Hello everyone,

could anyone please explain me what is the reason for the use of the “would tense” in the following text:

The typical Pick to Light process uses our hand-held barcode system which would read the barcode or QR code label on both the product and the pick locations. Picking staff would scan a pick sheet, dispatch note or even a carton or tote. Our system would retrieve information relating to that particular Job/Kit. The pick location(s) would light and staff would pick the products. They would scan each product and the location to confirm correct picking. Product can then be handled as a completed job and sent to dispatch or another area of the factory.

I, as a non-native speaker, would personally use the simple tense, that is as follows:

The typical Pick to Light process uses our hand-held barcode system which would read the barcode or QR code label on both the product and the pick locations. Picking staff scans (instead of “would scan”) a pick sheet, dispatch note or even a carton or tote. Our system retrieves (instead of “would retrieve”) information relating to that particular Job/Kit. The pick location(s) lights (instead of “would light”) and staff would pick the products. They would scan each product and the location to confirm correct picking. Product can then be handled as a completed job and sent to dispatch or another area of the factory.

Thank you

Using the present simple is the best option here, because that describes factually what the system does, which should be the writer's intention.

I would describe the use of the „woulds“ as the implied conditional used to describe a hypothesis. So „… uses our hand-held barcode system which(,if you had the system installed,) would read the barcode …“ etc.

The (semantic) hypothesis is already predicated in your text in the earlier sentence: A Pick to Light system can have a massive impact by … (monk-conveyors.com)

The system can have a massive impact (but only if you have it installed).

So the writer has shifted the scenario from the realm of fact („the system has a massive impact …“ … „barcode system which reads the barcode …“) to the realm of (semantic) hypothesis („the system can have a massive impact …“ … „system which would read the barcode …“).

Hello Dan, thank you so much for your help. Can I ask you, please, what “semantic hypothesis” means? I am not really sure what it means, especially the word “semantic”. I’ve looked it up in a dictionary, and it (dictionary) told me it should mean “related to the meaning of words”. Thank you

Yes, that's right. In your example we understand that it's a semantic hypothesis (the meaning is that it's a hypothesis), but it's not a grammatical hypothesis, because a grammatical hypothesis in the first phrase should read „A Pick to Light system could (not "can“) have a massive impact by …"

So we understand that the writer is talking about a hypothesis („a Pick to Light system can have a massive impact …“) but he's not using the normal grammatical expression for a hypothesis, which would require the conditional mood („could have a massive impact …“).

Bear in mind, too, that in the English-speaking world, people who write marketing copy (like your source) are not necessarily well educated in grammar „rules“. They write what they want to write, and the reader understands it semantically (= in terms of the meaning) but not necessarily grammatically.

Thank you so much, Dan, for your great help. ;)