When it comes to inventory management, it’s no secret that implementing barcodes and QR codes can save businesses tons of time. After all, barcode and QR code inventory systems were designed to enable faster checking in and out of supplies, materials, assets, and more. But using barcodes and QR codes to keep track of inventory doesn’t only save time—they can also reduce costly human errors.
Here are three ways using barcodes and QR codes for inventory tracking can reduce human error:
1. Barcodes and QR codes ensure accurate item identification
One of the primary ways errors are introduced during inventory counting is by confusing items that either look the same or have very similar names. For example, in construction, an employee loading a truck may fail to differentiate two cases of tiles with the same names in slightly different sizes. Similarly, for an interior design business, two rugs may look the same rolled up, yet are not interchangeable at all.
Regardless of why or how inventory might be confused, syncing such items with barcodes and QR codes virtually eliminates the risk of misidentification.
Fortunately, creating a barcode or QR code to sync to an item has never been easier. For instance, Sortly allows customers to generate custom barcodes and QR codes, sync them with existing inventory profiles, and then print custom labels featuring the barcode or QR code plus other key details, including item names or photos.
Once this inventory or asset tag is affixed to the item, all employees need to do is use a smartphone or tablet camera to scan the barcode or QR code in the Sortly app. Immediately, the correct item will populate—even if the team member conducting the scanning wasn’t quite sure of the item name or details.
This easy, comprehensive guide will help you:
Free Ebook: The Complete Guide to Barcoding Your Inventory
2. Barcodes and QR codes make it much easier to track inventory data accurately
While using a spreadsheet or document to keep track of inventory is still common practice for some businesses, such inventory systems have several drawbacks. One main challenge is the risk that hand-recorded inventory data—such as quantities, serial numbers, or dates—might be jumbled when transposed to a spreadsheet or other digital document.
To mitigate that risk, more businesses are using inventory management software that enables barcode and QR code scanning. That way, key details about items can be updated on the go within the app, eliminating the need to transpose data altogether.
To further reduce risk, businesses also turn to barcodes and QR codes to enable perpetual inventory management. Perpetual inventory management refers to the strategy of keeping track of what your business has on hand in real time.
That means that when an item is restocked, consumed, sold, or relocated, the change is tracked immediately. Keeping true perpetual inventory without barcodes or QR codes is virtually impossible. However, with the correct barcode and QR code scanning system in place, it takes only a couple of seconds to scan an item, accurately update details, and then move on to the next task.
3. Barcodes and QR codes help automate time-consuming inventory audits
Finally, a third reason to consider using a barcode and QR code system for inventory management is how easily they make end-of-year inventory counts and other inventory audits. Whether you audit inventory in inventory cycle counts or close shop once a year to validate all inventory records, inventory audits pose an increased risk for human error during data entry. The fast-paced nature of these large-scale audits increases the risk of miscounting and misidentifying items.
With the right inventory management software, customized reports of all items involved in the inventory audit can be generated quickly. These reports include high-resolution images of these items alongside corresponding barcodes and QR codes. Together, these details and codes can empower employees to double-check their work and validate their findings, reducing the risk of human error even during the most tedious and time-consuming audits or physical counts.
About Sortly
Sortly is an inventory management solution that helps you track, manage, and organize your inventory from any device, in any location. We’re an easy-to-use inventory software that’s perfect for large or small businesses. Sortly builds inventory tracking seamlessly into your workday so you can save time and money, satisfy your customers, and help your business succeed.
With Sortly, you can track inventory, supplies, parts, tools, assets like equipment and machinery, and anything else that matters to your business. It comes equipped with smart features like barcoding & QR coding, low stock alerts, customizable folders, data-rich reporting, and much more. Best of all, you can update inventory right from your smartphone, whether you’re on the job, in the warehouse, or on the go.
Whether you’re just getting started with inventory management or you’re an expert looking for a more efficient solution, we can transform how your company manages inventory—so you can focus on building your business. That’s why over 15,000 businesses globally trust us as their inventory management solution.
Start your two-week free trial of Sortly today.
