Thursday, October 09, 2008
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| Equipment repair in a slow economy |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Given our economic state, I think it makes since to look at your technology equipment and see if you or your company can invest a little in your current technology and get more useful life from it. Many times when replacing a single piece of hardware there are hidden costs in your processes extensively, you may need to buy new software to work with the hardware; this will lead you to replacing the computer, so that it will run the software efficiently. Now to replace a single barcode printer you have an investment in a computer, software and the device itself. Even if the repair of the device is half the original cost of the device, it still more efficient to repair than to replace. You will be able to bring the utilization of the computer, software and printer up helping you and your company through this economic downturn. At American Barcode and RFID we have been servicing AIDC equipment and helping our customers increase utilization and save spending for a number of years. Please contact our Service Division at 1-800-894-4400. We will be happy to help!
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Category: Service |
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Thursday, September 04, 2008
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| IP Enabled Barcode Printers |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Most brands of modern barcode printers can be purchased with print servers built into the printer. Within the feature of the print server (depending on printer) it can email alert you that it is in an error condition, or even that it is out of paper. The print servers allow you to get more from your barcode printer, you can have multiple stations printing to the printer. Most of the print servers I have configured on these printers have a push button that will have the printer print its current IP configuration; armed with this information you can change the configuration and print test labels right from the print server. You can set it up for alerts, you can even pause a print job. Even if you have not purchased your printer with a built in print server, most of the manufacturers have an external print server that connects to the parallel port that will allow you all the same features and functions. Get the most from your printer, our technical staff here at American Barcode and RFID are prepared to help you install and setup your networked barcode printer or card printer!
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Wednesday, August 27, 2008
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| Print heads on thermal printers |
| Posted by: jamief |
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There are very few components on any thermal printer considered ?wearable?, but the thermal print head is one of those components. It is important to know that if you are using your thermal printer in a business critical application that you need to, at the very least budget for print head replacement. The print head is an expensive part of the thermal printer that has a limited life. If you use your thermal printer in a rough environment (I have actually seen them outside), those print heads are going to fail more frequently than those in a cleaner environment. Also to keep in mind, if you are printing on synthetic labels, these require more heat and pressure, this is another environment factor to keep in mind. Print heads are not all exactly the same, even if you replace a zebra print head with an identical part number zebra print head, you need to consider the burn line and ohm value of the new print head when replacing. American Barcode and RFID service team have the experience to replace the print head and help you get the most life you can out of your printer and print head. We have been factory trained and will align the new print head properly to the printer.
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
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| Intermec Label Printers |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Intermec has come out with some innovative printers to replace their solid line of workhorse 3400?s and 4400 printers. Many of their new printers have the ability to run Zebra language simulators as well as Datamax language simulators. This allows the clients who have legacy Zebra or Datamax printers to replace them with Intermec without having to change their system or software. Most of the new line of printers actually speaks two different languages natively, ?Fingerprint? and ?IPL?. In addition, the Fingerprint allows you to run the above mentioned simulators. To take this further, Intermec has and continues to offer free replacement print heads with their printers. All you have to do is use their media (ribbons and labels) and you won?t have to buy a print head to keep your business rolling. Intermec printers are known for their longevity, and Intermec has been in the business of making barcode printers as long as anyone. In addition, Intermec has trained our technicians on these products and now we can fully support you in any capacity.
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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| Intermec Repair Authorization and Certification |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| I am very pleased to announce that we are a certified repair partner of Intermec . At this point we are one of only 4 in the in North America to be authorized to repair Intermec equipment and the only partner in the southwest. Intermec has made some great printer products for many years. Our company can extend Intermec?s trade in program, printhead replacement program, and of course the repair services program. Please contact the service dept at 866-894-4400 for details on how we can provide the support you may need with your Intermec equipment.
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Category: Service |
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
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| Service Contracts |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Some people like to consider service contracts on equipment "insurance". To some degree I agree with that. If you have mission critical equipment to your business, you should have some type of insurance for that equipment. I think many times your barcode printers and scanners are overlooked as mission critical. It only becomes obvious when your unit is not functioning. People in these situations, which have not purchased backup equipment or a service contract, expect somehow we are prepared to repair their device without prior notice in the same day. We understand you need your equipment to do business; we try and give options up front to alleviate these type issues. Please do not overlook the equipment that is essential to your business. We feel if our customers are successful, we are successful.
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Category: Service |
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Tuesday, July 08, 2008
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| Zebra TLP 2824 label printer |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| We are often called on the symptom "red light". With a Zebra TLP printer this is most likely associated with the ribbon either being out, or the ribbon cartridges not being seated correctly. The only thing that holds the ribbon spool in place is the spring tension. If the printer gets bumped, or when the ribbon is replaced it is not installed correctly, you will get a red light on the printer. The ribbon is wrapped around card board cores, these cores have notches cut out. The core gets inserted into the frame, there is a wheel that has teeth, the teeth need to be seated in the notches or you will have a red light error.
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Monday, June 30, 2008
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| Replace thermal printhead |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| It is very common for the thermal printhead on thermal printers to fail. The printhead is considered a consumable item. The printhead is very important if using the printer to print barcodes. The most common failure for a printhead is for a few elements to open and leave voids in your labels and or barcodes. Most of the newer model thermal printers have only 1 screw that attaches the printhead to the printhead bracket. To replace the printhead you would loosen the screw, disconnect data and or power connectors and remove the old printhead. Most printheads and printhead brackets have mounting or alignment pins. You will want to make sure that you have the new printhead seated on the alignment pins after you have connected the power and data cables. With the new head seated correctly, tighten the mounting screw. You may have to adjust the resistance setting in the printer, you may have to adjust parralelism, and or balance once the new head is installed.
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Monday, June 23, 2008
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| Thermal Label Printer Maintenance |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Thermal Barcode printers give you less trouble with routine maintenance. Almost all of them have rollers which pull the material through the printer and of course a thermal printhead. They also usually have some sort of media and ribbon sensor. Many times we here the symptom, "bad label sensor". In my 10 years of experience working with thermal barcode printers, I have only seen 1 type of failure to a label sensors, it had cut wires. Usually the issue is that it is not aligned properly, or that it has an adhesive label stuck to it. To maintain the thermal printer, you should make sure the printing surface (roller)is clean and can grab and pull the label material through. You should also clean the surface of the printhead. We should not leave out the label sensors, make sure they are aligned and clean. You can usually clean them with a cotton rag and isopropyl alcohol. This will keep the printhead from failing early and give you less trouble while using the printer.
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Category: Thermal Label Printers |
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Friday, June 13, 2008
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| Zebra Card Printer Maintenance |
| Posted by: jamief |
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| Most Zebra Card Printers Have a built in cleaning cycle. This cleaning cycle will maintain the printer, but will not generally resolve issues such as breaking ribbon, poor print quality, or encoding failures. We have found that cleaning the transport rollers manually by hand will help you resolve these issues. With card printers it is extremely important that the card moves through the printer at the correct time, otherwise you will get the symptoms listed above. To clean the transport rollers, turn the pritner off, get a cotton towel and isopropyl alcohol. Moisten your rag liberally with alcohol. Clean each bottom roller (transport roller) by scrubbing the section that is visible, rotate roller scrub, rotate scrub, until you are 360 degrees around each roller. Generally Zebra card printers have 6 transport rollers that need the cleaning. We also clean the pinch rollers the same way and are able to resolve the symptoms above most times. Cleaning the rollers in this fashion will help you know if you have any belt issues as well. You will feel rough spots while turning the rollers manually.
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Category: Zebra Card Printers |
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Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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| Zebra Card Printer P330i |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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Problem
Card printer says it is out of ribbon on the front panel, although it has ribbon
Solution
Send manual commands to card printer to reset ribbon sensors-remove ribbon and send !CSA 0, ribbon should take up should turn. Once the ribbon takes up has turned, re-install ribbon and send !CSA 1. The ribbon should move several times. Open and close printhead and make sure it aligns ribbon. It may be necessary to cylce power for printer to say ready.
Additional Comments
This procedure is appropriate for 330i and 430i
http://www.scansmart.com/zebra-card/P330I.asp
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Category: Zebra Card Printers |
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Tuesday, October 09, 2007
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| Cost of RFID |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"Determining the cost of deploying and maintaining a radio frequency identification (RFID) application is not a trivial matter, as the magnitude of your investment will depend on several factors that may or may not influence the cost of other components within the system.
"The RFID application's "system" consists of both the RFID network itself (hardware, software, tags, etc.) and everything that needs to accommodate the RFID network: personnel, IT infrastructure, business processes, and the facilities in which the application will be installed.
"Because there are so many system variables that in turn vary according to industry, it's difficult to provide a definitive cost breakdown for implementing an RFID solution. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to make you aware of the major variables that should be considered when assessing the total cost of ownership (TCO) of your RFID application..."
Full Article: RFID Applications: Determining the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
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Category: RFID Cost and ROI |
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Thursday, September 20, 2007
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| Gen 2 RFID Tags Satisfy the DoD and Wal-Mart Mandates |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"There are several RFID interface protocols, each with varying capabilities, advantages, and disadvantages. Up until December 2004, EPCglobal's First Generation Classification (Gen-1) system was the most widely used standard. The second-generation system (Gen-2) is favored after December 2004 and is the standard to follow when satisfying the requirements of the DoD and Wal-Mart RFID mandates..."
Full Article: Gen-2 RFID Tags
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Category: DoD RFID Compliance |
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| Can You Get Away with RFID Slap-and-Ship? |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"Typically, designing and deploying radio frequency identification (RFID) applications is a lengthy and detailed process requiring input from specialists in multiple fields. Consequently, many small to medium-sized businesses intrigued by the technology find that they are unable to develop a business justification that will offset the costs of both planning and implementing an RFID solution, despite the falling prices of RFID tags and equipment.
"Unfortunately, not all businesses have a choice when it comes to integrating RFID into their business processes. Mandates set forth by the Department of Defense (DoD) and Wal-Mart demand that certain suppliers label their goods with standardized RFID tags. Not surprisingly, suppliers whose only motivation to use RFID technology is to comply with such mandates are interested in meeting the requirements with minimal expenditures of time, effort, and resources..."
Full Article: RFID Slap-and-Ship Applications
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Category: RFID Tags |
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| Differences Between Passive and Active RFID Tags |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"An RFID tag is a small device that can be attached to or incorporated into a product and transmit data to a reader using radio waves. RFID tags have antennas that allow them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver.
"RFID tags come in two varieties: active and passive. Active RFID tags have a built-in power supply, such as a battery, as well as electronics that perform specialized tasks. By contrast, passive RFID tags do not have a power supply and must rely on the power emitted by an RFID reader to transmit data. Thus, if a reader is not present, the passive tag cannot communicate any data. Active tags can communicate in the absence of a reader.
"The remainder of this article discusses other differences between the two types of tags that may influence your decision to choose one type over the other when deploying your RFID application..."
Full Article: Passive RFID Tags vs. Active RFID Tags
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Category: RFID Tags |
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| Complying with the DoD RFID Mandate |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"In January 2005, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a mandate to its suppliers that each item sold to them must be marked with a passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. The need for this mandate arose from decades of logistical challenges faced by the military with regard to the supply chain. Implementing RFID technology to enhance existing Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) efforts will greatly improve inventory management, asset visibility and interoperability in support of DoD business processes. Even if your company is not a supplier for the DoD, you may benefit from using their mandate as a guide for implementing your own RFID application.
"The main challenge observed at every node in the DoD supply chain has been the lack of visibility of logistics data. Using RFID technology has the potential to greatly improve not only asset visibility, but also data quality, inventory management, and interoperability in an end-to-end integrated supply chain. Furthermore, capturing data with RFID frequently does not require human intervention, and, unlike barcoding, the data do not require a line-of-sight to be captured. For these reasons and others, RFID technology offers a promising solution to the DoD's logistical challenges and supports long-term integration of Item Unique Identification (IUID) in the DoD supply chain. Specifically, the DoD RFID mandate is meant to achieve..."
Full Article: DoD RFID Compliance Mandate
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Category: DoD RFID Compliance |
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
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| Questions to Ask Yourself Before Implementing an RFID Solution |
| Posted by: Administrator |
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"Among the uses of radio frequency identification (RFID) are efficient inventory tracking in the supply chain, providing real-time in-transit visibility (ITV), and monitoring general enterprise assets. In addition, RFID is heralded as a technology that will replace the most widespread AIDC (automatic identification and data capture) technology: the barcode.
"While RFID has proven to be a valuable tool in many industries and has several advantages over the barcode, implementing an RFID solution may not be appropriate for your business from the ROI (return on investment) perspective. Whether your investigation of RFID solutions is voluntary or involuntary, as in the cases of Wal-Mart and Department of Defense (DoD) mandates, there are ten key questions that you can ask yourself to help determine your RFID application's ROI..."
Full article: The RFID Bandwagon: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Jumping on Board
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Category: RFID Cost and ROI |
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