Seeing leading technology companies like Hewlett Packard and CDW making significant commitments to the "remanufactured" technology equipment business is another validation, in our view, of the viability of used equipment as a solution for enterprise and business-level customers.  As this is written, Lexicon has large volumes of Zebra, Intermec, and O'Neil thermal transfer printers in stock which our team has beautifully refurbished (most of them look brand new), as well as Motorola or Symbol portable or mobile terminals (MC9060, MC5040, and more).  Intermec CK handheld devices as well.

In the meantime we'll share this:  in February we began the physical expansion of our Conyers, GA service center.  Two primary catalysts for the expansion:  1) repair volume -- we had simply outgrown our space and had to have more depot floor capacity, office/admin/business development space, and our warehouse was way too small; 2) we wanted to implement a newly-designed repair strategy (on high volume lines of technology equipment we repair on a depot-basis) to improve scale economies, repair throughput, lower our per unit repair costs, and improve our already high quality.  To make that a reality we needed the physical room to utilize new processes our team has designed to incorporate multiple strategies for automated bulk or "power-repair" actions in the "pre-", "in-", and "post-" repair phases.  It's really exciting stuff and we believe our customers are going to love what Lexicon can provide in terms of repair & maintenance quality and value (and volume) in 2010.

We'll post some pictures over the next few weeks so you can see some of the Lexicon innovations in process and get a look at our expanded facility.  The great news for our customers is that we continue to make the critical capital investments in the physical assets (our expansion, etc.) and the digital, information-based assets (RepairEngine® and LexiconTech.com which you'll hear some exciting new stuff about soon) to ensure that you get the most from your IT hardware investment -- whether we're talking mobile barcode handhelds from Symbol Motorola or Intermec, printers from Zebra or O'Neil -- or POS systems and scanners from NCR, printers from Hewlett-Packard or Printronix, etc., etc. 

Nobody is going to make Technology Equipment Repair & Maintenance, or managing same, easier or better than Lexicon -- and we're going to keep proving it in 2010.

Well the answer for the last couple of months has been "yes" -- we went live with a robust and powerful new data exchanger system (we're going to call it 'LiveData' Exchanger when we issue the press release) which our team developed for RepairEngine® and rolled into production in September.  'LiveData' replaced our "old reliable" data comm technology which utilized multiple updates occurring at regular intervals throughout the day.  Our "systems of record" -- service center management and accounting, for example, would sync with RepairEngine® throughout the day to get relevant information onto the web, and available for Lexicon clients. 

Not anymore.  Now RepairEngine®'s 'LiveData' Exchanger uses its State Manager to detect any change that occurs in our web database or in one of our host systems instantly.  We use a Connection Manager to keep a connection between the systems always open (and recover it when necessary), and a Data Translation Rules manager to "tell" 'LiveData' what to do with a given transaction (for example, 'LiveData' Exchanger knows that a bit of data is a repair status update or a new routing rule for shipment processing or a payment -- and sends it along, accordingly), all essentially in real-time.  XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is used to help standardize the communications that take place between our systems or between RepairEngine® and the incident management systems employed by Enterprise-level customers, for example.

It's leading edge stuff, we think and we're proud of it.  'LiveData' will open up important  integration opportunities for RepairEngine® and other useful repair management systems -- to benefit Enterprise Mobility customers in ways that haven't been possible before -- and we believe that costs can be taken out of existing processes for our customers, as a result.  And that will make it a winner.

Fifty-seven years ago, on October 7, 1952, the US Patent Office issued a patent to two American inventors (Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver) for a bulls-eye shaped barcode (yes, even though their symbol was "round" - we now refer to it as the first "bar" code) and a scanning apparatus designed to interpret the bulls-eye pattern. Silver and Woodland started as grad students at the Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University), to work on a problem that was brought to them by a local Philadelphia grocer who wanted a system that would "read" product information during checkout. Barcode eventually started to take off in the 70's with the adoption of the Universal Product Code standard by the grocery industry, and as we all know, the rest is history. Thus was born an extremely successful technology -- one that has found its way into applications far beyond grocery and that were not imaginable 50 or even 25 years ago.  For this paragraph, I borrowed heavily from a nice, concise arcticle by Mary Bellis on the history of barcode at about.com.

Today is good time to reflect on the genius borne of the Woodward and Silver collaboration: described in their patent applications as "article classification . . . through the medium of identifying patterns".  These young guys invented, envisioned and paved the way for easily produced (usually simply printed) patterns (that is, barcode symbols), which could be readily affixed to  just about any object that someone might want to keep track of.  They knew it would be relatively simple to read (and interpret) the barcode patterns with light emitted from a "scanner", which was reflected off the barcode pattern. Their vision has led directly to the creation of incalculable economic and societal benefits over the last 35 or 40 years.

Finally, it's been popular to speculate for the last few years about the imminent demise of the lowly and now familiar, "simple" barcode -- choose your new candidate for replacement champion from this incomplete list: two dimensional symbologies, smart cards, memory buttons, and the latest, and certainly the contest entrant which has breached the conscience of the consumer, Radio Frequency Identification or RFID.  However -- my advice is to expect the old garden variety barcode to be with us for a long time to come (and since I'm part way out on the limb, I'll just go ahead and say "for decades").  Why?  The answer is cost advantage -- barcode "marking" (that's industry jargon for the act of printing or affixing a barcode to a product or object) is cheap. For products which are packaged and sold at retail, adding a barcode is essentially "free" -- and "free" is a tough price for any competing technology to beat.  Innovations in enterprise mobile computers, (like Motorola/Symbol, Intermec, HHP) scanners, and printing technologies (Zebra, O'Neil, Datamax) continue to enhance the application opportunities for the good old barcode, and will for many years to come.

You can read the article here and learn more about RepairEngine® here or give us a call or an email at info@lexicontech.com.

All right -- the last day of August.  Everyone knows what that means  -  just a few more days until:  "Toe Meets Leather!" (credit to the late, great Al Ciraldo).  Yeah -- bring it on!  Spirits are soaring, the juices are starting to surge and of course, everybody is still undefeated so all things are possible, especially in the minds of younger fans.  We've got them of all ages at Lexicon and like most places our loyalties (as represented by Lexicon team members) are spread far and wide.  We've got allegiances here (this an incomplete list) that include:  Alabama, NC State, Virginia Tech, UVA, Clemson, University of South Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami, Troy State, Ohio State, and Valdosta State.

What's that got to do with our repair and maintenance business for Symbol/Motorola or Intermec scanners and  portable terminals or Zebra printers?  Hmm.  Well, I did get my parking pass the other day and it's got a barcode on it  -- so how about enterprise mobile devices to manage access and control of game day parking?

That's OK.   I should say stay tuned to this space for some exciting news coming soon on RepairEngine®.  The design and development team has been focusing all summer (not day dreaming about kick-off) and plans to release more good stuff in the early fall around payment options, repair routing to support all your repair vendors, and more reporting power and options, and also Real Time updates to make managing repair and controlling your enterprise mobility assets easier and better.   Of course the price is right for enterprise mobility equipment users -- FREE!  If you haven't tried RepairEngine® yet -- make your life better and signup here.

And good luck to your favorite team this fall :-)

RepairEngine®, the revolutionary Repair Management System that delivers a "better repair experience" for barcode and enterprise mobility equipment users, is celebrating its 6th birthday this July. RepairEngine's® development team has been working to continuously enhance the system over the years by incorporating innovative features such as Dashboard and the "Grid" System seamlessly into RepairEngine®. We want to make RepairEngine® THE tool to use when managing the repair or maintenance of any Symbol, Intermec, Zebra, or any other kind of barcode and enterprise mobility equipment.

Its not every day that we celebrate a birthday at Lexicon Technologies, so we decided, "Whats a birthday without a cake?" This was icing on the cake last Thursday, pardon the pun, as we already had a three day weekend coming up for the 4th of July!

The same "grid" technology has been deployed throughout RepairEngine®.  You'll find it in Asset Management and you'll see it in a few more locations inside the system next week, including Contracts, Price Lists, Reports, etc., when another RepairEngine® update is deployed.  Contact us if you have any questions or ideas about how we can improve RepairEngine® -- our goal is to make it the best Repair Management System for Enterprise Mobility equipment available anywhere.

Let us know what you think -- we're determined to make RepairEngine® the best place on the web for enterprise mobility (Symbol / Motorola, Intermec, Zebra, Datalogic) asset and repair management.

There was a great article in yesterday's New York Times business section about business model innovation in the delivery of health care services.  The author, Janet Rae-Dupree, did a solid job of pointing out how tired, inefficient business models employed by most physicians and general hospitals actually limit improvements in "care-quality" for patients and keep costs high.  She quotes Harvard b-school professor and author of "The Innovator's Prescription", Clayton M. Christensen, who argues that "health care hasn't become affordable because it hasn't yet gone through disruptive decentralization".

Briefly, the article explains that important point thusly:  "by putting the financial interests of hospitals and doctors at the center, the current system gives routine illnesses with proven therapies the same intensive and costly specialized care that more complicated cases require".  So in a phrase, it's "one-size-fits-all" treatment -- and it's an expensive size!  For a fuller explanation, please read the complete article here.

The other business model problem the article addresses is the lack of focus on a "continuum of care" for the patient, in favor of a system which treats patients only during periods of acute crisis.  Again, the result is high costs -- at least partially driven by wrong incentives in place for doctors and hospitals. 

Several organizations including Kaiser Permanente and the Mayo Clinic really seem to be getting it right, though, "with fixed-fee integrated systems" that are delivering better results for less money.  Hey they're focused on the patient (aka "the customer"), not the doctor or hospital.

Many similar strategies are employed by Lexicon in our barcode equipment repair and maintenance business.  RepairEngine® helps us and our customers keep track of the "health history" of Symbol, Intermec, and HHP equipment, and on many products we've incorporated special SIP (single-item-pricing) options instead of higher "one-size-fits-all" flat rates that frankly, are often not needed, and are not economical.

It's a reminder to not fall in love with your business model so much that you miss a big innovation opportunity . . . you can bet that at least some of your competitors won't.

". . . Blaming market uncertainty, Microsoft declined to issue a revenue or earnings forecast for the rest of its fiscal year.

'We are planning for economic uncertainty to continue through the remainder of the fiscal year, almost certainly leading to lower revenue and earnings for the second half relative to the previous year,' said Chris Liddell, the company’s chief financial officer."  The entire article is linked here.

The point is that when a dominant competitor like Microsoft reports a profit of over $4 billion dollars for the quarter, and still announces huge job cuts (read that painful "expense reductions"), there is truly great uncertainty to say the least, about business prospects for the year ahead.  It's not a stretch to say that even industry leaders are expecting already dim revenue growth prospects to worsen before sentiment and expectations improve.  Microsoft's action this morning indicates that perhaps no company is immune from the negative effects of the current economic crisis.

One prescription Lexicon is offering to our clients:  economize by working with us to maintain your proven mobile devices from Intermec, Symbol, and Hand Held Products.  There are hundreds of thousands of durable, rugged batch and rf enterprise mobility devices in use that are 3+ years old, but our message to user organizations who own these devices is:  The Intermec T2425, Intermec T2455, and other Trakker Antares terminals; the Symbol SPT 1800, Symbol PDT 6846; the HHP Dolphin 9500 and many, many more similiar mobile devices have many more YEARS of reliable service yet to give.

If you've got so-called "legacy" devices (we prefer "proven" as a more accurate descriptor) that you want to continue to gain an ROI from in this economy, we salute your sound judgement -- and we may be able to help you.

So the concern for the NFL and for a lot of managers is "how can I proactively position my business to survive, and prosper if possible, through the downturn?" 

At Lexicon, we suggest that you take steps to make your existing automatic data capture equipment infrastructure, your barcode scanners and portable data terminals, continue to work for you.  For example, if you have already invested in and paid for robust, durable devices from Symbol (PDT 6846, MC9060, etc.) or Intermec (T2425, T2435, T2455), then make plans to keep them maintained and productively deployed.  Unless you've got a new business requirement that makes these devices (or similar ones) obsolete, we can help you keep them running reliably -- for years to come, in some cases.  We can put annual or multi-year maintenance contracts in place for these types of devices that will keep your operation supported -- and provide value and savings to your company in the process.

In this business climate, keeping the proven, "paid for" barcode equipment productive will really stretch your ROI - and makes too much sense to ignore.

And though the inner-child in us may wish for only a "happily-ever-after" economy, the grizzled, history-reading capitalist in our nature is aware that the business cycle is as real (and as certain) as the changing of the seasons - even if economists, those "dismal scientists", are somewhat less adept at predicting its comings and goings.  The expansion and contraction of economic activity (and the success or failure of firms) has been a standard feature of free market capitilism and presumably, also of what we've got now:  a "mostly free market with a government-provided, taxpayer-funded safety net for some big guys on Wall Street".  

So, while the Treasury Department will use the public purse to save some, the great majority of economic participants will have to claw back the old-fashioned way:  we'll learn from our mistakes BECAUSE we'll have to pay for them.   I mean, does anyone really think that speculators who bought credit default swaps from AIG (and who were subsequently bailed out when U.S. taxpayers stepped up with a cool $150 billion) really learned any of the valuable lessons that a free market can impart to those who take foolish financial risks?  I don't think so; it takes an "actual loss" to make one respect that old hypothetical "risk of loss".

Anyway, for all those non-bailoutees among us, here's some upside.  There is a lot of good product on (or coming to) the market and it will be value-priced.  Myriad retail shutterings and failures will lead to substantial amounts of quality equipment, tools, fixtures, hardware, and the like coming available.  The next few weeks and months could be an ideal time to look for bargains in many areas, and thus presents an opportunity for well-capitilized organizations to actually reduce their budgeted capital outlay, while nonetheless positioning to expand market share.    Well, if you can't join 'em (in the bailout), then beat 'em . . . with basic, sound, risk-respecting execution.  Don't overpay.

In our corner of the economy, legacy barcode and enterprise mobility equipment from Symbol Technologies, Intermec, Zebra, Handheld Products, etc., we've found some of the most popular barcode and rf portable data terminals, barcode scanners, and printers and we've got them if you need them.  And we've got a great repair and maintenance capability to keep your existing barcode and enterprise mobility infrastructure runnning strong.  After all, good old American quality, value, & frugality never go out of style.

The big news in this release is the addition of Asset Management for barcode and enterprise mobility equipment. Symbol scanners & pdts, Zebra printers, Intermec data collectors or printers -- you name it -- if it's enterprise mobility gear (and probably even if it's not -- more on that idea in the future), you'll be able to use RepairEngine® to manage and control these small, but critically important and expensive assets better than ever, in any enterprise - big or small.

And we've integrated the new asset management features with a more powerful, more intuitive Return Authorization module that will make getting an "R.A." easier and faster than ever.

AND, another really cool feature is that if we've repaired a device for you in the last 5 years, an asset management record for that device is already in RepairEngine®, along with all the repair history for that Symbol PDT6846 or Intermec T2425, etc., -- and you can access it with a single click.

OH, and this also a first for us: check out the new screencasts below for RepairEngine®'s Asset Management and RA Generation. These are great tools that make it easier and faster than ever to learn how to interact with powerful RepairEngine® features -- tons better than a "help file".

There's more to tell and there's still more new RepairEngine® features coming this year -- so stay tuned and please let us have your feedback after you've checked out Asset Management in RepairEngine®.

Since we're in the business of providing repair and maintenance for Symbol, Intermec and Zebra equipment and we also sell a fair amount of popular legacy barcode equipment (which is a nice way of saying we sell a lot of used Symbol, used Intermec, and used Zebra gear), we're in a position to observe trends in current and future barcode & mobility equipment usage.  Over the last sixty days or so, we've seen an upswing in customer inquiries and orders for devices like the Zebra 140xiIII, the Intermec T2425, and the Symbol SPT 1846.  These particular models are just representative examples -- frankly demand in general for maintenance of barcode/mobility gear that is 5 years + old and older is more robust than we've seen in the last 6 - 12 months.

Given the daily headlines about the "crisis du jour" in the U.S. economy, enterprises of all types are looking for creative ways to conserve cash and still meet operational objectives.  We believe that many more decision makers, of late, are recognizing the benefit and value of maintaining an existing installed base of Symbol MC9060 or Intermec CK61 (or similar PDTs) terminals and are instead, putting off a major technology refresh until the business cycle turns.  Maintaining a proven technology platform that is still supporting enterprise business objectives -- even one that is 5, 7 or 10 years old -- by adding quality used/refurbished equipment to that platform as needed, can make good business sense and save big dollars for your company -- at a time when we could be staring down a major recession.

Fortunately, for the sake of economy (which means there is an opportunity for you to save your organization some maintenance budget money here) the reverse is also true:  it makes practical and economic sense to use a return-to-depot strategy for Intermec, Datamax, or Zebra printers in approximately the 55 lbs. and under weight category.

Why It Matters.  First there are a ton of barcode label printers in this size class in use today, so there is a lot of money to potentially be saved.  There are a host of examples of field-proven label printers of this type from Zebra (Zebra S600, Zebra S400), Intermec (the Intermec 3400, Intermec 4420), and many more that do a great job in industrial, distribution, retail and healthcare environments.   Most of these devices are smaller, so-called "table-top" barcode label printers and will range in weight anywhere from about 17lbs on the light end up to that mid-50lb threshold on the heavy end.  These printers, when properly packed (wrapped in bubble wrap about three times around, placed in a properly-sized, heavy duty corrugated box) can ship via UPS or Fedex ground service, safely and reliably. 

The advantage to the user organization in this case is the savings and (and usually, the repair quality).  Depot repair is much less expensive to provide than on-site service for the repair or maintenance company.  There are obviously no travel costs (tech travel time, vehicles, fuel) and the really big thing is that in a repair center, you get great economies of scale.  Over time, the depot-based technician will have at least a four times advantage in productivity (on average) compared to the "road warrior" tech.  The on-site printer maintenance customer pays the freight -- the depot repair printer customer reaps the savings benefit.

Also, because the repair center (when it's well run) is the home of all the spare parts, all the standard repair diagnostics and repair processes, etc., repair and maintenance quality should be more reliably and consistently delivered on average, when compared to on-site. 

Finally, what makes a label printer "return-to-depot" service strategy really viable for this class of Zebra or Intermec printer is that spare printers are so affordable.  Typically, for only a few hundred dollars, high quality used and refurbished spare units are widely available in the market so that your operation doesn't suffer downtime.

Maybe.  We frequently get asked by clients who use our barcode scanners and portable data terminals repair center to support their (Symbol scanner or Intermec scanner and printer devices, typically) about whether we can also repair their barcode label printers (usually Zebra printer or Intermec printer; sometimes Datamax printer or Sato printer).  The short answer is usually "yes", but frankly these label-printing sub-systems often make for more complicated service strategy decisions than many users realize . . . so this multi-part post will offer some keys to consider as an OPS Team creates a support plan.

Number One and don't laugh:  How much do my label printers weigh?  Two common sense rules of thumb apply here, and though Zebra label printers aren't sold by the pound, the more expensive the Zebra, the heavier Zebra. And the real kicker, the heavier the Zebra (or Intermec or Sato) the trickier and more trouble it is to safely ship.

Take special precautions when you're shipping heavy (70 lbs plus or minus and up), wide-web (more than 6 inches wide) thermal/thermal transfer label printers; unless you ship in the original container with all the original packing, then box the printer, wrap it/pad it well in in about three layers of bubble-wrap (no polystyerene peanuts, please!), strap it to a pallet, and ship it for repair service via an LTL carrier.  Specify that it be returned to you in the same manner.  If you ignore this guideline and ship via a parcel carrier ground service, be prepared for carrier damage due to the weight/dimensions/design of the printer in combination with inadequate packaging.

The bottom line with these wide-web workhorse printers like the Zebra 220xiIII, or a similar model from Intermec, Datamax, or Sato is you should consider an onsite printer maintenance contract just because they don't travel well. We're not minimizing other important issues like the nature of the application (i.e., can I afford to be without the printer for hours, days or more, etc.), the availability of print capacity on other printers or lines in your shop, or the presence of on-site spares - but from our experience and that of many Lexicon customers, don't miss this simple truth -- it will save you heartache.

Note that our general recommendation in this case was for an onsite maintenance contract for heavy, wide-web thermal label printers.  Change any of these variables and we've got other, and we believe better ideas to consider for Zebra printer or Intermec printer maintenance and repair support.

Check Part Two of this post for some of those thoughts next week.

These handheld, fixed, and truck-mount barcode data collectors have in many ways set the standard for the durable, mobile enterprise-quality terminals of today like the Symbol Technologies (now Motorola) MC9090 or MC9060.  Many of the Intermec T2425 RF terminals or T2420 Batch terminals and the T2455 truck-mounts placed into service more than ten years ago are still providing reliable, faithful service today.  These terminals were (and still are) true industrial-strength specimens - no wonder they're still ticking.  Intermec's design has stood the test of time.

Lexicon intends to continue to repair, service, and maintain these great Intermec barcode scanning terminals.

HOWEVER, like we said at the top of this post -- we've only heard this info informally.  If anyone has additional facts, details or corrections, please comment (there's a link at the beginning and end of the post) and we'll get the post updated.  Thanks in advance.