What to do when a barcode is damaged or will not scan

The most common small headache on count day is a barcode that simply will not scan. The scanner stays silent, and the operator, staring at the digits beneath the bars, naturally starts typing. That is the most error-prone thing to do: one wrong digit and the quantity lands against another product, almost impossible to notice afterwards. There is a steadier order of steps.

First, why will it not scan?

The cause decides the remedy. There are four usual kinds:

• Damaged label: creased, torn or scratched, with a break across the bars.
• Poor print: faint, smeared, bars too thin, or a grey background with too little contrast.
• Surface and environment: glossy glare, condensation, dust, a curved surface or a film wrap over the label.
• Size and margins: a barcode printed too small, or without a blank margin on both sides and so cut short.

Knowing which tells you whether to wipe, change the angle or replace the label.

The order of steps on the floor

1. Change distance and angle. Move back a little, tilt the device slightly, avoid direct lamp light and, if needed, shade the label with a hand.
2. Wipe it. Use a dry cloth for dust, let damp labels dry naturally, and do not use a wet cloth.
3. Find a second barcode. Cartons often carry several: on the side, on top, and one on the individual pack. Trying another often works.
4. Prefer relabelling. Log the carton on an exception sheet with bin, product, quantity and reason, attach an internal label and scan again with the new label. That fixes the problem in front of you, and the next count will not stall here.
5. Type only as a last resort. Key in the digits printed under the barcode. The last digit of most retail barcodes is a check digit, so if the device or spreadsheet validates it, a single wrong digit is usually rejected. Have someone beside you read the number back, and note it on the sheet.

Two things to avoid: entering a code from memory, and scanning a neighbouring carton of the same product as a stand-in. The second is acceptable only once you have confirmed both cartons are the same SKU and counted the pieces by hand.

A simple threshold

A few failures can be handled one by one. When the proportion is high, relabel the whole lot first. A workable threshold: if more than one in ten cartons of the same SKU will not scan, stop typing and give the whole lot a new internal label.

Suppose a bin holds 40 cartons of one SKU and 6 will not scan, which is 15 percent and above the threshold. Relabelling all 40 takes about 30 seconds each, so 20 minutes in total. Typing 6 cartons, each checked for about a minute, is not much cheaper and leaves the risk of typing mistakes. More importantly, a relabelled lot scans cleanly at the next count too.

The exception sheet deserves a little design too. For each row record the date, bin, SKU or product name, quantity, a cause category (damaged, poor print, glare, other), who handled it and whether a label has been added. After the count, total the sheet by cause and by supplier. Often the problems turn out to cluster on one supplier or one shipment, and then the answer is to go back to the supplier and ask for better printing, rather than relabelling at every count.

Prevention is cheaper than repair

• Spot-check at receiving. Scan a few cartons of each SKU, and where a barcode will not read, add an internal label on the spot instead of waiting for count day.
• Where the manufacturer's barcode is of uneven quality, add an internal label of your own instead.
• Do not run clear tape across a barcode. The tape reflects light and can make it unreadable.
• When wrapping goods, leave a window for the barcode or put the label outside the film.
• Clean the print head of the label printer regularly. If print turns faint, check that first.

In short

An unreadable barcode is not a disaster; having no shared way of handling it is. Find the cause, try the steps in order, relabel the lot at the threshold and log every exception. InventoryHub numbers and prints internal labels for products that have no barcode or an unreliable one, then scans after labelling, and hands you the labelling rules so new stock can follow them.