Our latest guest blogger is Kate DeSantis, Marketing Director at Scanco LLC (a barcoding company that we dig). Scanco meets the needs of thousands of distribution and manufacturing operations with an extensive line of warehouse management solutions designed to integrate with Sage Software’s MAS 90/MAS 200 and MAS 500 ERP.  Their products provide the functionality to perform RFID integration, inventory management, work order processing, remote sales and barcode printing. Visit www.scanco.com

Starting off on the right foot…

When companies contact us about automating their distribution processes, they have great ideas about handhelds and software but they are always unsure about how to start labeling their products.  It’s understandable because there are LOTS of options.  Here’s a quick breakdown of three scenarios and the best fit option for each:

1.  Barcodes do not exist anywhere on my inventory.

First, don’t worry. We’ll get your products labeled in no time!  The easiest way to get started is to label your products as they are received.  You can generate those labels from a handheld or from the desktop to a thermal printer using a product called LabelXpert Designer.  Any field that exists in MAS 90/MAS 200 or MAS 500 can be displayed on the label and those label designs are stored as templates.  A handheld or desktop user can print labels for all items received or one at a time (perfect for companies with serialized or lotted inventory).   The great thing about LabelXpert is that it reads data straight from your MAS system and does not rely on manual data entry.  Once it’s labeled, you can trust that it is correct and scan away!

2.  Most of my products are barcoded by the manufacturer but I have a few product lines that need some stripes.

You have two options for this particular scenario:

LabelXpert:  This is your best bet if you need thermal labels.  You would need thermal labels if you are affixing them to oddly shaped items (necklaces, trees, etc.) or if you need particularly durable label stock .  Thermal labels can stick to just about anything and can withstand weather, sunlight and any other abuse you can throw at them.

Crystal Reports:  Go with Crystal if you only print a few labels a day and have a clean environment.  You can have your MAS partner write a Crystal report that prints to a laser printer and pulls item data from MAS.  Use standard Avery label stock to print an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of labels and affix as needed.  The only drawback is that the labels smudge easily and are difficult for the scanner to read.

3.  All of my products are barcoded but I’m not sure if your scanners can read them.

We can definitely read them.  Here’s the key: Your manufacturer’s part number MUST be set-up in MAS as an alias item number.  As long as that number is in MAS, we can read that barcode and cross-reference against your item number without any re-labeling.  It’s always a good idea to make sure your manufacturers’ part numbers contain only a part number.  If there is lot or serial data, we may need to do some custom programming.

No matter what your situation, we have ideas on how to get your products labeled in no time flat.  If you have more questions about barcode labels, email me at [email protected] and I’ll route you to the right person!