Datalogic S.p.A. is an Italian company working in the

automatic data capture Automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) refers to the methods of automatically identifying objects, collecting data about them, and entering them directly into computer systems, without human involvement. Technologies typically considere ...

and

process automation Business process automation (BPA), also known as business automation or digital transformation, is the technology-enabled automation of complex business processes. It can streamline a business for simplicity, achieve digital transformation, increa ...

markets. The group specializes in the design and production of

barcode reader A barcode reader is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode to a computer. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor for translating optical impulses into ...

mobile computers Mobile computing is human–computer interaction in which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage, which allows for the transmission of data, voice, and video. Mobile computing involves mobile communication, mobile hardware ...

radio-frequency identification Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electrom ...

, sensors for

detection {{Unreferenced, date=March 2018 In general, detection is the action of accessing information without specific cooperation from with the sender. In the history of radio communications, the term "detector" was first used for a device that detected t ...

, measurement and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

vision Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

and

laser marking Laser engraving is the practice of using lasers to engrave an object. Laser marking, on the other hand, is a broader category of methods to leave marks on an object, which in some cases, also includes color change due to chemical/molecular alte ...

systems. Datalogic products are used in many supermarkets and points of sale, at

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

s, at shipping and

postal services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

, and in

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery A machine is a physical system using power to apply forces and control movement to p ...

and hospitals worldwide. In 2021 the company recorded sales of : Datalogic S.p.A. is listed on the STAR segment of the

Italian Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...

as DAL.MI. since 2001.

History

Datalogic was founded in 1972 by Eng. Romano Volta in a room in the rectory of the Parish in Quarto Inferiore, on the outskirts of

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Initially, production was centred on electronic devices, but soon the direction changed towards the design and production of

photoelectric sensor A photoelectric sensor is a device used to determine the distance, absence, or presence of an object by using a light transmitter, often infrared, and a photoelectric receiver. They are largely used in industrial manufacturing. There are three ...

s for textile, ceramic and packaging industries. Due to the need for expansion, the plant was soon moved to the current site of Lippo di

Calderara di Reno Calderara di Reno (Bolognese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna. The ''frazione'' of Sacerno is usually considered the place where, in 43 ...

(BO). The first scan of a

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly refe ...

in a retail store took place on June 26, 1974. A pack of chewing gum was scanned in a store in Troy, Ohio with a "Magellan Model-A": the world's first fixed retail scanner was signed by Datalogic. Today, only two copies of the original scanner are still known to exist: one kept at the

Smithsonian Museum The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

and the other is currently exhibited in the museum at the entrance to one of the Datalogic business locations in

Eugene Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. In 1984 a Datalogic barcode reader was used at an airport in

Milan Linate Milan Linate Airport is the third international airport of Milan, the second-largest city and largest urban area of Italy, behind Malpensa Airport and Orio al Serio Airport. It served 9,233,475 passengers in 2018, being the fifth busiest ...

to sort baggage, the first use of a barcode reader for this purpose The first

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electroma ...

application in the world with use in a post office dates back to 1999, while in 2000 the ''Shopevolution''™ middleware was born, the first self-shopping solution involving the use of a small handheld computer with integrated barcode reader. On June 8, 2009, Romano Volta receives the "Premio Imprese per l’Innovazione” (Business Prize for Innovation) from the

President of Italy The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian pol ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

for the company's growth both in Italy and globally resulting from investing in

innovative Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed enti ...

technologies and methods.

Chairman and CEO

On 1 January 2017, Valentina Volta became the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

of Datalogic. Volta has a graduate degree in Business Economics from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

with a master's degree in Management from the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

). Before her entry into Datalogic, Dr. Volta worked for over 10 years in the

Ferrero Ferrero ( Italian: , Spanish: ) is a surname of Italian (from Piedmont) and Spanish origin that means 'smith', the person who works with iron, in parallel with surnames like Ferraro, Ferrari and Smith. Notable people with the surname Ferrero ...

Group, with managerial roles in sales and marketing. Eng. Romano Volta, founder of the company, holds the office of

Executive President An executive president is the head of state who exercises authority over the governance of that state, and can be found in presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. They contrast with figurehead presidents, common in most parli ...

. In 1997, Romano Volta received the

Cavaliere del Lavoro The Order of Merit for Labour ( it, Ordine al Merito del Lavoro) is an Italian order of chivalry that was founded in 1923 by King Vittorio Emanuele III. It is awarded to those "who have been singularly meritorious" in agriculture, industry and ...

(awarded by the

President of the Italian Republic President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

). Eng. Volta is President of Aczon S.r.l. (pharmaceutical research and biotechnology) and Hydra S.p.A.

Acquisitions

Over the years, Datalogic has acquired many subsidiary companies. These include:

PSC Inc. PSC Inc. was a manufacturer of portable data terminals, mobile data terminals, wireless terminals, bar code scanners, linear bar code verifiers, and RFID readers. It was founded in 1969 by John E. Blackert (Xerox) and Lawrence P. Albertson (Eastman ...

in 2005; Datasensors in 2008; Evolution Robotics Retail in 2010; PPT Vision in 2011; Accu-Sort Systems in 2012; M.D. Micro Detectors in 2021; and Pekat Vision in 2022.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=https://www.datalogic.com, title=Datalogic official website Italian companies established in 1972 Companies listed on the Borsa Italiana Manufacturing companies based in Bologna Financial technology companies 1972 establishments in Italy