and payment processing capabilities as well as robust web-based enterprise management and reporting. Behind the scenes, Vivonet’s “Item Harmony” consolidates Sodexo’s tens of thousands of product offerings into one standardized file, allowing the firm to better understand customer demand, control its supply chain, and optimize product pricing. Vivonet was founded in 1999 to leverage SaaS for POS environments. In January, Tim Beccera, formerly of Posiflex, Sable Technologies, and Squirrel Systems, enlisted as VP of Business Development.

“This agreement sets a new benchmark in the retail and restaurant technology sector,” reported Ryan Volberg, CEO/President of Vivonet. “Our partnership with Sodexo represents the largest ever Software-as-a-Service POS rollout and one of the largest hospitality POS rollouts in North America. We believe that a transaction of this scope is a validation of Software-as-a-Service as legitimate technology for clients in the restaurant and foodservice industry who need better data to make better decisions.”

Vivonet’s SaaS-Based POS Chosen for Sodexo’s Foodservice

DSD Milked by Foster Farms Diary

Foster Farms Dairy, one of California’s largest processors and marketers of dairy products, has selected Direct Store Delivery (DSD) from Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions (Schaumburg, IL) and ExtenData (Englewood, CO). Foster Farms produces its products at three plants and distributes throughout the northern and central parts of the state from multiple branch facilities. The new DSD replaces the company’s antiquated DOS-based system in order to meet the needs of its mobile workforce and provide “future proofing” for more sophisticated merchandising plans.

“With our sizeable fleet of tractors, trailers, and straight-trucks, providing our route sales and delivery associates with better visibility into operations is critical to our success,” explained Tom Vander Weide, VP, Supply Chain and Technology, Foster Farms Diary. “The Motorola MC9500 rugged mobile computer combined with ExtenData’s MobileConductor DSD solution suite supplies us with the tools needed to redefine our business operations--ultimately giving us clear advantage in the field.”

“Motorola’s MC9500 mobile computer offers DSD personnel superior performance and an unmatched feature set,” proposed Jim Hilton, Senior Director of Field Mobility, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions. “By combining our hardware with this software, we’ve enabled customers such as Foster Farms Diary to quickly deliver goods, manage inventory, and track products from dispatch to onsite delivery to end-of-day reconciliation--redefining the way they do business.”

From Dispatch to Delivery to End-of-Day Reconciliation

[Editor’s Note:  Motorola also announced that it will sell the majority of its wireless network infrastructure assets to Nokia Siemens Networks for $1.2 billion. The companies expect to complete the transaction by the end of 2010, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals. ]

Channel Factoid

More than half (54%) of large U.S. businesses that reduced staff in the past 12 months plan to rebuild their workforces to pre-recession levels within two years, according to the study just released by Accenture. In comparison, only 13% of executives said that they plan to reduce their employee base over the same period. “The outlook is improving,” said David Smith, Managing Director of the Accenture Talent and Organization Performance Practice. “But as companies grow their staff, it is more critical than ever that they understand their skills needs and approach the expansion of their workforces strategically.” Overall, the survey confirmed that companies are shifting their focus away from cost control and returning to growth. Thus, the percentage of U.S. companies focused primarily on cost control will decrease from 41% in mid-2009 to 18% in 2011. And the percentage of companies focused primarily on investment in growth-oriented activities, such as hiring, will jump from 24% today to 37% within the next 12 months. However, as companies implement plans for growth, the shortage of high-quality skills may be cause for concern. Just 15% of U.S. executives surveyed described the overall skill level of their workforces as “industry-leading,” and in the critical areas of sales and customer service, only 23% and 34%, respectively, were deemed to be performing at high-levels.

HELLO GOODBYE

New COO OnJob at OnForce

OnForce (Boston), the outsourced service finder covering computers, printers, networking, VoIP, and even POS, has recruited Bill Lucchini as its COO. Lucchini brings 17 years of experience building software distribution channels for Intuit, most recently as VP and GM for the Intuit Platform as a Service Group. Previous to this role, he launched the first Intuit Solution Provider Program as VP and GM for the Mid-Market Group.

“Bill is an established leader with a long track record of notable accomplishments,” commented Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce. “As OnForce continues to grow and evolve, Bill offers excellent product management and leadership expertise to effectively support OnForce’s commitment to providing service excellence.”

“I am very impressed by the large volume of service events that is successfully fulfilled via the OnForce marketplace: it’s the primary reason why I joined the OnForce team,” shared Lucchini. “It is clear that this established model provides significant value for service buyers and service professionals. I am excited to be part of an organization that shows great strength and innovation with a very promising future.” To date, OnForce reports more than one million service events completed.

Bill Lucchini, COO at OnForce

Barcoding Sets Sales

Barcoding Inc. (Baltimore) has engaged Shane Snyder as VP of Sales for its mobile data and RFID solutions. Prior to Barcoding, Snyder founded Work Confident, which offers employee life-cycle management to SMB companies throughout the Mid-Atlantic U.S. He formerly served as EVP of Sales for Catalyst IT Services and began his career in 1986 at Kronos.

“Shane Snyder will be a valuable asset to Barcoding’s sales team and the company’s profitability,” predicted Jay Steinmetz, CEO/President. “He brings years of experience in strategic sales and workforce management, and has even won several awards for his efforts in his previous positions. A genuine leader, Shane is sure to help Barcoding continue to grow as an industry innovator.”

“My new position at Barcoding gives me the opportunity to combine my skills in sales management and consulting, while successfully implementing strategies that will ultimately drive more business,” said Snyder. “Barcoding offers a custom blend of cutting-edge RFID and barcoding solutions, services, and products, and I’m looking forward to connecting customers to new technology solutions so they can improve the efficiency and productivity of their businesses.”