Kazam WMS · warehouse platform
WMS for Zebra handhelds.
Kazam Mobile turns a Zebra handheld into a complete workstation: receiving, put-away, picking, stock counts and shipping, using the device's hardware reader. The scan reaches the application as if it had been typed — no camera, no waiting for focus — and the work carries on where the Wi-Fi does not reach, syncing the differences when the network comes back. The people who coordinate stay in the web application, which is also where the handhelds themselves are configured: what each operator sees and which functions they have available are decided from the browser, not device by device.
Android 9+ · Native DataWedge · Offline + differential sync
Supported Zebra handhelds
Kazam Mobile is designed for Zebra Android handhelds that use DataWedge. Exact compatibility depends on the model, the Android version and the scanner configuration. The hardware scanner is driven natively through DataWedge, with no software camera.
TC501
Compact touch computer
TC701
Rugged touch computer
TC5x
Mid-range series
TC7x
Premium series
ET60
Rugged tablet
ET65
Rugged 5G tablet
ET401
Enterprise tablet
EM45
Enterprise mobile
Configuration matters as much as the model. Two handhelds from the same family behave differently depending on how they are set up: which scan engine the device carries, which symbologies the profile enables, whether the read is delivered as text or as an intent, and which Android version is installed. Kazam Mobile requires Android 9 or later and reads 1D and 2D codes; the rest is settled on the device, not in the application.
Not seeing your model? Kazam Mobile requires Android 9 or later. On non-Zebra devices, scanner compatibility has to be checked against the way the manufacturer exposes the read — keyboard input or a compatible intent, for example — write to us and we will check.
Kazam Mobile can also be used on consumer Android smartphones and tablets for the tasks that do not need a built-in scanner, or alongside an external reader that sends codes as keyboard input. DataWedge integration remains specific to compatible Zebra devices.
Before putting the terminals in the field, check the Wi-Fi coverage of the aisles: warehouse Wi-Fi survey with Radaria, on the same Zebra terminals.
Native DataWedge
Instant 1D/2D barcode reading through the Zebra hardware scan engine, configured via DataWedge. The read is immediate, without the focusing time a camera needs.
Offline and sync
Picking, receiving, stock counts and shipping work with no network too. Differential synchronisation realigns the data as soon as Wi-Fi coverage returns.
Not only Zebra
Kazam Mobile also runs on consumer Android smartphones and tablets: ideal for occasional stations, seasonal warehouses or low-cost starts.
Part of the platform
The apps on the handhelds work on the same platform as the web application and the Windows client: same logic, same data, one warehouse. The people who coordinate are at the browser, the people who operate are on the handheld.
How scanning works with DataWedge
DataWedge is the Mobility DNA tool preinstalled on every Zebra handheld: it sits between the scan engine and the applications, and decides what happens when the operator pulls the trigger. It is configured through profiles, and a profile can be tied to a single application.
The mechanism, in three steps: the operator pulls the trigger, the hardware engine decodes the code, DataWedge delivers the result to the application as if it had been typed. Kazam Mobile therefore receives the data in the active field without opening the camera, without waiting for focus and without asking for a system permission on every read.
Three practical consequences. The first is speed: the read is immediate, and on a pick list of hundreds of lines the difference against a camera scan is measured in hours of a shift. The second is reliability in difficult conditions: the hardware engine reads damaged, laminated, backlit or distant labels where a camera gives up. The third is that no special configuration is needed for Kazam: if the handheld is already set up to work with other business applications, that profile works here too.
What changes compared with manual entry
The difference is not convenience: it is where the data is born and when the mistake surfaces.
With manual entry the data is born at the desk, afterwards, from a sheet filled in by hand or a list read out loud. Every step is a chance to get it wrong, and the mistake surfaces downstream: at loading, at the customer, in a claim. By then it costs the return, the penalty and the time of whoever has to reconstruct what happened.
With scanning, the data is born at the point and at the moment the thing happens, and the check occurs while the operator is holding the goods. If the code is not the one the mission expects, the application says so immediately: the mistake is blocked instead of recorded. Three less obvious things change too.
- Traceability is a side effect, not extra work. Batch, expiry date and serial number are read off the label instead of being transcribed, so they are always there and always right.
- Training gets shorter. The handheld guides: the operator scans and confirms, with no codes to remember and no list to interpret.
- Whoever coordinates stops chasing. Stock is the stock of right now, not of last night, and questions arrive before they become problems.
Offline behaviour
In a real warehouse Wi-Fi does not cover everything equally: cold rooms, narrow aisles between metal racking, yards and loading bays are the places where coverage thins out. An application that stops the moment it loses the network forces the operator to walk back, and that is why many projects end with the handhelds abandoned on the trolley.
Kazam Mobile keeps working without a network: receiving, put-away, picking, stock counting and shipping stay operational, and the operations queue up on the device. When the handheld returns into coverage, differential synchronisation aligns the differences — only those, not the whole archive — so coming back is quick even after a full shift out of coverage.
One sensible rule still holds for any WMS: offline is a safety net, not a way of working. If coverage is systematically missing in an aisle, it is worth measuring and fixing it before putting the handhelds in the field, otherwise the discrepancies pile up and the software gets the blame.
Rollout onto a fleet you already have
The most common case is not buying new handhelds: it is having a Zebra fleet already in service, perhaps with another application on board, and wanting to reuse it. That is the scenario Kazam Mobile is designed for, and it takes four steps.
- Inventory. Models, Android versions and scan profiles already in place. This is where the devices too old for Android 9 come out, along with those carrying a different scan engine from the rest of the fleet.
- Check on a sample. One or two handhelds per family, with the existing profile, on the real flows of the warehouse. It is there to confirm the read, not to evaluate the product.
- Distribution. The application reaches the devices with the same tools you already use to manage the fleet; the connection to the Kazam instance and the operators' permissions are set from the browser, not handheld by handheld: what each operator sees and which functions they have are decided in the web application.
- Zone by zone start. Start from one area, check it for a few days, then extend. Switching everything on the same day is the shortcut that makes it longer.
One check always worth doing before you distribute: the Wi-Fi coverage of the aisles, measured on the same Zebra handhelds you will be using — warehouse Wi-Fi survey with Radaria.
When what you have to read is not a barcode
Kazam Mobile solves the warehouse: it knows what has to happen to the goods and uses the code to confirm it. There is, however, a neighbouring problem the barcode does not cover — reading what is merely printed on the label: serial numbers with no code, inkjet expiry dates, plates, heat numbers, delivery notes.
For that problem, on the same Zebra handhelds you already own, there is Cattura, the data capture application built on the Zebra AI DataCapture SDK and Zebra Validated. It is a separate Sun Tech product, not a Kazam module: it steps in when the data to be captured is not a code.
The practical distinction is simple. If the data is encoded, Kazam Mobile reads it with the hardware scanner. If the data is text, Cattura reads it. Neither replaces the other and there is no need to choose in advance: they live side by side on the same device.
Try Kazam Mobile on your Zebra
Download the app from the Play Store and connect it to a Kazam instance, or talk to one of our engineers about your operational scenario.