What you need to know about barcode labeling

With barcode label scanning, you can instantly access your warehouse location information, freight, and individual product details at your fingertips — empowering your team to boost accuracy at every step. 

TL;DR? Here, we take a look at how successful warehouse managers are using barcode labels and mobile barcode scanning in their warehouses to supercharge accuracy and set them up for growth! 

Q: How can you use barcode labeling within your warehouse to increase accuracy and facilitate growth? 

A: Warehouse barcode labels provide a single point of truth for your freight, transport, and warehouse storage, ensuring accuracy and efficient data management, even across multiple touch-points. 

Q: What are barcode labels in warehousing? 

A: Barcode labels provide a powerful tool to easily assign or identify certain attributes for inventory or locations in your warehouse, allowing you to implement workflows to optimize your operations seamlessly. 

Mastering top-value warehouse operations using barcode label scanning;

• Scan put-away — boosting warehouse inventory location accuracy by scanning a warehouse location barcode to assign to stock during put-away.
• Inventory Scan-Move— to track stock movement and deliver historic stock movement reporting.
• Barcode scan picking — allowing warehouse pickers to scan a warehouse location and/or product barcode to verify stock selection when picking.
• Wave Picking and Pick to Tote — for high volume e-commerce fulfilment (find out more about e-commerce workflows here).
• Cross-docking — when incoming stock can be scanned and allocated to a staging zone for fast sorting to optimized outgoing delivery runs, without requiring stock to be input into warehouse storage. 

Put simply, using barcode label scanning in warehouse operations gives you and your team the accuracy you need, every time. This can allow you to take on new services and operations, say yes to new customer requirements, and reduce overheads by increasing accuracy (and reducing costly or time-consuming returns). 

👀See how you can unlock growth with your warehouse scanning system here! 

Let’s take a closer look at how each of these barcode labels can be used in the warehouse and see how you can use CartonCloud to scan, print, and manage barcode labels within your warehouse operations. 

Unlocking Accuracy with Warehouse Barcode Labels

One of the core tactics to reduce warehouse overheads and increase revenue is to ensure high accuracy in all operations. 

With warehouse barcode label scanning, you can quickly access the volume of product stored in a particular warehouse location, view all other locations storing the same product, see expiry information, batch numbers or other item specific information, read shipping and custom format label information, and use barcode scan to update your system with item movement, order fulfillment or delivery status. 

Did you know, successful warehouses use barcode labels to allow them to track and manage all aspects of their warehouse operations with ease and accuracy, including; 

• Warehouse locations to mark the aisle and racking references
• Inventory items (including SKU and serial barcodes)
• Pallet/ pick bins or other storage area segments that may be used to store or move bulk items
• Cross-docking or staging zones 
• And other labels to track and manage stock identification and locations. 

Once you have warehouse barcode labels assigned to warehouse locations (aisle and row reference), pick bins or pallet storage, as well as inventory (if you are using item-level barcode scanning), you can use a mobile device with bluetooth scanner, or a mobile computer to scan a location, product or freight barcode to confirm the correct selection, receive goods, or detail dispatch information. 

Let’s take a look at what you need to know to correctly set up barcode labeling and scanning to optimize your processes. 

👀Take a look at CartonCloud’s latest updates for end-to-end warehouse management here! 

Creating Warehouse Barcode Labels in CartonCloud 

Within CartonCloud, you can set up a range of label templates at either the Organization Settings level or the Customer Settings level, which is then used to automatically create your barcode based on the item, order or consignment details you enter.

From here, you can either export to PDF or direct print to a label printer (ZPL language) via CartonCloud Connect. 

👀Find out all you need to know about Printing Warehouse Barcode Labels in CartonCloud here. 

One of the benefits of having an integrated WMS/TMS like CartonCloud is that you can transfer data seamlessly between your warehouse and transport operations, making life and labeling that little bit easier. 

Video tutorial: Join Vincent in the warehouse as he takes you through how you can use pallet barcodes to move stock around your warehouse with full reporting transparency and inventory tracking, combine stock from different locations together into one warehouse location, and to split stock apart into different warehouse locations — giving you granular control over your inventory tracking, with ease and accuracy! 

Barcode Scanning with CartonCloud Mobile App

Once you have barcodes created within the warehouse, you can start scanning straight away! Simply download the CartonCloud mobile app to your smartphone and pair it with an entry-level bluetooth scanner, to start scanning instantly.

Alternatively, you can also use the CartonCloud mobile app on any rugged computer or warehouse smart device (this is often a great solution for operations with freezer conditions for chilled and frozen freight).

Using Warehouse Barcode Labels for Paperless Pick & Pack

Let’s get into exactly how you can use warehouse barcode label scanning in your operations on the warehouse floor, starting with paperless pick and pack. 

The first step is to assign your warehouse location barcodes, identifying various storage locations. This might detail the zone, aisle, racking level, bin, cross-dock storage section, or other areas you have designated for storage. Once you have your warehouse locations mapped and labels applied, you can use these labels to easily identify and confirm the correct warehouse location by simply reading or scanning the label. 

With your WMS mobile app, you can even scan the correct warehouse label to confirm the correct item location for picking or put away. Scanning the location allows you to assign it directly within your WMS, so you can update your inventory information as you go. 

#warehousehack While scanning barcodes before selection may seem more time-consuming, the process actually saves a lot of time in the long run, in terms of picking accuracy and also the ability for staff to locate stock with ease. 

👀Find out more about paperless pick and pack here.

Product Barcode Labels 

Next, let’s look at barcode label scanning for warehouse inventory of the same type (non-serialised goods). The product barcode label can be fixed to the warehouse racking at the location where the product is stored, and can be scanned to pick any number of that product from that location — as the items in that location are the same. 

Product barcodes provide information for the inventory stored at that location, for example; Yellow shirts in size 10, or medium-sized baking trays.

#warehousehack You can optimize your warehouse storage and picking efficiency by using pick bins for fast access to certain stock. In this case, you’d have some of product stored in a pick bin for easy access, and some stored in bulk in another area of the warehouse that can be used to replenish the pick bin once the volume is running low.

For this workflow, when you scan the product barcode using CartonCloud’s mobile app, it will show you all of the warehouse locations where that product is currently stored, and how much at each point, giving you greater accuracy over all inventory locations in your warehouse.

Individual Item Barcodes

For stock where each item is unique and requires unique identification, you can use individual item barcode labels. This is particularly useful for inventory where individual items have an expiry date or batch number identification, like a tin of tuna, a single lipstick, or electronic items.

In this case, the individual item barcode labels can be applied and scanned to ensure the selected item is correct, and to check off a specific item in your WMS when it is picked for an order.

For example, when selecting perishable goods or inventory such as medical supplies where each individual item must be accounted for directly, individual barcode scanning is an essential step in maintaining accuracy. By simply scanning the barcode, you can ensure you have the correct item, and keep your records up to date, knowing exactly what stock is where, and when. 

Custom Warehouse Barcodes 

Need even more granular or customized tracking and transparency in your warehouse operations? No worries! Custom barcodes allow you to capture all of the information you need, in a scannable label. 

The CartonCloud Mobile App can be set up to allow you to scan either standard or custom format barcodes (Eg GS-1 labels containing the product barcode and additional information (batch numbers, expiry dates, etc.). 

Freight Barcode Labels (TMS consignments)

For those using CartonCloud as a fully integrated WMS/TMS software solution, you can extend your accuracy using barcode labels from the warehouse into your transport and delivery operations. 

Freight barcode labels are fixed to the outside of a packaged order, detailing the items within, the order detail, and the delivery information. Drivers can scan the freight barcodes to check the consignments against their run sheet, and to update the delivery status when recording an electronic Proof of Delivery (ePOD).

You can also scan freight barcode labels to allocate the delivery to a driver within your TMS rather than manually writing out paper run sheets, simplifying your transport management admin and ensuring all records are up to date in the system. 

High-Value Warehouse Workflows Using Barcode Label Scanning

Now that you have your warehouse barcode labels in place and inventory assigned to their location, you can start unlocking some of these high-value warehouse workflows using barcode scanning. 

• When scanning incoming freight from the dock, that means you can enter inventory details as you go, from the dock. 
• For picking, it means a 100% confirmation that you're picking the right product.
• For stock movement, you can confirm the item and update the move details directly into your WMS, as you go, and scan the new location to assign the item to its new warehouse location. 
• For deliveries and dispatch, it means you can provide clear and concise information for your drivers, on-forwarders, and delivery partners, ensuring your consignment is correctly allocated. 

Using Barcode Scan for Inventory Movement & Put-Away 

This is especially useful when moving stock from one area of the warehouse to another, such as when replenishing pick face locations, or consolidating warehouse locations to make room for new stock. 

The move cart function allows you to scan or manually enter a warehouse location barcode and select specific stock within that location to be moved (as opposed to moving all stock within the location). This way, you can collect stock as you go, moving from location to location in the warehouse with the items assigned to the 'move cart'. Once you have collected all of the stock to be moved, you can assign new locations to each, from the move cart. 

Cross-Docking with Scan Move 

CartonCloud’s powerful WMS Scan Move function is extremely useful in cross-docking operations, allowing you to receive incoming freight into your WMS, before it is assigned to a warehouse location. Scan incoming freight to add it to the move cart, and it can remain there, to be allocated to a warehouse location once you’ve completed unloading the freight. 

Incoming & Outgoing Orders Using SSCC Barcode Labels 

One type of freight barcode label is the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) barcode. This is a unique label that is used to identify a logistics unit (pallet, container, etc), and provide important delivery information that can be accessed by each person handling the freight along the shipping journey. 

The SSCC label identifies each carton or pallet shipped and its contents, consolidating information from a range of sources, including your order summary, inventory data, transport data and tracking and more — providing all the information you need, presented in one easy to access label on the outside of your pallet or container, to provide freight visibility throughout the supply chain. The SSCC is a universal barcode label that is accepted and required throughout global logistics operations. 

Key Takeaways

• Using mobile barcode label scanning in warehouse operations gives you and your team greater accuracy in stock location and selection, and allows you to implement powerful digital workflows through a WMS like CartonCloud. 
• This can allow you to take on new services and operations, say yes to new customer requirements, and reduce overheads by increasing accuracy (and reducing costly or time-consuming returns). 

Ready to get started? 

Contact our team for a FREE Demo and find out more about barcode label scan and print with CartonCloud! 

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