Hi All.
Curious if anyone out there is operating iPads or old iPhones as shop-floor devices. For us, they are much more easily managed via our MDM than any android devices and we already have several deployed out on the shop floors for safety inspection apps, and access to company communications (Teams and Email).
We would really like to make use of these tablets for use with Epicor. Examples include mostly MES type activity: Labor clock in/out, job clock in/out, material issue, etc… but also the ability to bring up job travelers and such so we don’t have to print them all out.
My current challenge is how to use these devices to scan barcodes. Has anyone attempted this?
Our company is in a similar position and we went the iPad/iPhone route. We had some issues using Android/Samsung tablets initially so we shifted gears and tried some IOS stuff instead, and it’s been working pretty well for us.
We use them almost exclusively with the MES/printing travelers and barring some bugs initially, it’s been working great.
To solve the barcode scanning issue, we picked up a bunch of cheap handheld bluetooth scanners on Amazon and linked them up with the tablets. They honestly work pretty well and cost us between 20-30 bucks per unit.
I’ll throw a link below for the ones that we’ve been using that have been pretty solid. We tried a couple other brands but had a lot of issues with signal strength/being powerful enough to reach items that were higher up on shelving.
If you have any other questions feel free to let me know!
Androids for MES here…Galaxy Tab Active3 and Unitech scanners, working out pretty well. Same with shipping/EMW…scanning with Honeywell/Intermec CK65 units.
As long as the wireless is up of course…wasn’t a given this morning…but I digress.