Unlock the value of bar-coded labels in inventory management.

How often did it happen that you had to search for a package that had just arrived from the supplier because no one knew where it was? Or that your shop floor got the wrong items from the inventory because the label on it was incorrect? If you still manage your physical inventory manually, this is probably a common situation. What if you could say goodbye to manual processes thanks to barcode labeling technology and automate inventory control? Sounds like something only large factories can afford? We actually have something to leverage your bar coded labels inventory you can use to reduce the time spent on inventory management and increase efficiency.

Let’s talk about how you can make your business more efficient with our barcode labels systems and the inventory management tools inside our Prodio.

All you need to know about printing inventory labels

Acceptance of goods and storage

This is often the case when you order different raw materials from suppliers. Orders are quickly processed, and the entire delivery comes at the same time. The whole purchase shipment cargo is quickly transferred and unpacked at the warehouse. It ends up in boxes, bags, loose, on shelves, or just somewhere on the production floor.

After a while, no one knows where it is, especially since there are no signs visible on bags or containers, except for the producers’ labels (although they are sometimes missing too).

As a result, the inventory items “roll” around the company, and what’s worse, some things are loose, extracted from the original boxes, or partially repacked into other cartons (imagine nuts/bolts in many different types or sizes stored in separate boxes/plastic cases that were left after other products). Everything is mixed.

On the shelf, you have the old ones combined with the new……the products are very similar and, at first sight, almost indistinguishable – especially if the label sizes are identical. A similar situation may occur with different types of silicone (not in cans).

How can our Prodio be a help?

This situation can be avoided when you organize and standardize everything you do in a simple inventory software such as Prodio.

Thanks to Prodio workers:

• Can label a wide range of raw materials in the same way and label the boxes to know what’s inside, the arrival date, etc.
• The date is visible on the printout, so you can check the order (or even enter a batch number in the label details), this can help to see when something is overdue. You can stack the raw materials/semi-products from the oldest to the most recent.
• All asset labels are standardized and in one place, so it is easy to find the package you are looking for. The labels are compatible with the software (they are supported in receipts, releases and transfers), which minimizes the risk of losses – no more unmarked raw materials “rolling” in the warehouse.
• You can also generate and print barcode labels for finished products and organize them in the same way as raw materials.

Transfer to the shop floor and on the shop floor

Another facility regards releasing materials to the shop floor:

• The risk of confusion that the warehouse will issue the wrong item (because the label has an incorrect description) decreases. You can double-check if everything is right and are the correct items going to the right people.
• By scanning the label from the warehouse, you can make sure that the right item goes out, so the system is accountable.
• The risk of the worker taking the wrong item is minimized because he has clearly written of what it is
• If workers enter the amount of consumed raw material with a batch number, they don’t have to wonder if they are doing something correctly because this happens automatically. So human errors that can be caused by being in a hurry or distracted can also be mostly avoided.

Taking the remaining raw material from the shop floor

How often do you release boxes/pallets/crates for the production floor, where only part of the material is consumed, not the whole, so you have to take it back to the warehouse and put it back in place?

Then there’s a risk of a mess if you have many incomplete/fully used crates or pallets. Add to this the previously mentioned problems with labeling storage places and mixed batches. The more diverse/, the smaller in size goods, raw materials, or semi-finished products, the more likely you will not be able to find your way in your own warehouse.

How can our Prodio be of help?

Our Prodio can help you with this task as well.

• By scanning the Prodio label, you know what you are taking back to the warehouse and whether it is definitely the right product (because the warehouse manager does not need to know how to identify the goods),
• You can store goods more efficiently and, for example, transfer what is left to a box with the same items (and then update the label name on this box) or identify what you have returned with the appropriate new label so that you can easily recognize the products if you want to reuse them.

In other words, as you can see, labels are helpful from the acceptance of goods to storage to production floor receipt and inventory marking, ensuring a clean and easy-to-read flow of information and saving time and money. They will also keep your inventory records in order, so that’s another place where you can save time.

Printing labels for finished products and warehouse receipts

Production labels (pallet cards and smaller labels) have been present in Prodio for some time now, allowing a clear indication of all products coming from the production floor. Thanks to those:

• there is no problem with identifying the product (what it is and who ordered it),
• it is clear how much/ how many pieces of products/materials are on each pallet/in the box/container
• There aren’t any handwritten scribbles on the labels, which makes things look very unprofessional and often needs to be corrected/possibly misspellings.
• Traceability is ensured (i.e. traceability after the finished product has been sent to the customer). The label or pallet card shows what has been produced and the Prodio ID number, so if there is a complaint from the customer, you can easily trace the batch after the Prodio ID number and check who produced it and when. It is easy to find where the error occurred and to withdraw the faulty batch.

Pallet/manufacturing labels integration with the inventory

By having the Prodio ID number and optionally coded number of pieces per box/pallet/box/stack on the pallet cards in the bar code, the job of the person accepting returning goods from the shop floor to the warehouse is much easier. They scan the bar codes, and the product, order, and quantities will be taken up automatically, eliminating unnecessary work, speeding up time and reducing the risk of errors.

Printing product labels from the inventory level (for small issues/repackaging/picking)

Sometimes you make to stock more products and then sell them bit by bit when an order arrives. In that case, you need to print labels different from what’s on the full pallet/box (from which you’re simply taking several pieces to fulfill the order).

Sometimes you can also repack your products into smaller boxes, for example, because you produced 1000 pieces each, which is the standard amount in a container, but you want to have it packed in 10 boxes of 100 pieces each.

In both cases, it is good to use different label options for finished products from the inventory level:

• With virtually one click, you can create labels for your delivery based on the inventory releases you have prepared for your customer, you can include the customer name and issue number on the labels (even if it was not produced for them)
• Because the software can generate labels for small batches, you can type the total number of labels in the box, and the software will suggest how to divide them.

The possibility to use EAN codes/codes required by customers or suppliers

Many Prodio customers are small providers of services for large suppliers with very advanced ERP systems (all based on code identification). For their convenience, such suppliers often require codes on delivered products. It speeds up the process of receiving goods in the warehouse.

With the product-ready label generator, you can add to the Prodio ID code (which allows you to track your work history within Prodio) the EAN number or barcode required by a customer. Simply enter the code in the EAN field, and the code will automatically apply to the product label (regardless of the data that will allow the work history to be reproduced).

Use of raw material codes printed by suppliers

Similarly, suppliers often have their own product codes and label types for raw materials. You should use it to your advantage. Let’s enter in Prodio in the raw material EAN code edit field what raw material number is used by our supplier. When we scan bar codes, the product names will appear automatically – only what you need to fill in is their quantity.

In this way, we are very close to optimizing the work of the whole warehouse.

The ability to ask suppliers to add their barcodes to our products.

Some large suppliers allow you to add bar codes to their labels if it is what your customers desire. So it is even more convenient to accept goods at the warehouse.

We made it possible in Prodio in two different ways:

We can agree on EAN / other codes / provide suppliers with our raw material numbers as we use in Prodio – then, when you scan this product, the name will automatically pop up. Still, you will need to manually match the supplier order.

Prodio with barcode labeling – more time, less stress for manufacturers

See how useful our Prodio can be? It can streamline your entire warehouse management, from the moment you receive new supplies to when you send those to the shop floor or take them back to inventory. No more lost packages, confusion on where specific raw materials are stored, or annoyed calls from your shop floor workers that they got the wrong items and can’t start production.

Want to see how Prodio could make your warehouse management a breeze as well? Give it just 15 minutes for installation and you can start using the bar-coded labels (and tons of other features) straight away.

If you see a barcode scanner icon in the inventory module, you can use the label scanning function and speed up your work ????

Discover bar coded labels inventory

You might be used to handling your inventory just through Excel or pen and paper. But nowadays, there are several far more convenient tools for the task – ones that can save both your time but also a good deal of frustration and stress as well. Just look at how much you could gain with bar-coded labels!

And such inventory management software tools are no longer just for large companies – smaller and midsize ones can take advantage of the newest technology as well. 

Give our Prodio a try and see it for yourself – the results might actually astound you.

Bar Codes in manufacturing FAQ

What are bar-coded labels and why are they important in the manufacturing process?

Bar coded labels are adhesive labels that with a unique barcode that can be scanned to identify a specific item or product. With those labels, manufacturers can track all items in their inventory, organize their inventory better and this way, improve efficiency.

Can I create custom label forms for item variations or popular items inside Prodio?

Of course you can – there’s a special setting through which you can adjust what information should be visible on the labels. We have three customizable label templates you can use – for manufacturing tasks or orders, pallet cards or product labels.

What is the biggest benefit of barcode labels and asset tracking software?

The biggest one is definitely that you won’t have to enter product information into the system anymore manually. All you will need to do is to scan the labels (using a handheld barcode scanner or the one inside a mobile app), and the information will be immediately added to the system. The asset tracking system meanwhile will make finding the right raw materials much easier and, this way, also reduce the number of lost products.