First Light Streamlines Asset Tracking with Dynamsoft Barcode Reader

Introduction

First Light provides critical social, cultural, and justice-related support services to the urban Indigenous population of St. John's, Newfoundland. With a diverse team of approximately 100 employees, the organization oversees numerous assets needed for day-to-day operations. Accurate asset tracking is essential to maintain and manage the organization’s technology infrastructure, ensuring that staff can focus on delivering community services. To streamline asset tracking, First Light sought an efficient solution to simplify the inventory and auditing process while maintaining high accuracy.

Challenge

Tracking technology assets at First Light involved manually searching through asset records. This process was time-consuming and prone to errors. The organization tried several IT Asset Management (ITAM) solutions, but these alternatives proved to be either cumbersome or costly, making them unsuitable for the non-profit's limited resources.

Attempts to create an in-house application with open-source barcode readers were unsuccessful, as these solutions lacked the speed, accuracy, and simplicity needed for effective implementation.

As asset tracking is dependent on reliable scanning, First Light needed a solution that could meet its criteria for accuracy, speed, and ease of integration. The selected barcode reader also needed to handle specific challenges, such as scanning curved or low-light barcodes, which were commonly encountered during audits.

Curved barcodes

Low-light barcodes

Solution

First Light integrated the Dynamsoft Barcode Reader SDK into a custom asset management application, transforming their asset tracking process. Dynamsoft’s SDK provided near-instant scanning capabilities, even for curved barcodes in low-light conditions. This allowed First Light’s tech team to quickly and accurately retrieve asset details by simply scanning a barcode, making updates and verifying records more efficiently than ever.

The barcode scanning process was seamlessly integrated into First Light’s system, with a React front-end. The application queries the database upon scanning to pull up the relevant asset record instantly, allowing team members to complete CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations as needed.

The application became functional within a single work day, allowing First Light’s small tech team to deploy it immediately. Dynamsoft's sample code was easy to use, and the SDK required minimal customization, which facilitated the application’s rapid deployment.

Impact

By adopting the Dynamsoft Barcode Reader, First Light saw a significant improvement in the efficiency of its asset tracking and auditing process. The barcode reader enabled the tech team to quickly access and verify asset information, drastically reducing the time spent on inventory tasks. First Light’s ability to perform an intense annual audit with ease has empowered the organization to keep all tech assets up-to-date and accounted for, enhancing traceability and accountability.

For a non-profit organization with limited resources, the ability to handle asset tracking internally at a low cost is invaluable. The simplicity of the barcode scanner application enabled First Light to focus resources on supporting their critical services to the community. With the application in place, the organization can ensure that resources are effectively managed, further supporting its mission to provide essential services.