What is in a warehouse barcoding system?

When setting up a barcoding system for your warehouse it is important to make sure you have every component planned out properly. A system should include the barcodes that are used, barcode scanners, the relevant barcoding software, and the computer system that it will run on. Getting all of these things setup and ready to use together will help to provide you with the many benefits that barcodes can provide to a warehouse.

There are many different types of barcodes that you can choose from. The most popular option is the traditional style that is a series of black and white lines with a number under it. This style is commonly used in retail locations and can be set up as a stand-alone program or something that is used throughout a company. More modern systems often use QR codes, which can contain much more information and be used to trigger various actions when scanned. Regardless of what type of barcode technology is used, they must be applied to the item that needs to be scanned. This can often be done by printing them off on an industrial label printer.

Reading the Barcode

The barcode scanners usually use a system of lasers that read the blank space between the actual bars. The scanners then feed into the main barcode software system to perform the needed action, which may be displaying information, adding or removing an item from inventory, or other things. In most cases a facility will need to have multiple barcode scanners in order to ensure they are always available when someone wants to use it.

The barcode software is what controls the whole system. This type of software will typically connect to a database of some sort that tracks the different products or other items that are scanned. This software is installed on a computer system that will allow it to operate. Once you have all of these things in place, you can begin to implement your barcode system for your warehouse.