Why Use Barcodes?

Barcodes provide two primary advantages over manual data collection:

1. Accuracy - Studies show that when using manual data collection, 1 mistake is made for every 300 characters entered. As an example, if someone collects data for inventory and the average item number has 10 characters, there would be a mistake in every 30 items collected. In comparison, using barcodes and automatic data collection, the error rate drastically reduces to 1 error in every 1 million characters. By reducing the number of data-entry errors, a business or entity can be much more confident in their inventory.
2. Efficiency/Productivity- Barcode data collection allows users to collect data much more rapidly than manual data collection. A typical manual data collection scenario is to conduct an inventory count on a sheet of paper and clipboard. The user must then write down every item and write the correct quantity. Once the user completes the inventory, they must take the data back to a host system and re-key the information they just collected. With a barcode data collection system, it is as simple as scan and go. A user could scan the barcode, enter the quantity in the wireless barcode scanner, and inventory would be updated automatically. This drastically reduces the number of steps. Even the fastest typist in the world cannot enter data as fast as a barcode scanner.