How to Select the Best Barcode Scanner System For Your Liquor Inventory

The Importance of Accurate Inventory

No matter how tedious, inventory management is a necessity if a business seeks success. And the best way to manage inventory is to use an automated software solution. Compared to outdated techniques like writing stock counts by hand on paper, or manually entering inventory data into spreadsheets, automated solutions are simpler to use, take less time, and are more accurate. On the whole, they improve the efficiency of inventory management one hundredfold. Combined with barcode scanners, inventory management becomes a piece of cake!

Here's how it works- stocks are scanned with the help of barcode scanners as soon as they arrive at a restaurant or bar, and the inventory software records their details. A product can't slip under a company's radar once it has been recorded, making it impossible for any unaccounted variation in stock levels (due to theft, shrinkage, or wastage) to go undetected.

The most fundamental goal of inventory management for a food and beverage company is to guarantee that customers get what they want. No one should ever have to be denied service on account of insufficient stocks. Customer resentment is, in fact, very strong when stock shortages affect bestselling items.

The company would also want to avoid filling shelves with unusable inventory that would result in resource loss and high carrying costs.

Astute inventory management typically partners with sales forecasting, demand planning, and supply chain management to make sure an organization places orders for fresh supplies before they run out completely. And when there are sufficient supplies on the shelves, impulsive and wasteful purchases are avoided.

Methods of Liquor Inventory

Methods for counting liquor inventory include, first of all, choosing your desired inventory process. Ensure your stock-counting tools are arranged consistently and logically, whether you're using bar inventory software, a spreadsheet, or a manual method involving pen and paper.

You are now prepared to begin counting. Include the brand, name, type, and bottle size of the alcohol. For products kept in various locations of your bar, create distinct columns or categories. Use the liquor scale integration or app if that is provided by your software. Finally, use the same approach to consistently measure each bottle.

For each of your bar's storage spaces, follow the same procedure. If your measurement units differ across cases and bottles, take that into account when structuring your inventory counting method. Once every item on hand is counted and measured, the totals for all categories must be added up.

You will have to re-count all your items at the conclusion of your inventory period. Repeat the exact procedure, using the same scale and directions for counting. You will now have your starting and finishing inventory counts.

Naturally, more liquor will be purchased and delivered to your restaurant over the inventory period. Keep track of the quantity you receive by tracking invoices. You can monitor the merchandise you sell using your point of sale (POS) system.

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Challenges With Traditional Methods of Inventory

Traditionally, inventory management has been done manually, by using spreadsheets or by using on-site or legacy software.

When managing inventory manually, suppliers are contacted via phone, text messages and emails, while the counting, logging, and updating of inventory is done by hand.

Manual stock-taking may work for small enterprises with modest requirements, modest goals, and modest budgets. But if an organization wants to scale up, it must use contemporary technology.

Companies that place purchase orders manually using spreadsheets, emails, phone calls, and text messages find the process challenging to manage. Inventory is either over- or under-estimated, and companies fail to keep track of goods that are ordered, bought, sold, wasted, or lost.

Additionally, human stock-taking consumes a significant amount of time and labor, requiring more workers than necessary to complete the job. What's worse is, the tiniest error in inventory counting, recording, or demand forecasting can have a significant negative impact on the functioning of the business.

Now while spreadsheets make use of basic technology, auditing and updating them still takes a lot of time and effort. They are also difficult to scale.

On-site software solutions are better than spreadsheets and pen-and-paper approaches, but their major disadvantage is that they can only be accessed by a limited number of linked devices, and operate on a closed network. This means that users must be on site to access data. Another weakness of these systems is that retrieval becomes difficult in case of loss of data.

Barcode Scanning Broken Down

Barcodes are unique alpha-numeric codes that represent data digitally. These are printed on the labels of products. Barcodes are scanned using wired/wireless devices known as barcode scanners that make sense of the data.

Barcode scanners are essential for efficient, precise, and speedy inventory management. They read product details like price, manufacturing date, weight, expiration date, manufacturer name, and so on. In addition to facilitating stock-counting, a barcode scanner system helps record products and provides real -time updates of inventory levels.

After barcodes are scanned, the decoded data is transferred instantly to inventory software downloaded on a computer or mobile device. Barcode scanners can be seamlessly integrated with a cloud-based Inventory App, enabling data access on the fly, in real time, on any mobile device.

The most prevalent kind of barcode is the one-dimensional (1D) barcode, which consists of vertical black lines on a white background. Barcode scanners read product information from the area between the vertical lines.

In two-dimensional (2D) barcodes, dots, squares, and other patterns are used to encode product information. An example of this kind of barcode is the QR code. Smartphones can scan 2D barcodes to access digital menu cards and make purchases. Compared to 1D barcodes, 2D barcodes carry more information.

What to Look for in a Barcode Scanner System

The right barcode scanner can speed up inventory management.

If you work at a busy restaurant or bar where there's a high chance the barcode scanner will be dropped, or come into contact with water or dust, you should pay close attention to your device's Ingress Protection (IP) rating.

These ratings are essentially standards created by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) that show the level of resistance an electrical device has to fluids and dust. An IP rating consists of two digits- the first denotes the level of protection against solid foreign particles, and the second denotes the level of water resistance. Make Sure the barcode scanners you choose have a minimum IP68 rating, which makes them dust- and water-resistant.

Choose your barcode scanners based on your operating environment. Use scanners with low brightness levels if you intend to use them in a warehouse with low lighting. Higher brightness is necessary in well-lit environments.

The barcode scanner's keys should also be ergonomic. They should be large enough for staff members who wear gloves when counting inventory or taking payments from customers, to use them easily.

It's crucial to take into account the scanning distance and code type too. Use scanners with an extended range if you have to scan objects from a long way out.

Top 3 Barcode Scanner Systems for Liquor Inventory

1. AirTrack S2-BT
This barcode scanner is the Bluetooth-compatible version of the AirTrack S2. Bluetooth compatibility lets these scanners link with iOS and Android devices, providing a seamless scanning experience. The AirTrack S2-BT has a Bluetooth range of up to 82 feet. This device comes with a free and downloadable program for configuration. Its best uses are for inventory management, receiving goods, shelf replenishment, and at the point of sale.

2. Zebra DS3600
This is a highly sophisticated barcode scanner designed for improved data capture. It can read almost any barcode from an arm's length away. These scanners can be wireless or wired and can be used in extremely harsh conditions. The DS3600 series can be your best option if your employees deal with difficult-to-read barcodes at extended and standard ranges. Zebra scanners are renowned for being incredibly dependable, quick, and accurate and can handle any scanning requirements.

3. The Datalogic Magellan 9800i
This is considered to be the first barcode scanner in the world to be entirely powered by sophisticated digital imaging. This makes it possible to improve checkout performance in some of the busiest checkout lines in the world. The Datalogic Magellan 9800i also happens to be the world's first in-counter scanner with digital imagers in all planes that can read both 1D and 2D barcodes without the cashier having to intervene. The positioning of the big horizontal window on the Magellan is ergonomic for both seated and standing cashiers, which makes these instruments extremely user-friendly.

Conclusion

When bar and restaurant software works with barcode scanners, inventory management is a cinch.

Every item in the inventory is given a special barcode label in a barcode-based inventory management system. Barcodes are scanned, and product information is accurately recorded. By enabling users to double-check products scanned on a computer screen, a barcode scanner connected to an inventory management solution makes sure that stock-takes are accurate.

Additionally, automatic product identification lowers overhead expenses by minimizing the effort, expense, and time required to train employees in inventory management.

Barcode scanning guarantees that goods are stored properly and located easily. This in turn facilitates efficient order management. Throughout the whole production process and until the goods are sold, barcode scanning enables efficient inventory tracking.

Stringent quality control is ensured via barcode scanning and inventory tracking makes it possible to swiftly detect and prevent goods from getting lost or stolen. Businesses have complete insight into every inventory item and can track their stock levels in real time. All these reasons conclusively prove that barcode scanners must be integrated into inventory control systems.