PORTABLE THERMAL TRANSFER BARCODE PRINTER

Zebra Technologies has introduced what it claims is the first mobile thermal transfer printer of its kind. The hand-held PT400 printer delivers a resilient, flexible and compact solution for light industrial applications requiring real-time, on-demand barcode labels, such as inventory tracking and shelf labelling. The portability of the PT400 makes it an integration tool for corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and supply chain management.

‘Barcode technology plays a key role in streamlining data input systems, but to date, organisations have made little progress in extracting that information from the corporate database for use elsewhere, ‘ says Paul Vogt, European product marketing manager at Zebra Technologies.

‘The PT400 facilitates immediate labelling and tracking of goods and links directly to the central database. With 1 mb of Flash memory and weighing just 41bs, the PT400 is highly practical and flexible to use in the field’.

The PT400 features Zebra’s advanced power-management system that automatically puts it into ‘sleep’ mode between printing activity to optimise battery power. This overcomes the common problem of inconsistent print quality resulting from fading battery charge and the PT400 is said to provide high-level print quality throughout the entire eight-hour battery charge.

In spite of its lightweight design, the PT400 is protected from drops of up to four feet by the strong polycarbonate ABS plastic housing combined with a permanent rubber overmoulding.

With several possible mounting options, the PT400 can be adapted to meet a variety of individual preferences and application requirements.

The ribbon sensor on the PT400 is compatible with a variety of ribbons, including colour ribbons. This feature is particularly valuable in retail tagging and warning label applications.