The global market for handheld point-of-sale (POS) devices is experiencing rapid growth, driven by the shift to digital payments, e-commerce expansion, and increased demand for portable payment solutions in key industries like retail and hospitality. 

Retailers are increasingly adopting hardware to enhance customer service and transaction efficiency, reflecting the rising importance of ergonomic, user-friendly designs in today’s competitive landscape. 

An established online retailer was expanding into the hardware space, developing their first handheld POS device. 

While they had market insights and funding, he company was seeking to enhance its in-house engineering resources. They required an expert partner to design and manufacture a light pipe that could visually communicate transaction status to users. 

The light pipe needed to integrate seamlessly with the POS bezel, providing clear red and green LED indications for errors and successful transactions. 

Additionally, the customer’s existing prototype faced significant challenges: strong hot spots and dark areas resulted in inefficient light output. To reduce costs, they aimed to achieve uniform illumination using fewer LEDs. 

VCC provided comprehensive light pipe design services:

• Custom Light Pipe for POS Integration: Designed a light pipe that fit precisely around the top edge of the handheld device bezel, ensuring ergonomic and aesthetic alignment 
• Optimized Light Performance: Engineered the light pipe to deliver vibrant and uniform red and green light outputs for error and success signals, addressing the prototype’s hot spot and efficiency issues 
• Cost-Efficient Design for Manufacturability (DFM): Optimized the design to minimize LED usage while maintaining high performance, reducing component costs 
• Collaborative Prototyping: Delivered iterative prototypes for testing and refinement, incorporating client feedback to meet performance, cost, and aesthetic goals