Ah the barcode label.  You see it virtually on everything these days. It comes in many different looks now.  It is no longer just a bunch of odd shaped vertical lines with numbers under them.  Today you can store a tremendous amount of information in a small rectangular shaped barcode.  Retailers have been scanning barcodes at check outs for years.  But how are they used in conjunction with a warehouse management system and more important why?

The barcode label is the key or backbone of most WMS solutions.  The second product hits your dock to be received you begin using the barcode on the product to receive it into inventory and track it throughout its life in your warehouse.  If you receive product that does not have a barcode you can print one for it based on the information you want to be imbedded in it.  Barcodes can hold quite a lot of info, item numbers and lot numbers to mention a couple.

Once we have scanned the barcode during the receiving process we then can put the product away, move it, replenish pick bins and pick it using the barcode on the item.  Inventory never gets lost.  You can always see what you have and where it is in the warehouse.  Barcoding keeps your inbound staff from making mistakes by not receiving the correct items and keeps your pick staff from making mistakes by not picking the correct items.  Your material handlers keep from making mistakes like moving the wrong items to the wrong location or replenishing the wrong pick bin. Barcodes make cycle counting the inventory a snap and this allows you to stop doing time consuming and expensive physical inventories.

This is all tied together by the warehouse management system which tracks all the work and movement in the warehouse of your products and people and delivers the correct real time pertinent information back to your ERP system.

WMS solutions like Accellos One Warehouse are all about cost savings.  These savings can be added directly back into the business. This is crucial in today’s business market.  The barcode, no matter how simple or complex it needs to be, is at the center of these savings.

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