3-in-1 rugged Toughpad for transport and logistics

Panasonic has launched what is said to be the world’s lightest fully rugged 3-in-1 handheld tablet.

The Toughpad FZ-N1 is unique to the Australian market and is designed to meet the increasing demands placed on workers in the transport and logistics industry, by boosting productivity while guarding against impacts on employees’ health.

The slim, lightweight and powerful handheld Panasonic Toughpad FZ-N1 is a 3-in-1 tool that combines the productivity benefits of a mobile barcode reader, phone and tablet into one fully ruggedised device, built to protect against drops, heat and cold, vibration, dust and rain.

This launch follows the release of a Panasonic research study that reveals the health of UK mobile workers is suffering due to poorly designed mobile barcode scanners. It reported that over half (52%) of workers surveyed in the field suffer from repetitive strain injury and 63% experience wrist or arm aches and pains.

The Toughpad FZ-N1 has been specifically designed to overcome the similar operational and health challenges faced by Australian transport and logistics mobile workers.

In an industry worth nearly 9 per cent of GDP (almost $132 billion) in Australia that employs over one million people, many businesses are seeking out technology advances as a key opportunity to reduce costs, increase speed and better service customers, while being mindful of staff health.

“These trends are being seen around the world and, fuelled by a boom in online spending and shipping volumes, some workers can be scanning hundreds of barcodes a day. Clearly, technology must continue to innovate to support the productivity of Australian workers. It’s actually estimated that a 1 per cent increase in supply chain efficiency can deliver a $2bn benefit to Australia’s economy,” said Stuart Buxton, senior product manager for Toughbook at Panasonic.

“The FZ-N1’s ergonomic angled barcode reader has been created for ease of use and has the potential to increase efficiency and at the same time provide greater comfort for workers. We’re in fact seeing ruggedised devices slashing field failure rates, raising productivity and lowering total costs of ownership compared to other commercial grade devices by over 15 per cent p.a.”

The new Toughpad is designed for markets like transportation and logistics, manufacturing and retail, and is well suited for a wide variety of applications, such as inventory management, shipping and receiving, delivery routing and parcel tracking, and retail store queue busting.

Source: http://www.tandlnews.com.au/