Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | March 16, 2023 | AIM, the leading industry association and global authority for the Automatic Identification & Data Capture (AIDC) Industry will highlight the progress and innovation of the technology roadmap that has transpired in the past 50 years since the inception of AIM.
It all began in 1973, when AIM, then known as the Automatic Identification Manufacturers (AIM), was established as a Product Section of the Material Handling Institute (MHI) with a handful of members. In 1985, AIM was incorporated as a separate trade association when MHI moved their headquarters to Charlotte, NC.
The 1980’s and 1990’s were the most explosive decades for AIM as new symbologies were created; standards development activity was in high gear; membership blossomed to 900 global member companies; the annual industry trade show, SCAN-TECH, grew to attract over 12,000 attendees and 350 exhibitors; new product announcements were daily occurrences; and multiple vertical industries created mandates and compliance programs insisting on the use of AIDC technologies.
50 years ago, the founding pioneers of the AIDC industry certainly did not envision that one day every person would be walking around with a bar code scanner in their pocket, nor did they know at that time that AIDC technologies would become robust data collection tools connecting the physical world to the computer world enabling the birth of Wi-Fi, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Bluetooth, and Robotics.
“AIM was built on innovation and the courage to try new things,” said Chuck Evanhoe, AIM’s Board of Directors Chair. “Today, digital data capture technologies are reimagined into new efficiencies enabling supply chains around the world to be more equitable, sustainable, and resilient.”
In commemoration of this milestone anniversary, AIM will be hosting a series of regional events to mark the occasion. For more information about AIM and the association’s evolutions, please visit the #AIM50 website.