Maximizing Barcode Technology In Inventory Control & Warehouse Management

    

Barcode is a unique technology which has been around for a long time now, which has contributed to the effectiveness of the warehouse operations. According to Wikipedia, “A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data relating to the object to which it is attached.” The barcode display varies from one another based on the dimensions, data structure and parameters configured by the barcode generator (a software application used to generate barcode labels), which are readable via a barcode reader for effective data capture.

Irrespective of the barcode display, each barcode is different from the other based primarily on the data structure computed into the system such as;

1.       Product Name

2.       Manufacture details

3.       Item properties e.g. size, unit of measure, quaintly, etc.

4.       Shipping details e.g. name of shipping company, location, movement time, etc.

5.       Storage details e.g. warehouse name, location, bin collection, etc.

Why should every store outlets, Warehouse Company, shipping or packaging company just to mention a few embrace Barcode Technology?

Inventory:

1.       Bar code readers provide accurate and up-to-date inventory item details with speed thereby reducing operational time.

2.        Warehouse operations such as stock count and audit are enhanced thereby reducing data duplication

3.        Stock movement in & out of the warehouse are easily facilitated, thereby tracking the in-flow and outflow of stock items

Price Scanning:

Shopping malls have now adopted barcode technology integrated to Point of Sale (POS) to enhance the price collation of items purchased by customers. The barcode on each product for sale contains product price which can be read by the barcode reader and displayed in the POS machine which sums the customer bill.  In addition, bar code readers provide accuracy and speed for scanning prices at the checkout.

Delivery Services:

Delivery services such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service use bar codes to track packages throughout the delivery process, so customers can inquire at any time where their package currently is located in transit.