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The importance of contactless technology

With new contactless technology solutions from principals including Honeywell, CROSSCALL and Datalogic, Kemtek can help you stay apart and stay safe.

With new contactless technology solutions from principals including Honeywell, CROSSCALL and Datalogic, Kemtek can help you stay apart and stay safe.

Look, but don’t touch

The scientific jury is still out on the extent to which the coronavirus can be transmitted through touching contaminated surfaces. Nevertheless, there is a growing body of medical evidence that indicates this is a possible means by which the disease can infect people.

Health and safety concerns have driven an increase in interest in contactless technology, as this allows essential functions to be carried out without the need for close contact between people, or between people and potentially infectious objects.

Even before the pandemic, the advantages of contactless technology were becoming apparent in multiple settings. In addition to the health and safety benefits that have risen to the top of the agenda, factors including speed and convenience were already tipping the scales in favour of contactless scanning.

Warehousing and logistics

Industrial scanners that enable the capture of bar code information at a distance have obvious logistics applications. Their speed of operation, plus the ability to scan stock items stored off the ground, increase productivity and boost physical safety and employee comfort. Of course, captured information needs to be conveyed for it to be useful, making Bluetooth connectivity equally important.

Accurate scanning at a distance also reduces data input errors leading to better stock management throughout the supply chain.

Retail

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a pronounced shift towards e-commerce due the consumer perception that this is a safer way to purchase items. Encouraging customers back to brick and mortar stores is essentially a question of confidence. Again, contactless scanners and mobile computers allow multiple functions to be performed without the need to handle or re-disinfect items (and many modern scanners are sealed in ways that allow them to be disinfected without impairing their functionality).

Both stock control and point of sale functions can now be performed using contactless technology, minimising employee contact with goods and helping to reassure customers. Similarly, contactless payment options can help break any potential chain of disease transmission in a retail environment.

Contactless courier services are now being offered by e-commerce retailers – and these again rely on Auto ID technology for tracking and tracing packages from depot to doorstep.

Outdoor

Kemtek is delighted to announce its new principal: CROSSCALL. A leader in outdoor mobile technology, CROSSCALL manufactures rugged devices that survive pretty much anything that either you or the elements can throw at them. They include the Trekker-X4 rugged smartphone, which meets the US Army’s exacting MIL-STD standard for survivability.

CROSSCALL smart devices are designed for a different kind of contactless environment – that is, where being out of contact could have serious safety and even survival repercussions.

Watch out for more information on CROSSCALL smart devices on the Kemtek Web site very soon.

Honeywell

Honeywell is well-known for its range of Auto ID products, all of which allow for contactless data capture. Handheld cordless scanners and mobile computers empower employees in larger workspaces, where battery life, flexibility and connectivity are all key considerations.

Honeywell’s omnidirectional laser scanners are the perfect solution to retail point of sale congestion – social distancing is much easier to achieve when the checkout process can be dramatically speeded up by technology that scans bar codes no matter what orientation they are presented in.

This also avoids checkout workers having to manipulate items to make them face a certain way – less contact with each consumer’s purchases and less time waiting at the till. See our full range of Honeywell devices here.

Datalogic

Datalogic scanners are engineered for high-volume environments. By widening capture parameters and reducing scanning times, they can also be used to help reduce potential contact between people.

Datalogic area imager bar code readers and portable data terminals greatly increase the productivity of each employee. That means fewer people in each space, making it easier for them to avoid close contact with their colleagues. At the same time, these advanced scanners actually reduce the workload on each person. Explore the Datalogic range here.

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Editorial contacts

Karen Stretch
Marketing Manager
(011) 624 8092
karens@kemtek.co.za