The Auto ID Book: What Do I Do Now?… The Next Step

WHAT DO I DO NOW?… THE NEXT STEP

At the beginning of this book, we recommended four issues to consider:

1. Identify all of your business processes.
2. Pinpoint a specific procedure appropriate for Automatic Identification.
3. Decide how and where to read (bar codes).
4. Decide how and where to print (bar codes).

Before tackling any problem, these four issues must be addressed. Hopefully, this book has motivated you to begin thinking about some possible solutions for Automatic ID systems. Bar coding is probably the simplest to implement and the most widespread across all industries.

If you're starting a new project, develop your applications for Windows using Microsoft Visual Basic as the development tool — if at all possible. Visual Basic is one of the simplest programming languages today and is very common in most industries. Visual Basic also includes the ability to create or access other ODBC-compliant databases relatively easily.

Not all companies are fortunate enough to have developers on staff to make some programming modifications easier. This, however, should not stop a business from pursuing the competitive edge for an increase in productivity and accuracy. Some of the Automatic ID solutions can be installed by the end user while other more complex systems will require someone such as a consultant or contractor to come in and take a closer look at the computer network. Thousands of dollars do not necessarily have to be spent to have an immediate impact.

In closing, here are the first steps you should take to see if bar coding is right for you:

Identify a simple project to automate,
Build confidence in management,

and, finally, get a head start on your competition.

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Glenn W. Lee