These days, it’s next to impossible to find a product in the supermarket that doesn’t have a barcode, which makes sense considering how quickly and efficiently barcodes let a cashier work. However, barcodes are useful outside the supermarket as well. Since their application has expanded to almost every sphere of business and human interaction, you need to adopt the technology for your business as well if you haven’t already.
A barcode is a piece of visual information in the form of bars or other shapes that a machine can decode into information that an individual can read and understand. You can have as much information as you want on a barcode, depending on the complexity of the barcode used.
Most businesses that have not embraced barcode technology do not realize what they are missing. Here is information that every business should know about barcodes:.
- 1.       Barcodes help in asset management
It’s impossible to find a business that does not have assets, whether fixed or movable. The most common movable assets include laptops, PCs, projectors, and other tools that can be easy to misplace. One way to improve employee accountability and keep track of all your assets is to implement barcode technology.
All you need to do is place barcodes on every business asset and place scanners in strategic checkpoints to track movement of any asset from one location to another. With barcode technology, it’s hard to misplace any of your assets, and in case of theft, it’s possible to determine what is missing and when the thief took it, making it easy to track down whoever is responsible.
- 2.       Barcodes help you to manage your events
Many companies hold events for diverse reasons, and if you are thinking of a way to ease the registration process at the entrance, barcode technology is all you need. When sending invitations to your guests, you can barcode the RSVP card, and when they arrive at the event you won’t even need to sign them in.
A barcode scanner will decode your guests RSVP cards and give you the information you require about which guests were able to make it for the event and which ones were not. According to Wasp Barcode, this technology eliminates the need for handwriting translation and improves on the accuracy of information collection.
- 3.       Barcodes help you keep track of your inventory
As opposed to physically counting every item in your stock whenever you need to know how your business is fairing, barcode technology will save you the trouble. Whenever you take a product out of your warehouse or store, you only need to scan a product and the system will deduct that particular product from the count. This system helps you to know how much stock you have, right down to the specific items and number counts.
The tracking capability of barcode technology is especially important at the end of your business’s calendar year, when you need to take stock of everything you have sold and what is remaining. The convenience and accuracy of the data will enable your business to perform better since it has access to all the information needed.
- 4.       Barcodes will help with invoicing
If your business is one that makes use of invoices in one way or another, barcodes can help with keeping track of them. One challenge that can result from invoicing, especially when a business has many clients, is updating the payments of a particular client in another client’s records. Using barcodes in your invoices will eliminate that problem in addition to increasing the speed of locating a particular client’s records.
According to Process Flows, a barcode associates the invoice with its image in the system, making it easy to get to the records of a particular client. When a client sends his or her payment to you, with barcoded invoice attached, your work will be much easier.
- 5.       Barcodes will get you coupons for recycling
Recycling is one of the best ways to help save the planet from excessive climate change. Recycling companies are now barcoding their recycle bins so that every time they pick up your items for recycling, they can offer you a coupon when you get to a particular level. For companies that have loads of recycling materials, the coupons can translate into substantial savings in their purchases, which is always welcome.
- 6.       Barcodes help when you go shopping
According to Barcodes Inc., it is possible to transform you phone camera into a barcode scanner. When you are out shopping for your raw materials, it is important that you get the best, which will result in your product being of better quality. Therefore, if you have a barcode scanner application on your phone, you can scan a product before you purchase it and get the product’s specifications and its highlights. Buying a small, wireless scanner like those offered by Shopify will make your life a lot easier when it comes to using barcodes.
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