Challenge
Calculate a specific four-digit voice-pick code and print it on a label, with limited technology.
Solution
A “black box” containing an Arduino board, paired with a Zebra Keyboard Display Unit.
Story
A produce distributor works with the local Amish population to sell their produce, and approached the team at EMP Technical Group with a unique application. The distributor was migrating to voice pick, which requires every incoming pallet to carry a label with a four-digit voice-pick code calculated from three inputs: GTIN, lot code, and date code.
On the surface this is a simple application, but the Amish abstain from computers and technology. The engineers at EMP had to design a solution that could quickly generate the voice-pick code from three inputs and send it to the printer without the use of “technology.” Combining their programming knowledge with their knowledge of Zebra products, the team designed a printer, black box, and keyboard solution.
The black box, the brains of the system, contains an Arduino board that communicates between the keyboard and the Zebra printer. The keyboard is a Zebra Keyboard Display Unit (ZKDU), a unique keyboard with a two-line display that prompts the user for the GTIN, lot code, and date code. The operator types in each code, the black box runs EMP’s custom program to generate the voice-pick code, and the printer produces a label for the pallet.
The produce distributor now receives all of its product with the correct voice-pick code, and the Amish producers save time and print the correct code without “using technology.”
Have an out-of-the-box application? Contact EMP today.
