Q: We are considering the installation of bar coding systems at our facilities. We will use the system for cycle counting, receiving and issues. Most of our sites are on board with the installation of bar coding system, except for one of our sites. They do not think the system will create value and is a waste of money. In your opinion what are the pros and cons of bar coding at the warehouse, to do the above mentioned fuctions?
A: Bar coding can be a very attractive option for any big warehouse operation. After all, if it was not any good why would all the big retailers use it? Here is my list of pros and cons.
Pros:
- Speed: Waving the scanner is much faster than a person for entering an alpha-numeric stock number that could be 10 or 12 characters long.
- Stock Code Accuracy: The bar code won’t get the stock number wrong. (Note that this is different to the generic term ‘accuracy’ that most bar code equipment sellers use.)
- Labor savings through self check out: The advent of self check outs is only really possible because of bar coding.
Cons:
- Not a universal solution: Bar coding is not a warehouse management solution, it is a data entry solution. Often companies seem to think that bar coding will solve their warehouse problems – it won’t. It just helps you enter data more quickly. A couple of years back I encountered a fully bar coded warehouse that had stock accuracy of about 30% (yes, 30%). The reason: their team members routinely removed items without using the system. Their problem was one of process discipline. Bar coding also won’t help you make better stocking decisions on what to stock and how many – the main drivers of both overstocking and understocking.
- People still need to count: If the code tag is attached to every item and there are only a few in the bin then people will just ‘wand’ each item, however, if there are many items they might count them and then manually enter a number. You see this behavior at the supermarket checkout all the time.
- Need clean labels: In an engineering environment labels can easily be damaged or dirty so that they are unreadable (and it doesn’t take much). I encountered this recently at an IKEA store (OK not an engineering environment) where the main computer said that the item I wanted was not in stock. When in their warehouse picking my other goods I noticed one of what I wanted was in stock. On inspection the bar code was damaged, so I guess that the staff couldn’t enter the item or were too lazy to do it manually.
- Need training and follow up training: Often companies skimp on the training needed and so their team then make mistakes or by-pass the system as mentioned in points 1 and 3 above.
This response is heavily weighted to the cons but I figure that you already are sold on the pros.
Should the recalcitrant site use the bar coding (or any site)? Only if they are prepared to manage the cons listed above.