IDC forecasts that by 2020, 25 percent of field service technicians will use AR. Oil and gas, a key industry in the sector, is also said to become $5-7B AR market by 2021, according to Activate. Many also believe that the impact of AR in logistics is “a real no brainer.”

Venture Beat magazine recently proposed three ways that AR will impact logistics:1

1. On the spot training
2. Streamlining logistics operations
3. Optimization of transport

The use of SQRL codes will enhance those benefits by increasing the amount of data that can be contained in a single label. We augment augmented reality with data. For instance, if SQRL labels with hazmat info were on every product Amazon wouldn’t have shipped (and been fined for shipping) hazardous materials by air. The information was available—just not conveniently. Using SQRL protocols, the information would be accessible through a single label. Scanners could be programmed to automatically detect the error.

Tools such as Upskill’s Skylight are perfect for on the spot training. Other applications support conferencing and document sharing augmenting the user’s field of vision. All of these features are useful—but single purposed! With SQRL codes, multi-field sessions are enabled: Voilà, multitasking! A single QR code can point to multiple targets, and include data that is accessible even if the network goes down. Imagine a field service technician in the middle of Wyoming with limited Wi-fi or cellular access. With optically scanned codes, they are not blind! With access to 4000 characters of content, the show goes on!

How does this happen? The Reverse Logistics Association initiated and now manages ANSI standard MH20.8.2.12N. This protocol defines a format for encoding multi-field labels. It can be enabled with any symbology including RFID or even 1D barcodes. We have focused on QR codes because of their un-tapped data capacity. We define two things: field names (called FI’s for Field Identifiers) and a series of flags specifying language, currency, units, and encryption. The format is ISO 15434 complaint. The FI’s are easily extensible. Over 250 FI’s are currently defined. Additional FI’s can be requested at rla.org/sqrl.

1 https://venturebeat.com/2017/11/09/3-ways-ar-will-revolutionize-manufacturing-and-logistics/

---

Bruce Brown
InforMission Solutions, LLC provides system support for creating and scanning RLA / ANSI SqrL-compliant labels. After 9 years in various management roles at Apple, Bruce served as CIO for two $1B+ corporations, founded a B2B SaaS (business to business software as a service) company and ran a multi-channel e-commerce company. Bruce now serves as InforMission’s CEO.