Scanning in cold storage: battery, condensation and labels

In a freezer room, say at minus 18 degrees, even a phone works slowly. A scanner is no exception: the battery drains fast, the screen dims, and the label either falls off or cannot be read under frost. Stock counts in warehouses that keep meat, dairy, frozen fruit and medicines happen in exactly these conditions. They have to be prepared for in advance.

How the cold affects a scanner

The cold shows in four places:

• battery: capacity falls in the cold, so even a fully charged battery runs down faster inside the room;
• screen: refresh slows and the text looks dull;
• keys: thick gloves cannot press small keys, and a touch screen may not respond to a glove;
• the device itself: each model has a stated permitted operating range.

Compare the room's temperature with the range in the device's documentation. Do not take a device that is not rated for the cold into the room. Keep a second battery in an inner pocket close to your body, ready to swap in if the first runs down quickly. The charge indicator can mislead in the cold too, so changing the battery at half charge is safer than a sudden shutdown inside the room.

Condensation: from warm to cold and back

If you carry a device out of the cold room into a warm one, the scanner window and the labels fog up, which is condensation. The reverse is risky too: bringing a warm device suddenly into the cold can leave moisture inside. Follow these rules:

1. After leaving the room, do not use the device at once. Wait a few minutes and wipe the window with a dry soft cloth.
2. Before going in, hold the device by the door for a few minutes to let it adjust.
3. Carry it somewhere warm, in an inner pocket, and take it out only while working.
4. Gently wipe frost off a label with a cloth; do not scratch, because a scratched code will not scan.

Choosing a device for the cold

For permanent work in the cold, choose the device in advance. Look at the following:

• the operating temperature range in the documentation should cover your room's temperature;
• the keys should be large, or the device should have a glove mode;
• the protection rating against dust and moisture (IP) should be high;
• the device should strap to the hand so it cannot slip out of a glove;
• some devices have a screen heater for the cold, which also helps.

An ordinary scanner or phone will do to start with, but for permanent work a device rated for the cold is more dependable.

A label that tolerates cold

An ordinary paper label loses its adhesive in the cold and falls off. For frozen goods choose a synthetic material and an adhesive rated for cold. Check the lowest application temperature in the manufacturer's data. Stick the label on before the goods are frozen, onto a dry, clean surface, because it will not stick to a frozen or frosty one. Make the code larger and higher in contrast: under frost, fine lines run together. Thermal transfer is better for printing because the image lasts longer.

Organising the count

Work in the room in short sessions:

1. Before the count, in the warm, make a list of zones and racks.
2. In each session, enter the room, scan one zone and come out. For example, with 12 racks, do 3 per session, which makes 4 sessions.
3. Do not work in the room alone. Take the maximum time allowed in the room from the occupational safety rules.
4. Collect the results in the device's memory. Wi-Fi is unstable inside metal walls and in the cold, so upload the data to the system somewhere warm.
5. Log unreadable labels separately and, on leaving, check against the list: has every zone been scanned?
6. At the end of the shift let the device and batteries reach room temperature before charging them; charging a cold battery at once is best avoided.

A count in the room goes slower than usual, since gloved scans take longer and pauses multiply. Build in a time reserve. For example, if a zone takes 1 hour in a warm store, plan about 1.5 hours in the room; the trial session will show the exact figure.

Conclusion

A count in a cold store means matching device, label and routine: a spare battery, waiting out condensation, a cold-rated label and short sessions. The Shtrix team chooses a label material for cold conditions, plans the count and uploads the result to your accounting system in a warm place.