Check Your Barcode Scanner Batteries Before End-of-Year Inventory

As 2019 winds down, it’s likely time for your fleet operation to conduct end-of-year inventory.  Before your staff starts the process, make sure your staff and your tools are prepared.

This includes making sure your Tricoder and other barcode scanning tools are fully charged and have functioning batteries. Do this before you schedule your inventory so you don’t risk having to postpone it due to malfunctioning batteries.

If your operation needs new or additional barcode scanners, order them before Thanksgiving weekend to get 15% off! Contact our Sales team for more information.

Benefits of Barcode Scanners

Barcode scanners can greatly benefit your fleet operation. Some of the advantages they provide include:

• Improved Inventory: Barcoding tools can reduce the amount of time it takes to perform inventory. Island Transit in Coupeville, Wash., reduced its inventory by almost two weeks by using barcode tools. Over the course of several years, the team worked to purchase barcode scanners and place barcodes on every part. Doing this enabled them to reduce their inventory process from about 14 days to one day. This allowed Island Transit to save time and labor on inventory.
• More Accurate Parts Ordering: Using barcode scanners can help fleet operations keep an accurate inventory. This can help managers be more aware of how many parts are on-hand and how often parts are being used. This will allow them to keep fast-moving parts in stock and avoid over-ordering an excess of spare parts.
• Increased Organization of Parts Room: Barcoding tools can help operations create a more organized parts room. Using scanners, employees can scan parts into inventory as they arrive into the shop. They can also use barcodes to label and organize parts and bins to keep parts in specific locations. This will make the inventory process easier and will also help staff members locate parts more quickly for technicians.

Tips to Make Inventory More Efficient

End-of-year inventory may be looming, but there are ways to make it less of a burden on your fleet operation. In addition to using barcoding tools, use these tips to make your next inventory more efficient:

• Organize Your Parts Room: Creating an organizational structure for your parts room can allow employees to quickly locate parts, resulting in a faster inventory process. All rows, shelves and bins should be labeled, and parts should be grouped by a pre-determined system. This can include by type, make or model, depending on how your operation prefers to sort parts.
• Implement Fleet Management Software: Using fleet management software can save operations time when taking inventory. The solution can give operations real-time access to parts inventory. When barcoding tools are connected to the software it allows operations to monitor inventory as items are scanned and counted. This can help operations identify and correct errors quickly.

To learn more about RTA Fleet Management Software’s barcode scanning tools and solutions – including our new mobile scanner -- contact our Sales team.