Information management of automatic data capture: an overview of technical developments

Automatic identification and data capture/collection (AIDC) systems are one of the most widely used and under‐recognized IT strategic assets in use in the global economy. Data collection and integration strategies are essential to enterprise resource management systems as well as warehouse management systems. The development of innovation through the development and marketing of products and services has been a key source of competitive advantage for many large and small manufacturing firms and is greatly aided by AIDC technologies. Management needs to control quality, cost, schedule, location of warehouses and plants, inventory levels, pricing, shipment, and a vast host of factors that are based almost entirely on the volume and quality of data and data collection. A discussion of types of bar coding technologies and their associated software/hardware requirements is included, with a mobile communications example.