Trying to find a business that manages a successful inventory system without some form of barcoding is a near impossible task.  You can minimize error, save on payroll, and improve your ordering by utilizing a barcode system. Aside from affordability and increased efficiency, there are many benefits to adopting a barcode inventory system.

Throughout this article we will uncover how barcoding is able to transform the disarray and chaos of a warehouse, and turn it into a well-oiled machine fit to tackle any inventory discrepancies you may be facing.You will learn:

• what barcoding is
• the difference between inventory systems that use barcoding and those that don’t
• and where to start if you are a business who currently operates without a barcoding system

What Are Barcodes

A barcode is a machine-readable code in the form of numbers and patterns of parallel lines of varying widths printed onto a product for identification. A barcode symbol typically consists of five parts:

1. A quiet zone
2. A start character
3. Data characters (including an optional check character)
4. A stop character
5. Another quiet zone

All of these symbols are what makes each barcode, and subsequently each product, unique in an inventory environment.

A barcode reader is required in order to read the code. The reader uses a laser beam that is able to sense the reflections from the lines as well as the space thickness and reformat that pattern into a number in a digital format.

Inventory systems, POS systems, etc. use this digital format to transfer information about that product to various locations where users can make smart decisions about their product and business based on the data that is collected.

Barcode Types

One thing to keep in mind about barcodes is that there are many different types, and they serve vastly different purposes. These purposes differ for various reasons. Some are different simply because of the country and its usage, while others differ because of functionality. Generally speaking, there are approximately 15 different types of barcodes.

However, barcodes are entirely customizable and can be adopted for unique use cases depending on what inventory management system you use, and your specific tracking needs.

For example, here at SkuVault, we recommend that our clients create barcodes for their locations within their warehouse and product SKUs (both are customizable barcodes) in conjunction with UPC codes. Both are great for optimal tracking. By using these forms of barcodes, pickers and other users are able to find, track, and ship items with ease.

SkuVault uses Code 128 encoding, making our barcodes readable by most scanners including the CT10.

[Discover how to start generating your own SKUs]

Inventory System With Barcode vs. Inventory System Without Barcode

Managing inventory is a key component to the overall growth of any company. Those who manage inventory are responsible for keeping up with inventory levels, out of stocks, product locations, tracking, receiving, shipping, and more. These responsibilities are vital, and mistakes made in these areas can be costly. Mismanagement of inventory can lead to lower sales, decreased market share, increased inventory cost, and loss of rapport with customers.

Understand that human error is inevitable, but by adopting a barcode inventory management system errors decrease dramatically. Barcode inventory systems are a more reliable and efficient method to inventory management. By alleviating many of the manual processes, barcoding systems allow managers to perform their duties in a more convenient and efficient manner. Thus resulting in increased accuracy and faster processing.

Companies use barcoding because:

• It’s simple
• It’s cost effective
• The technology is easily available
• Barcodes eliminate error
• Barcodes provide security
• Inventory tracking with barcodes saves time

Without a barcode inventory system, the workload and number of tasks become an unnecessary burden on inventory managers. Without barcoding, managers have to manually write down important figures and information about products.

Every stroke of the pen and button pressed on the keyboard opens up room for human error, and if not caught immediately, chances are the mistake will go unnoticed until it results in a problem. Using outdated methods and software like Excel, along with pen and pad methods, are simply unreliable.  

Benefits of Using A Barcode Inventory System

No matter the business you’re in, you most likely have inventory that has to be managed. Whether you have items for sale, raw materials, finished products, tools, parts supplies, etc., a barcode inventory system comes with lucrative benefits.

These benefits can be seen in the following:

• You know what you have and where it is.
• Ability to receive, put away, move and ship out (to internal or external users) all the items you have in inventory.
• You have pertinent, up-to-date reports about stock levels, usage, and reorder times for all the items in inventory.
• Easy to enter data into, and get data out of.
• It makes cycle-counts easy and efficient. It will export data easily to your accounting or other back-end system.

[Learn what the top sellers look for in inventory management software]

Where to Start

Many companies who don't use barcodes for their inventory are slow to adopt new systems because they fall victim to a sort of “logistics paralysis.” When they think of the actuality of implementing a new system, doubt begins to arise. Implementing a new system can be tedious and takes time. Managers find it simpler to put off implementation until some arbitrary date, or in many cases, they just don’t know where to start.