Barcodes Inventory Importance Summary

It seems our world revolves around barcodes. As a customer, barcodes on your groceries get scanned in the checkout aisle. To find out more about a promotion or event, you can effortlessly scan a QR code with your smart phone. Whether you’ve ordered your child a birthday present from Amazon or manage your company’s warehouse, barcodes make it possible to track products as they move across the state or even the world. Since the first 2D barcode was developed in 1987, the world has changed a lot and so have barcodes. In fact, some QR codes can hold as much as 7,000 digits or 4,000 characters of text. But, do 2D barcodes really impact your business for the better? The short answer is “yes!” Here are the reasons why.
Barcodes Reduce Human Error
According to the State of Small Business Report, 43 percent of small businesses used a manual inventory management system or didn’t track inventory at all. However, when organizations use manual data entry, there are high occurrences of human error. Employees invert or misread numbers; they have bad handwriting or skip a line of code altogether. They’re human. It happens. Even the best typists make an error in one out of every 300 keystrokes, meaning one person makes an average of 18 mistakes each hour. That adds up over time, inhibiting productivity and efficiency and wasting money.
Barcodes, however, virtually eliminate human error. They’re fast, reliable, and much more efficient than manual data entry or handwritten records. Data captured with barcode scanners are translated via software and stored in a computer or handheld device. The information is accurate and without mistakes. Information then is easily accessible in real time for reporting purposes.
Companies Save Time
Barcodes save companies a lot of time. Most barcode scanners come with associated computer programs that use the data from the barcode scanners. The beauty is they don’t require any manual data entry. The data automatically updates the central database each time an employee scans a barcode. There is also no time gap time between keying data, uploading data, and generating reports. 2D barcodes also contain a variety of information, all of which is quick and reliable for a variety of applications. Also, one scan can read up to four barcodes at a time, giving you the serial number, part number, lot and date, and other pertinent information.
Further, an employee saves 30 minutes per shift on average when clocking in or out since they don’t have to write down start and stop times.
Training Employees Is Easier
Did you know barcodes conserve time when training new employees? Familiarizing themselves with entire inventory or pricing processes is not easy and could take weeks. When using hand-held barcode scanners to read barcodes, it takes minutes to master its functions. In result, employee training time is much shorter and less costly because onboarding is simpler.
Business Cut Inventory Costs
When it comes to inventory, 2D barcodes help small businesses cut costs when they use barcodes to inventory raw materials, in or out-of-stock merchandise, raw materials, office supplies, and whatever else needs tracked. All it takes is a single scan to help employees recognize items, locate them, and get other information such as cost, price, or supplier.
If your business struggles to reduce its inventory carrying costs, barcode systems are helpful. Inventory data is updated in real time, with accurate reports of true inventory counts. And when inventory counts are precise and up to date, efficiencies improve in through finding equipment or products quickly, reducing lost items and theft, estimating more accurate delivery times, more accurately defining inventory, and setting a more attractive price to market.
Inventory Is Easily Tracked
When one warehouse tracks the coming and going of all of your products, parts, or raw materials, it’s vital to run a tight operation. TopGolf owns four facilities throughout Illinois, Texas and Virginia. Despite the locations being spread out across the country, only one warehouse controls them all. Bryan Harej, inventory manager for TopGolf, said manually tracking inventory was way too-time consuming and inefficient, especially for its re-ordering processes and growing inventory demands. They decided to implement an automated inventory management system with 2D barcodes. Since then, Harej said their ability to track inventory was virtually limitless. Not only is TopGolf’s inventory now accurate, everyone across locations is connected.

“Our whole process has been improved and works effortlessly,” Harej added.
2D barcodes are an important addition for small or medium-sized businesses, whether you run a warehouse or a healthcare facility. Errors decrease and time and costs are cut. Implementing automated inventory management will help your organization function more efficiently and improve productivity.