Scandit, a technology platform for mobile computer vision and augmented reality (AR), has announced that SAS (Scandinavian Airlines System) has integrated its powerful scanning software into their new Ground Handling App for smartphones, to replace built-in scanners and upgrade ground workflows.
The mobile app (developed by Stockholm-based Objective Solutions) enables mobile scanning of boarding passes, passports, meal vouchers and baggage tags. SAS deployed the Scandit-powered app to their three Scandinavian airport hubs: Stockholm Arlanda, Oslo Gardermoen, and Copenhagen Kastrup.
“We chose Scandit for its quality and flexibility,” said Fredrik Buxfeldt, Head of Digital Operations IT at SAS. “In addition to barcode scanning and OCR (optical character recognition) in mobile apps, Scandit also enables barcode scanning in websites, so our employees can also use mobile scanning from a browser if they don’t have the mobile app loaded.”
SAS carries more than 30 million passengers annually to 120 destinations on over 170 aircraft and is thought of as a pioneer in digital innovation for the air travel industry.
According to Scandit, the Ground Handling App is part of a global, digital infrastructure initiative to streamline and improve key operations and improve the travelling experience for the growing volume of Scandinavian Airlines passengers. In the first deployment, SAS employees were equipped with 700 Galaxy A8 devices, with further rollouts planned across SAS’ global operations.
“SAS has reaped the benefits of modernizing data capture workflows with enterprise-grade mobile scanning,” said Samuel Mueller, CEO of Scandit. “We are delighted to play a part in this mobile evolution to help SAS meet its goals for outstanding customer service and operational efficiency.”
The Scandit software was integrated into the SAS IT ecosystem, so that customer-facing SAS employees use the mobile app from anywhere in the airport (for example at the boarding gate, where agents are no longer tied to gate podiums).
Passengers are benefiting from a faster, more personalized service and SAS has reduced costs compared to the dedicated scanners and infrastructure. Booking changes can also be done with the mobile app and baggage handlers use it to record and track baggage.
