Is valuable time wasted in maintenance while craftspeople wait for parts and storeroom attendants record transactions? Do managers lack the time to do cycle counts despite problems with inaccurate inventory counts? One solution may be bar coding.

How can this technology help you better manage your operations?

• It reduces time spent manually entering data into computer systems.
• It increases accuracy to near 100 percent. (Even the best data entry clerks make mistakes.)
• It reduces paperwork, especially when combined with hand-held computers and portable data terminals that allow workers to record information as an event occurs.
• It streamlines asset management by making tracking and controlling parts, equipment, and tools less time consuming and more accurate.

Adding bar coding capabilities to your current information technology system can be as simple as hooking up a scanner and keyboard to a desktop PC. Then you create a bar code menu of grouped items, such as failure codes or machinery parts, and print them out with a PC bar coding label package. Users can scan the menu instead of manually entering the data.

Another approach is to get an add-on module to your existing asset management software. A hand-held scanner communicates with the software via a docking cradle and an uploading program.

An add-on module should be able to:

• Issue, receive, and count parts
• Control assets
• Track tools
• Record labor
• Process work orders

The first physical count using this system will go a long way toward recouping your initial investment. And, depending on what your auditor says, you may be able to forgo the annual physical counting with ongoing cycle counting.