Hand Held Products
Encyclopedia
Hand Held Products is the world's largest manufacturer of linear and 2D handheld barcode scanners based on imaging technology. Its product range includes rugged mobile computers, image kiosks, and barcode verification devices. Its range of data collection and communication products are designed for mobile, on-site, and transaction processing applications.
The company was created in a merger between the former Welch Allyn Data Collection, Inc. and Hand Held Products, Inc. in late 1999.
Welch Allyn Data Collection was formed in 1972 as a subsidiary of Welch Allyn
, headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York, and by the 1990s was manufacturing a complete line of handheld bar code readers.
The original Hand Held Products company, established in 1981 in Charlotte
, North Carolina, began life as a manufacturer of memory modules for Hewlett-Packard
and Texas Instruments
programmable calculators, but quickly came to the industry spotlight in 1983 thanks to an RFP hand-off by Hewett-Packard, as a package delivery company Federal Express selected their Micro-Wand portable data collection device to begin its first major proof of delivery
system for package tracking.
In 1996, Hand Held Products launched the first mobile computer with 2D imaging technology, the Dolphin 7200. In 1997, the Hand Held Product's Dolphin portable computer was selected by the United States Postal Service
to be part of their own proof of delivery system, although a third party provided the manufacturing for this deal, which was the largest single order in the history of the industry – 300,000 units.
In 2006–2007 United States Postal Service
started replacing these portable computers with newly designed Motorola portable computers (370,000 units). The bar code reading hardware (2D imager) and decoding and image processing software in these new portable computers are designed and supplied by Hand Held Products.
In the UK, many companies including the courier Amtrak
, Christian Salvesen logistics and retail outlet Snow & Rock use various models of the handheld computers.
Since the merger in 1999, the company has maintained its company headquarters in NY.
Hand Held Products has a significant presence in Europe, with its EMEA headquarters in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, where also its European repair center is based. It also has offices in the UK, Germany and France and sales representation and resellers in most countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Hand Held Products also has offices in Latin America and Asia.
As of January 1, 2005, the company dropped HHP as its brand name and returned to its full name Hand Held Products. (The legal company name has always been Hand Held Products, Inc.)
On October 15, 2007, Hand Held Products announced they had entered an agreement with Honeywell
to be purchased for a reported $390 M usd. On December 20, 2007 Honeywell’s acquisition of Hand Held was approved, and Hand Held officially became a part of Honeywell.
Hand Held will form a new line of business within the Honeywell Security Group, which is part of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business. The line of business was initially called Honeywell Imaging and mobility, but with Honeywell's acquisition of Metrologic in 2008 they decided to call the business unit Honeywell Scanning and Mobility.
The company was created in a merger between the former Welch Allyn Data Collection, Inc. and Hand Held Products, Inc. in late 1999.
Welch Allyn
Welch Allyn, Inc. was founded in 1915 and is a manufacturer of medical diagnostic devices, patient monitoring systems, and miniature precision lamps...
, headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, New York, and by the 1990s was manufacturing a complete line of handheld bar code readers.
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, North Carolina, began life as a manufacturer of memory modules for Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
and Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
programmable calculators, but quickly came to the industry spotlight in 1983 thanks to an RFP hand-off by Hewett-Packard, as a package delivery company Federal Express selected their Micro-Wand portable data collection device to begin its first major proof of delivery
Proof of delivery
Proof of delivery is a method to establish the fact that the recipient received the contents sent by the sender. When the sender sends multiple documents through the mail there is a possibility of some not reaching the intended recipient...
system for package tracking.
In 1996, Hand Held Products launched the first mobile computer with 2D imaging technology, the Dolphin 7200. In 1997, the Hand Held Product's Dolphin portable computer was selected by the United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
to be part of their own proof of delivery system, although a third party provided the manufacturing for this deal, which was the largest single order in the history of the industry – 300,000 units.
In 2006–2007 United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
started replacing these portable computers with newly designed Motorola portable computers (370,000 units). The bar code reading hardware (2D imager) and decoding and image processing software in these new portable computers are designed and supplied by Hand Held Products.
In the UK, many companies including the courier Amtrak
Amtrak (parcel delivery company)
Amtrak Express Parcels was a parcel delivery company in the United Kingdom.It was founded in 1987 by Roger and Elaine Baines who grew the business from a small outfit based in the West Midlands into a nationwide parcel carrier, with around 1,000 vehicles operating out of around 100 distribution...
, Christian Salvesen logistics and retail outlet Snow & Rock use various models of the handheld computers.
Since the merger in 1999, the company has maintained its company headquarters in NY.
Hand Held Products has a significant presence in Europe, with its EMEA headquarters in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, where also its European repair center is based. It also has offices in the UK, Germany and France and sales representation and resellers in most countries in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Hand Held Products also has offices in Latin America and Asia.
As of January 1, 2005, the company dropped HHP as its brand name and returned to its full name Hand Held Products. (The legal company name has always been Hand Held Products, Inc.)
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
to be purchased for a reported $390 M usd. On December 20, 2007 Honeywell’s acquisition of Hand Held was approved, and Hand Held officially became a part of Honeywell.
Hand Held will form a new line of business within the Honeywell Security Group, which is part of Honeywell’s Automation and Control Solutions (ACS) business. The line of business was initially called Honeywell Imaging and mobility, but with Honeywell's acquisition of Metrologic in 2008 they decided to call the business unit Honeywell Scanning and Mobility.