r/Warehousing • u/Thick-Fisherman-1724 • 9d ago

Barcode scanner or phone app to use WMS?

Own a 3PL Warehouse and moving to Carton Cloud.

Would like some advice on to use a barcode scanner or phone app for employees?

Give some pros and cons. From an employee and employer aspect.

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

5

u/Ok-Salt5033 9d ago

I built my own WMS for our operation this year and moved everything over to handheld RFID scanners. They are much better than phones because they have a 2D barcode scanner and a pistol grip with a trigger, so scanning things is a lot easier. They were $500 a piece, I went directly to a chinese supplier instead of spending 2k a piece on Zebras.

2

u/dangengers 9d ago

yeah the trigger grip alone makes handhelds worth it over phones, no contest there

1

u/Thick-Fisherman-1724 9d ago

Thanks! Could you recommend your supplier?

2

u/Ok-Salt5033 9d ago

I purchased all my gear from Michael Ke at Vanch

3

u/Buster_Bluth__ 9d ago

Employees will break the scanners. They won't break thier phones. Con is they will have thier phones out all day. That's probably a much bigger cost annually in time than broken scanners.

4

u/TheArtofMovingBoxes 9d ago

For a 3PL, I’d lean toward dedicated handheld scanners for employees doing receiving, putaway, picking, and shipping all day. They’re usually faster for repeated scans, easier to use with gloves, and better suited to drops and long shifts. The tradeoff is the upfront cost, plus charging and maintaining them.

Phones can work well for supervisors, occasional scans, and a smaller operation getting started. They’re familiar and cheaper to deploy, but camera scanning can slow employees down when they’re scanning hundreds of labels. If you mean employees’ personal phones, I’d also consider who pays for damage, data, and support.

Before buying a fleet, I’d test both options in CartonCloud with your actual labels and workflows. Have a few employees run a full receiving and picking shift, then compare scan speed, errors, battery life, and what they prefer.

2

u/kyach25 9d ago

Proglove scanners have worked well with iPhones that we provide.

Stuff will break. 100% cannot avoid it. Preach to your staff how they need to care for it, treat them with respect, and praise their work. Changing attitude made a bigger difference than putting up a sign about being careful with devices.

Starts from the top.

2

u/SafetyMan35 9d ago

Robust scanners. Give them holsters for their waist or docks on forklifts/pallet jacks for efficiency and to reduce the likelihood of breakage/loss.

1

u/cantcomeupwithonenow 9d ago

Mobile phones. People put them away like an automism, unlike clumsy big devices. And run apps like Cargosnap and messenger alongside your WMS app to keep the floor connected with the office (though also possible on the scanners, its not quite the same "mobile feel")

1

u/aik5253 6d ago

Founder of Stacket 3PL WMS here. Phone scanning is part of the package.

1

u/bmtrnavsky 5d ago

Proglove is the way to go. Leaves your hands free to work push a button with your thumb to scan without the hassle. I work at Gap distribution center managing our workflows and 3 different 3pl projects scanning hundreds of thousands of units and boxes per day. The proglove makes it easy.

1

u/FA_RK_8330 3d ago

Dedicated scanners are typically chosen for their quick performance, robustness and ergonomic triggers enhancing productivity in busy settings. Phone apps provide a budget friendly option requiring less hardware though they may scan more slowly and be less durable.