1972. Founded by Romano Volta, Datalogic is born in a room in the rectory of the Parish in Quarto Inferiore, on the outskirts of Bologna, Italy. Initially, production is centered on electronic devices, but soon the direction changes towards the design and production of photoelectric sensors for textile, ceramic and packaging industries. Soon a larger plant is required, marking the beginning of Datalogic’s base in Lippo.
1974. International expansion begins with the opening of a small office in Nürtingen, Germany, for the distribution of Datalogic products.
1976. Datalogic starts selling its products in Japan.
1978. Realizing the importance of the American market, the first commercial company in the United States is established.
By the end of the 70s, Datalogic strengthens its sales and customer service network with the creation of subsidiaries in all principal European countries.
1980. There is a strong drive towards research in the field of optical bar code readers. Important industrial applications are achieved in Europe with the exclusive laser scanners for which Datalogic becomes a technological leader and benchmark for the sector.
1984. The first application of a barcode reader at an airport in Milan - Linate.
1988. Pursuing its policy of international expansion, Datalogic opens new research, production and sales centres, and during this year acquires Escort Memory Systems in California, active in the electronic tag and RFID market.
In this decade, Datalogic has plants, subsidiaries and distributors in Europe, America, Oceania, Asia and Africa.
1993. Romano Volta steers Datalogic towards a new managerial organization. An ambitious 3-year (1993–1995) Strategic Improvement Plan is launched, to transform Datalogic into “an industrial reality, with steady and sustained growth, internationally known for results, reputation and image”. This becomes a real turning point for the company.
1995. A new production plant opens at Pescara.
1995. A joint venture is established with the Japanese Izumi group, to develop commercial activity in Japan and the Far East.
1997. Datalogic acquires IDWare Mobile Computing & Communications, the largest European producer of portable terminals.
1999. Datalogic achieves the world’s first application of RFID technology in a post office.
2000. Creation of the first self-shopping solution, Shopevolution™, which leverages the use of small hand-held computers with integrated bar code readers. The solution allows shoppers to make their purchases quickly, enjoyably and above all without having to queue for payment.
2001. Datalogic is listed on the New Market of the Milan stock exchange.
2002. The company’s expansion continues with the acquisition of Minec, a Swedish producer of portable terminals.
2004. Datalogic acquires Laservall, a company dealing in laser marking.
2005. A milestone is reached in Datalogic’s development with the acquisition of the American company PSC, based in Eugene, Oregon. Datalogic becomes the third largest company in the world market for bar code readers, doubling its turnover. The acquisition of PSC affirms Datalogic’s status as a true pioneer in the field of bar code readers. The first bar code scan at a retail check out was on 26 June 1974. A pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit was read at the Marsh store in Troy, Ohio. The world’s first counter-top scanner, the Magellan Model A was used. This early scanner can now be found in the museum at the entrance to the Datalogic plant in Eugene.
2006. The new factory in Trnava, Slovakia is complete, covering an area of 5,400 m2.
2008. Datalogic announces the acquisition of Datasensor, a transaction of great industrial value that consolidates Datalogic’s position in the industrial automation sector.
2009. The ultimate accolade for Datalogic: on 8 June, Romano Volta receives the “Premio Imprese per l’Innovazione” (Business Prize for Innovation) from the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. This award recognizes the company’s growth both in Italy and globally resulting from investing in innovation.
2009. Datalogic’s expansion continues in Asia. On 10 July, Datalogic opens a new plant in Vietnam, situated in the Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP).
2010. Datalogic announces the acquisition of Evolution Robotics Retail, a Californian company equipped with state-of-the-art technology in the field of visual pattern recognition.
2011. Datalogic acquires PPT Vision, a US company with a 30 year history in the vision sector, thus completing Datalogic’s range of high-end solutions and services in the innovative technological field of machine vision.
2012. Datalogic completes the acquisition of Accu-Sort Systems Inc., a company based in Telford, Pennsylvania that leads the US market in the design, production, integration and maintenance of automatic identification systems. The acquisition of Accu-Sort Systems Inc. doubles the presence of Datalogic in the industrial automation market.
2015. Datalogic buys 20% of CAEN RFID Srl, an Italian company at the forefront of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in the UHF (Ultra High Frequency) band. This acquisition enables Datalogic to widen its product offering, specifically in the Nonfood Retail, Warehousing and T&L segments.
TAujourd'hui, Datalogic est un leader mondial dans la saisie automatique de données et de l'automatisation des processus. La société compte 12 centres de recherche et développement dans le monde, emploie environ 2 700 personnes réparties dans 30 pays d'Europe, d'Asie-Pacifique et des États-Unis. Les solutions et produits innovants de Datalogic sont utilisés dans plus d'un tiers des supermarchés et des points de vente dans le monde, ainsi que dans un tiers des aéroports, des services d'expédition et des services postaux.
2016. Datalogic enregistre un chiffre d'affaires de 576,5 millions d'euros, investit plus de 50 millions d'euros en recherche et développement et possède un portefeuille, en constante augmentation, de plus de en 1 200 brevets et des demandes de brevets en instance dans de multiples juridictions.
2017. Datalogic adopted a new strategy, transforming the company’s organization from a product-oriented one, to a customer-centric model, breaking down its structure into four different divisions corresponding to the four sectors that it considers its main targets: Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare and Transport-Logistics. Thanks to the breadth and the uniqueness of its range of products and solutions (which have always represented our competi tive edge), we succeed with this new organisational model to meet the needs of our customers across their entire value chain.
2017. Datalogic fait l’acquisition de la société SOREDI Touch Systems GmbH, leader mondial dans la technologie des terminaux embarqués, basé à Munich en Allemagne. Ce rachat permet à Datalogic de compléter son offre de lecteurs et de terminaux portables avec des terminaux embarqués pour la gestion de l'entrepôt et d'entrer sur le marché des tablettes durcis. 
2021. Datalogic a acquis la société MD Micro Detectors, spécialisée dans la conception, la production et la vente de capteurs industriels. Cette acquisition permettra au Groupe Datalogic de renforcer sa présence en Italie et au niveau mondial sur le marché de l'automatisation industrielle, grâce à l'intégration d’un portefeuille de produits incluant des capteurs, des dispositifs de sécurité et des systèmes de sécurité des machines.
2022. Datasensing est née en 2022 de la fusion entre deux réalités qui ont fait l'histoire des capteurs en Italie depuis le début des années 1970 : La business unit Sensor & Safety and Machine Vision de Datalogic et M.D. Micro Detectors, acquise en 2021. Datasensing "facilite les défis de l'automatisation" grâce aux technologies utilisées dans le domaine de l’Intelligence Artificielle (IA) avec Le « Machine Learning » ou « Apprentissage automatique » et le « Deep Learning » ou « Apprentissage profond », aux capteurs et aux solutions de sécurité orientées sur l'automatisation industrielle, de la production à la logistique interne des marchandises. 
2022. Datalogic a acquis Pekat S.r.o. ("Pekat"), une start-up fondée par Petr Smid, qui a développé des algorithmes propriétaires utilisant l'apprentissage automatique et l'apprentissage profond pour l'automatisation des processus dans les secteurs de la fabrication, du transport et de la logistique, avec un potentiel supplémentaire pour la gestion des applications de retail.
