The Busy Business Owner’s Guide to Barcode Solutions (Part 2)

November 8th 2018 16:00:00 PM

We recently published part 1 of “The Busy Business Owner’s Guide to Barcode Solutions,” which outlined the growing challenges in the distribution industry and included suggestions to combat these challenges. In part 2 of the article, you’ll get a list of the five questions you need to ask yourself before you begin your search for your new barcode solution.

By taking just 5-10 minutes to carefully answer these questions, you’ll save hours on your barcode solution search.

Not much of a self-assessment kind of person? Would you rather have a trained warehouse expert start a discovery process to determine, with comprehensive accuracy, exactly which features and functions your new barcode solution needs? Contact Scanco online or at (330) 645-9959 to set up your initial consultation and start the ball rolling.

Questions to Ask

Quiz yourself on these five questions in advance of your barcode solution shopping process, so you can create a vendor shortlist and find the right tool for your needs quickly.

1. Which ERP are you running?

Seamless ERP integration is critical for saving time with your barcode solution because you don’t want to trade your slow, paper-based system for a slow dual-entry system that doesn’t sync data back to your ERP.

While you’re looking at integration, make sure the solution you choose has “seamless” integration. When a digital product states that it specifically has “seamless” integration, that means it won’t just work with your ERP, it’ll act as an extension of your ERP—which translates to less work on your end.

2. Do you manage or expect to manage multiple warehouses?

Today’s modern barcode solutions offer cloud-based connectivity, which not only helps you effortlessly sync up multiple warehouses anywhere in the world; it also makes it easy to add new warehouse locations at will. This can help you jump on exciting acquisition opportunities as they appear.

3. Do you hire seasonal workers in volume and need to get them up to speed quickly?

The latest barcode solutions on the market are a lot easier to use than the ruggedized scanners of the past. Why? Because they’re smartphone based. In fact, with 3 billion smartphone users worldwide and American ownership of smartphones at 77%, you’ll have pretty darn good odds that any seasonal employee you hire will already know the basics of using a smartphone-based barcode tool.

Truthfully, if you choose a well-made smartphone-based solution with intuitive navigation and operation, your warehouse workers (especially the younger ones) will probably become barcode tool experts within just a few minutes.

4. Does your distribution company require cross-departmental integration with your inventory management / barcoding solution?

Barcoding solutions aren’t just for your warehouse workers. Since barcode tools don’t delay your inventory counts with slow data entry from paper pick sheets, the real-time insight that barcode solutions offer can provide your sales team with integrated, on-demand mobile visibility into your current stock levels at all times. That means your entire company can save even more time while increasing profits—all without extra effort on your part.

If this sounds like something you would want in your organization, look for full-featured barcode solutions that also offer integrated mobile apps for your sales team and other departments.

5. Do you suffer from increased picking inaccuracies during the busy season? Are inaccuracies impacting your customer satisfaction levels?

Paper pick sheets, delayed inventory numbers, and a fast-paced business environment during the busy season are a recipe for disaster when added together—especially if your company engages in e-fulfillment activities. Unexpected stock-outs and misplaced paper pick sheets can cause a delay in picking and, over time, those delays will negatively impact your business.

Since Amazon’s high volumes give them the ability to price lower than you can, your smaller distribution company needs to outshine Amazon on service. However, Amazon sets the standard for near-impossible two-day shipping and almost 100% accuracy in their warehouses, which means you must work twice as hard and be twice as accurate in all orders, so you can compete.

Barcode solutions eliminate manual data entry, helping you increase your accuracy while saving your time, so you can grow your business’s revenues instead of harming them.

Start Here for Your Barcode Solution Search

Now that you’ve answered those questions, you’re prepared to navigate confidently through the wide world of barcode solution suppliers. There’s just one more issue: you’re not sure where to start looking for a good vendor.

Well, if you’re running Sage 100 and need a cloud-based barcode solution that runs on smartphones and offers an impressive range of cross-departmental functionality that can bring your entire team together with one app, consider Scanco.

Since 1989, Scanco has been helping busy distributors manage their operations with ease and nearly 100% accuracy. However, like your business, Scanco hasn’t achieved success by resting on our laurels. Instead, we’ve consistently focused on providing the latest, cutting-edge solutions that target both current and emerging needs in the distribution industry, so we can help our clients stay ahead of their competition.

Contact Scanco online or at (330) 645-9959 to learn more about your options for barcode solutions that give your distribution company the competitive edge.