How Barcodes Help with Inventory Management

They’re so common we hardly notice them. Bar code labels are on everything we buy. They facilitate sales at all types of businesses. They streamline the handling of vast amounts of information.

And they can just as easily have the same impact in commercial vehicle service and repair operations for tracking inventory effectively and eliminating the signs of poor inventory management. When you track parts with bar codes you can:

• Save time by not having to manually enter inventory and parts data
• Automate ordering when stock is low
• Reduce the use of unnecessary, lost or stolen parts
• Make employees accountable for their use of repair parts

Once a repair part inventory item has a bar code label, it can be quickly scanned and easily monitored. Pluss Software, a provider of business management software for the medium- and heavy-duty truck and trailer repair industry, explained the benefits of effective inventory management practices for controlling administrative costs in its Helpful Articles series:

“In a parts or repair business, the ability to operate efficiently and quickly can make or break your bottom line. It is easy for a parts or repair shop to find itself battling a decreasing profit margin. One important tool is bar code technology. When implemented properly, it dramatically improves efficiency, and accuracy, boosting your ability to monitor inventory, receive shipments, manage outgoing usage of supplies, and more.”

Beyond inventory management and control, bar code technology in a repair shop also provides a quick and easy way to add parts to work orders, often by integrating fleet management and supplier systems. That process can be handled by a service writer, parts personnel or a technician. In shop bays, technicians with bar code scanners can add items as work is completed.

The capability even allows you to store common inventory items like oil, filters, belts, etc., closer to where they are used, cutting down on the cost of indirect labor for accessing parts supplies. This is a clear example of how data-driven analyses can drive up productivity and lower parts costs.

For a relatively small investment, your shop operation can be much more efficient

With bar code technology for parts management, in many cases the return on an initial investment in an inventory control solution can be less than six months, Pluss Software noted. 

Bar coding systems can be relatively inexpensive compared to their value and easy to set up, they also said. All that is needed are bar code labels and printers, which you can create internally using a bar code font or purchase and print from web-based service. An additional purchase includes scanners that read the labels and transmit information to your management software 

Quick, accurate, efficient bar code parts label applications have been used in the trucking industry for decades. Setting up a bar code system for your maintenance operation will save a significant amount of administrative time, improve the accuracy of your parts inventory records, and show you what service data can tell you about parts performance and lifecycle metrics, simplifying your processes from top to bottom.

FinditParts is the largest single-source Internet distributor of heavy duty OEM and aftermarket parts. FinditParts is your partner in keeping your heavy duty truck on the road.