Tracking your assets should be one of your several business priorities. To get the most out of your fixed assets, you must at all times be in the know about the history of your assets. To collect and analyze info you need an asset tracking system in place. The traditional way of tracking assets involves using barcodes, which is still popular, however, many businesses now use QR code inventory management software. As hard as it may be for you to believe, QR codes were invented for asset tracking and not marketing. You can use a smartphone or a handheld scanner to scan QR codes. That said, only scanners that can read both 1D and 2D barcodes can scan QR codes.

QR codes: an introduction 

QR codes or Quick Response codes are 2-dimensional barcodes that include black and white squares. QR codes can accommodate more data than barcodes. A conventional QR code can store up to 4,296 characters including punctuation marks, words and phrases, and special characters or 7,089 digits. Adding more data to the QR code increases its complexity and size. QR codes can include binary data such as small images. To ensure readability is not affected in case the QR code gets damaged, data keys include duplications.

Creating a QR code 

Creating a QR code is as easy as 1,2,3. All you need to do is visit a website that generates QR codes. Before visiting a QR code generation website, decide what you want to encode (can be the asset serial number or inventory SKU number). Once you have selected the type of code you want, enter data to get your unique QR code.

Benefits 

• Promotes swift scanning
• You don’t need to invest in a handheld scanner and can use your smartphone to scan QR codes.
• QR codes can scan numerals, alphabets, and special and binary characters.
• Superior data storage capabilities.
• Enhanced fault tolerance.
• Cost-effective
• Ease of use
• More secure as compared to barcodes
• Fewer errors
• Superior data transfer capabilities.

Before printing your QR code labels, you must select an inventory or asset management software. When choosing one, consider a number of factors such as your goals, deployment and usage costs, ease of use, and scalability. When choosing a QR code label, make sure it is compatible with your software.

Benefits of using QR-code based inventory management systems

Real-time asset tracking

QR codes can be scanned using smartphones, which means your team members won’t have to travel to the warehouse every time they want to learn about a particular asset’s location. Software that uses QR codes have many benefits over conventional tracking systems. They can help address various issues such as errors that arise due to missed or incorrect documentation of parts and assets. Additionally, QR code inventory management software helps avoid overstocking, understocking, and duplication errors.

Help speed up the entire process 

Many QR code inventory management software can be connected to the cloud. Data stored in the cloud can be accessed by different teams. When it comes to saving time cloud connectivity can be of great help, especially if your teams spend a lot of time on the floor every day. Your team members won’t have to go back to an office every time they want to update records, which helps them update records in real time.

Additionally, QR codes speed up the data entry process which helps save time and avoid errors. When your asset records have fewer errors, you are able to take decisions swiftly.

Help identify asset location 

Unlike spreadsheets and manual entry systems, QR codes allow you to add additional info such as GPS location and asset photos. GPS location and asset photos help your teams locate inventory swiftly and eliminate confusion.

Help keep a tab on costs

You don’t need to invest in expensive handheld barcode scanners which helps save cost. Additionally, QR code inventory management software can generate a number of reports that you can use to identify new avenues for cost cuts.

Mistakes to avoid when using QR codes 

Using the wrong color combinations

You might want to use a black background and a white or lighter foreground, however, not all QR code scanners are created equal. Some scanners cannot scan QR codes with white or lighter foregrounds, which is why it is important to select the appropriate color combination. Make sure the colors do not have identical contrasts.

Creating images with poor resolution 

Blurry QR codes are hard to scan. If you want to scale your QR code to a bigger size, give it enough resolution to ensure the image does not pixelate.

Printing the QR barcodes too small

Though smartphones with high-quality cameras can scan smaller images, the same cannot be said for those with basic cameras. To ensure different types of cameras can scan your QR code, make sure the image’s size is at least 2X2 cm.