A barcode is a machine-readable representation of numbers and characters. It's made up of different thicknesses and heights of vertical black lines, white space, and numerals in a square or rectangle. This pattern of black and white bars can be translated into information that your retail point of sale system can understand using a barcode scanner. In a typical warehouse or distribution setting, the barcoding process captures various attributes of a product such as size, color, location, and so on, so that businesses can gain a comprehensive understanding of their current inventory, quickly fulfill orders, and complete physical inventory counts. In a retail setting, barcodes typically contain product names and prices. In recent years, barcodes have increasingly dominated the supply chain, becoming a necessary tool for organizations to improve inventory control and sales operations while also increasing product traceability. Without a doubt, this incredible technology has helped in the growth of several businesses. Barcodes save organizations a large amount of time, money, and resources because they can be read by a scanner rather than an employee manually entering product information. Barcodes also provide all relevant information in a short time, from simple tasks like determining when a consumer can expect their delivery to more advanced information like tracking temperatures in transit. Businesses that depend on strong supply chains stand to gain strongly by implementing barcodes into their operations. Asset monitoring, outward storage, inward storage, and item returns are all common processes in supply chain management. Organizations can increase the speed and efficiency of their supply chains while also increasing turnover by incorporating barcoding technology into their business processes. The following are the benefits of barcoding as a supply chain automation technology. Benefits for barcoding in supply chain automation Inventory management and optimization Inventory control and monitoring, as well as stock ordering and distribution, are essential parts of inventory management. By integrating barcodes, businesses can make inventory management more reliable and simple than ever before, opening the way for increased revenue. Better inventory control also results in faster turnover and lower cash requirements. Barcodes can help businesses increase inventory visibility and gain a better understanding of incoming and outgoing shipments. Businesses can also use a barcode system to track the status of incoming and outgoing goods. Every time an object moves to a new location, it is scanned, ensuring transparency and reducing the chance of loss. And if something goes missing, it's a lot easier to find. Cost reduction Warehouses that do not use barcoding for scanning and data capture are largely manual, with staff handling all warehouse activity paperwork such as receipts, inventory transfers, cycle counts, returns, and so on. In comparison, the barcode systems take a fraction of the time it takes to manually enter data. These systems are completely automated, requiring little to no human intervention. Thanks to automated product identification, quick recognition, and data implementation via barcodes, processes that would have taken hours to complete can now be done in minutes. Data accuracy and error reduction Before the high deployment of barcode scanners and similar technologies, inventory management processes were performed manually. To say the least, this procedure was inefficient and prone to unavoidable human errors. And, without a doubt, such inventory errors caused significant delays in shipments, orders to be missed, and commodities to be over or understocked. However, with barcode technology integrated into supply chains, errors can be corrected in real-time. This allows for greater data accuracy, which improves process accuracy and quality. Digital transformation COVID-19 has increased digitization in a variety of industries. Businesses are increasingly utilizing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud, robots, automation, IoT, blockchain, and so on. And the benefits are self-evident. These technologies help in the discovery of hidden insights from a variety of data sources to make better real-time supply chain decisions. Barcoding technology has been labeled the "gateway" to stronger and more integrated digitalization for businesses. It's low-hanging fruit that will almost certainly not only produce results quickly but will also inevitably empower further digital transformation across the board. Sundata can help you to succeed in barcoding technology. Sun Data Processing Pvt. Ltd. is India's leading provider of efficient supply chain solutions, which include barcoding. Sundata's innovative technologies provide businesses with incredible insight into their assets and supply chain analytics, resulting in increased value creation for both the organization and its customers. Sundata has pioneered the art and science of barcoding for more than two decades, with over 25 years of expertise in automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology and broad domain knowledge across industry verticals. Click here to learn more about Sun Data Processing Pvt. Ltd.
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