Key takeaways:
- Zebra’s new wearable and mobile computers improve supply chain visibility and enable AI-driven decision-making.
- The solutions empower businesses to digitize and automate workflows, enhancing operational efficiency.
Zebra Technologies demonstrated new hardware and software solutions designed to improve supply chain visibility and frontline productivity during MODEX 2026 this month.
Headlining Zebra’s showcase was the new WS501-R, a rugged, all-in-one wearable computer that boosts frontline productivity with powerful multimodal capabilities such as barcode scanning and voice-directed picking solutions from our ISV partners into a single, hands-free tool. With the integration of high-performance RFID, Zebra enables companies to capture item-level details of each product scanned which provides detailed real-time data for decision-making and future-proofs organizations as they move toward AI-based operations.
Digitizing, Automating Workflows
Alongside the new wearable, the company featured its recently launched TC501 and TC701 mobile computers. These rugged devices are optimized with powerful on-device AI capabilities from Zebra’s Frontline AI Suite so they can analyze data at the point of capture for tasks including rapid picture proof of delivery, text recognition, and real-time tracking.
This empowers operations leaders to make smarter, faster decisions throughout the supply chain while turning every mobile computer into a powerful computer vision endpoint also capable of running AI agents optimized for the frontline.
“Our goal at MODEX [was] to show leaders a practical roadmap for digitizing and automating workflows to accelerate their frontline operations,” said Charlie Long, Vice President and General Manager, Machine Vision and Fixed Industrial Scanning, Zebra Technologies. “By deploying solutions that increase visibility and power agility across the supply chain, businesses can improve outcomes for their customers every day.”
New Solutions to Connect the Frontline
According to Zebra’s study with Oxford Economics, nearly one-third of manufacturers and 37% of transportation and logistics leaders rank enhancing supply chain visibility as a top priority over the next three years. This reinforces the importance of Zebra’s Connected Factory framework which is designed to improve actionable visibility, optimized quality and workforce augmentation to help organizations digitize, automate and streamline their operations, according to Long.
In addition, Zebra’s featured innovative touchscreen computer technology from Elo, now part of Zebra Technologies. Demos included unique experiences offered through the combination of Zebra products and innovative software applications that that deliver benefits across receiving, picking, shipping, and the last mile.
Zebra’s new Jam Detection solution was on display as well, which uses machine vision and AI to help prevent expensive and unnecessary conveyor shutdowns. Additionally, Jabil, a global engineering, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions provider, showed how it uses Zebra’s solutions to enhance its own complex supply chain operations.