How to Implement a Barcode System for Inventory
You probably don’t ever think about the barcodes on the products you use every day. It’s almost become routine to scan barcodes as you’re buying your groceries. But are you aware of the advantages barcoding can have for your business inventory? Even if you aren’t necessarily a customer-facing industry you may find barcoding helps streamline processes. So, how do you implement them?
Benefits of barcode systems
- Warehouse inventories
Unique stock in warehouses can get overwhelming, and categories and shipment orders add to a complicated process. To avoid human error and missed details, utilise barcoding software.
- For vendors and partners
If you plan on using retailers and vendors to sell your inventory, they’re likely to have their own barcodes and require codes for each of the items they wholesale.
- Maintaining barcoding inventory
If your product comes in a number of sizes, colours or other options, it can be overwhelming with all the unique codes. If you organise and manage already barcoded inventory you might find it better to barcode shipping/create unique codes for stocktake.
Barcoding systems optimise management, making it faster and less tedious over human management. It also helps you track inventory, as stock can be checked in when it arrives at stores or warehouses.
Implementing your barcoding systems.
Once you know the scan engine (laser pointers for one-dimension barcodes or alternatives to tailor to two-dimensional codes) and the form (hand-held “gun” styles, fixed computer scans, etc.) you can begin setting your system up.
The steps to setting up your software system
- Define all SKUs and variants
Whether you are a small business or a large independent grocery store, know how many SKUs you have and how many variants are within the category of that SKU (colour, size, etc.). This will help you determine the number of barcodes needed.
- Choose the software system
Research your options to find a system that suits your needs and get in touch with a specialist to discuss setting it up.
- Define your barcodes for inventory
Research the type of barcode you like, numerical, alpha-numerical, etc. All businesses will have a preference, whether that’s for aesthetics, type of product or number of products.
- Create barcodes
Once you’re happy with your choice, you can use your software to start creating unique codes. You should have software that makes this fairly streamline.
- Update your inventory management system with new barcodes
If your CMS or management system is separate to your barcoding software, you will need to make sure that it’s updated to include all your new barcodes.
- Put barcodes in place
Print out your barcodes and start placing them on all orders and products. Now you can use these codes to track your stock, as well as use them to process all sales.
Ready to get started?
If you’re ready to streamline your inventory tracking with a new barcoding system, reach out to the experts at B&DCS. With over 20 years of experience delivering innovative solutions to our clients, we ensure you get a system that suits your exact requirements. Call today to speak to our team.
