Rough and Tumble for the Toughest Environments

If an industrial device is truly designed for harsh environments, then it’s built from start to finish to take on most any rugged environment. This not only includes the housing of the device, but includes the design, electronics and other internal components allowing it to stand up to extreme heat or cold, dust and water sprays, drops to concrete and more.

You may think that a consumer or commercial device is a better economic decision all around, but with an estimated failure rate of about 40%, and the time and expense incurred on device repairs, equates to productivity lost and profitability at risk.   Choosing a device suited to your environment is the best choice for the long haul.

As mentioned in our comparison blog between consumer and rugged devices, the benefits of using a device suited to your application include:

• Flexibility and accessibility – in or out of the office
• Peace of mind; security of knowing your device is up to the task
• Resistant to the elements – rain, dust, cold, heat
• Durable – drop and tumble tested
• Low TCO over the lifetime of the product
• Increased productivity

What are the most important features to look for? Try these:

• IP Rating. If you don’t see an IP rating listed on the specifications for a rugged device, then it will not guarantee that it can resist dust, dirt and moisture of any kind. Most devices classified as rugged are IP65, indicating resistance to dust and water sprays.
• Drop Specification. The drop spec is probably most important, given that warehouse floors are often made of concrete. When it comes to mobile computers and hand-held scanners, the instance of drops and falls to concrete are many. You want to see a drop spec of at least 50 times from a 4-ft drop to concrete.
• Scanning Ability. In harsh environments, the scanning device isn’t the only thing that takes a beating. The barcodes themselves are exposed to the same. Unfortunately, the barcode labels are not always designed for the environment – the result being torn, faded and generally hard to read codes. It’s important to have a device that can quickly and successfully scan these battered barcodes.

If you’re in the market for an industrial hand-held scanner, Zebra has a super-durable line available that really make the grade. The 3600 Series Ultra-Rugged Scanners are all that, and more. Check this out:

• Virtually any barcode can be successfully scanned in virtually any condition — scratched, dirty, poorly printed and even under shrink wrap.
• Multi-code feature is perfect for those labels that contain many barcodes. Specify which codes are captured, the order in which codes will be captured and how to format each code for your back-end application. One press of the trigger captures and transmits data to the right fields in the right applications.
• Battery power for up to 70,000 scans. With 50+ percent more battery capacity, your workers will have plenty of power for a full shift.
• The highest drop spec of any rugged scanner. Survives 8-foot drops to concrete — 23 percent more durable than competitive devices.
• The highest tumble specification. After 5,000 consecutive tumbles, you get reliable operation which typically follows a drop.
• Dustproof, sprayproof and waterproof. The 3600 Series are the only scanners with two sealing ratings — IP65 and IP67 — and the only scanner to offer IP67. The result is a scanner that is 100 percent dustproof, can handle the force of jetting water and can survive 30 minutes fully submerged in water.

Looking for ways to improve worker productivity in your harsh evironment? We can help you solve your toughest problems while optimizing your processes, improve throughput and control costs without exceeding your budget.  Consider a site assessment to determine your basic requirements, or tell us about your most pressing operational challenge. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.

Want to see more? Check out this cool Zebra 3600 Series video: