As online inventory management takes off, many businesses are now managing inventory from the cloud — allowing them to keep track of every moving part in their business, in realtime and from virtually any place in the world. Similarly, barcodes afford tighter quality control and more accurate inventory tracking. Not only is this feature desirable, it is also imperative especially for the pharmaceutical or medical industries where manufacture needs to be acutely controlled and frequently audited.
Tight control is also a security feature where theft or loss can be easily recognised and acted upon thereby minimizing the effects of it further down the chain. Copious time, representing a significant monetary value, is associated with disorganized storage and recording, where staff cannot easily locate and pick items for production or shipping.
This will also inevitably result in the excess ordering of items as the perception will be that they have run out when they may simply be not found. Barcoding is an efficient way of tracking inventory throughout the production process all the way to a sale, making it so much easier for staff to store items in a sensible way, locate them and make ordering decisions based on more accurate inventory levels.
Barcodes can also be useful when affixed to equipment so that the locations of specific items can be ascertained quickly and accurately reducing the amount of time staff spend looking for them.
Barcoding hardware and software can be set up quickly and easily for a minimal cost. It does not represent a large-scale, complicated system which takes months to commission therefore it really is accessible to most businesses, no matter how small.
Using barcoding and associated software rather than traditional Excel or handwritten methods saves a significant amount of time when it comes to data acquisition. Often quick and accurate decisions need to be made regarding ordering and inventory and it is so helpful when the information with which to do so is available rapidly, accurately and in real-time.
Other methods of inventory recording simply do not compare to these features of barcoding systems. When comparing a hand-written sticker attached to a product stating a unique identifier with a barcode that is neat and in black and white, the more professional appearance will be the barcode. Perception is often very valuable when it comes to business, the more professional looking item will be the preferred choice. Barcodes and QR codes , due to their ability to code several pieces of information simultaneously, are also being used to code for factual information that may be interesting for customers.
Using a barcode to represent extra, fun facts about the company or the product can create customer interest and involvement, which are fundamental to satisfaction and loyalty. Technology such as RFID tagging is increasingly complementing barcode use in the warehouse. The buzz is all about barcoding and how it can benefit companies the world over in optimising their internal processes to save time and money. However, barcodes are not the end of the story when it comes to inventory management and product tracking.
RFID or Radio Frequency Identification uses radio frequencies from an induced magnetic field to automatically identify and track items.
RFID also facilitates efficient tracking of items in the warehouse and throughout production, paving the way for more efficient stock turnover and the use of a Just-in-Time inventory system JIT. An RFID system is much faster than a barcoding system as the data is automatically read where as barcoding still requires a staff member for physically reading barcodes. It is likely the adoption of RFID also decreases the risk of error. Visual recognition is an exciting new field of tracking items which essentially uses modern image processing and identification technology.
Digimarc is a barcode which essentially comprises the entire packaging of a product rather than being like a tradition 1D barcode which exists as a small black and white striped box in the corner of underside of a product. The major advantage of these types of codes is the time saved when using them.
No longer must a retail assistant search each side of a product for the traditional barcode while ensuring it is perfectly in the laser light at an optimum distance for a correct reading. With a Digimarc code, the operator simply places the entire item in the laser beam, regardless of the position or orientation, and the system will read it. All of this happens without input from the user and so can be used in a variety of settings where automatic preparation or functions are required.
Likewise, they can be used for turning on automatic domestic lighting or alarm systems or starting a car without keys. The benefit of this technology is being able to treat your mobile phone as a command centre for all domestic and business activities so that it is no longer necessary to carry around multiple cards and keys.
Barcoding is not the be all and end all of business inventory tracking. There are many other options available that may be better suited to your company or provide an added advantage. Just remember, whatever system you use must be considered carefully prior to adoption. Unleashed Software supports barcode scanning. Users have the option to use barcode scanning when receiving products or when fulfilling a sales order.
Article by Greg Roughan in collaboration with our team of inventory management and business specialists. Greg has been writing, publishing and working with content for more than 20 years. His writing motto is 'don't be boring'. His outdoors motto is ''I wish I hadn't brought my headtorch', said nobody, ever'.
He lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with his family. Is inventory control The peak season is what makes or breaks many businesses, with many relying on big business during certain months to carry them through the rest of the Contact us Careers About us. Check our help guide for more info. Ground Training - Beginner Learn the fundamentals of inventory management. Take Off - Advanced Get a deeper insight into our advanced features. In Orbit - Business insights Learn about industry best practices with our team and special guests.
Audio Signals - Podcasts Radio in on great inventory management podcasts. Webinars on Demand Explore Unleashed's features and functionality at your leisure. Unleashed Summit A virtual learning summit with industry keynote speakers and thought leadership sessions. Business Tips. Barcoding and Inventory Management — the Ultimate Guide. Written by. Greg Roughan. September 8, In this guide to barcodes in inventory management:. Barcoding hardware Barcoding hardware is comprised of tangible units that include barcode scanners, printers, charging stations, and a series of cables, depending on the type of system you are using to scan.
Barcode generator As you can imagine, the first bit of equipment you might need to generate a barcode is a barcode generator. By using our website, you agree to our privacy policy and our cookie policy.
Business encyclopedia. Learn everything there is to know about running a business. A barcode is a square or rectangular image consisting of a series of parallel black lines and white spaces of varying widths that can be read by a scanner.
Barcodes are applied to products as a means of quick identification. They are used in retail stores as part of the purchase process, in warehouses to track inventory, and on invoices to assist in accounting, among many other uses. They appear in the top part of universal product codes UPCs used on product packaging, to help track packages through the U. The concept for the barcode was developed by Norman Joseph Woodland, who drew a series of lines in the sand to represent Morse code, and Bernard Silver.
A patent was granted in and NCR became the first company to develop a commercial scanner to read barcode symbology. Barcodes were developed to improve the speed of sales transactions, but there are other potential benefits to businesses, including:. Get free online marketing tips and resources delivered directly to your inbox.
In the meantime, start building your store with a free day trial of Shopify. Try Shopify free for 14 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify. Email address. Barcodes play a critical role in data collection strategies. Not only are they used to gather information about inventory, supply chain, and sales activity, but the latest generation of QR codes a common form of 2d barcode are also being deployed to learn more about customer behavior and preferences.
Thanks to real-time QR code tracking, companies can see how many times the barcode is scanned, where it was scanned, and what devices were used to scan it. By eliminating conjecture and guesswork, businesses can make much more informed decisions that will help them to sustainably scale operations and capitalize on opportunities. Although most commonly associated with retail and logistics, barcode scanners are deployed across many industries to improve efficiency and accuracy.
Here are a few of the most common use cases:. Despite the clear benefits of barcodes, many applications lack the basic functionality necessary to read barcodes, much less write them.
With support for more than 30 barcode types and the powerful image processing capabilities that can clean up and repair barcodes that are broken, damaged, or poorly printed, Barcode Xpress can enhance the functionality of barcode scanners or allow Windows and Linux-based systems to locate and read barcodes on documents. Capable of reading up to 1, pages per minute, Barcode Xpress can turn your application into a barcode scanning powerhouse.
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