Benefits of Implementing Barcode Scanning in Inventory Management

For many manufacturers, especially subcontractors, the benefits of barcode scanning have already been witnessed at the inventory level. Barcode scanning enables effective inventory management and provides accurate information about employees’ work hours and the shop floor by tracking production progress and avoiding bottlenecks.

Moreover, barcode scanning results in fewer errors than manual data collection methods, which is more efficient in terms of time and human resources. Eventually, companies can implement barcodes to reduce costs regarding delays, errors, thefts, and manual data entry.

Affordable barcodes can be applied throughout production, logistics, and other areas of operation, but most often, their benefits and applications are seen on the shop floor area.

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Advanced material handling with barcodes

Inventory management goes beyond the end products that are waiting for shipping. Effective production entails prompt turnarounds when certain parts, alloys, or polymers are shipped from warehouses to manufacturing sites for tooling and casting. Therefore, inventory management is a process that covers everything from production to the sale of goods.

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Good inventory management can be measured by inventory turnover¹. The measurement reflects the frequency with which stocks are sold over a given period. Deadstock or unsold stock can indicate poor inventory turnover.

Manufacturers could encounter challenges in stock control when stock details are inaccurate, processes are manual, customer preferences change, or products are hard to locate. These challenges can be solved using barcode scanners.

For example, if a shop needs to run a particular product the next day, employees would know all the essential parts and arrange them to minimise the time it takes to reach the manufacturing site. The use of labels and barcode scanners allows workers to locate those parts quickly and manage them for the best possible turnaround time.

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Furthermore, barcode scanning allows companies to understand better their stock records or the availability of goods in the warehouse². This can prevent delaying a product run due to a particular material exhaustion by alerting the employees to quickly order or defer production until the stock is refilled.

Barcode scanning facilitates material tracking through transaction histories that record items’ information and their locations at any given time³. It guarantees the accuracy of data entry, simplifies information revision, and eliminates human errors from the equation. Part inspection is now less demanding for craft technicians or operators as they can simply scan necessary items after obtaining the materials.

Overall, barcode scanning helps streamline the complicated processes of managing inventories.

Powerful software integration

Barcode technologies have been incorporated to automate daily transactions, reduce costs, and minimise human error in data-collection operations. The technology helps decrease planning and operating uncertainty for businesses. However, barcode scanning rarely works independently⁴. It needs to be integrated with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

Infor Factory Track - Barcode Scanning is fully integrated with ERP software, namely Infor SyteLine (also known as Infor CloudSuite Industrial). It typically records information from barcodes and applies it to work orders or other transaction records. SyteLine then processes the transactions and keeps everyone in the company informed of inventory and manufacturing status.

Not just any off-the-shelf ERP solution will work for your needs. You have unique issues, customer demands, market pressures, goals, and manufacturing processes to manage. Infor SyteLine is an end-to-end ERP solution for both discrete and process manufacturers, which includes predictive analytics, collaboration, lean production tools, and interaction options. The solution can help you streamline and automate your operations.

Learn how by downloading the Infor SyteLine (CloudSuite Industrial) brochure today!

Sources

1. https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/inventory-management/inventory-management.shtml

2. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/1573/1/012038/pdf

3. https://www.facilitiesnet.com/materialhandling/article.aspx?id=11513

4. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0925-5273(00)00115-8