Barcodes in manufacturing put a scannable code on every raw material, production batch and finished carton. Each move is then recorded by a scan, not a pen. A scan enters the whole code at once, while copying a 13-digit number by hand gives 13 chances to slip.
Start where mistakes cost most: receiving, batches and dispatch. This guide maps what to label at each stage, which barcode to use and what batch codes save in a recall, in Uganda shillings. It ends with the setup steps and how a small factory runs them in ArmPOS.
What are barcodes used for in manufacturing?
Barcodes record every move of materials and goods through the factory, from the delivery truck to the customer's truck. Each scan replaces a line someone would otherwise write in a book or type into a spreadsheet.
The table shows the seven points where a small factory scans, and what each scan tells you afterwards.
| Stage | What carries a barcode | What the scan records |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Each sack, drum or roll of raw material | What arrived, how much, from which supplier, with its batch and expiry |
| Storage | Each rack, shelf and bin | Where every item sits |
| Issue to production | The materials leaving the store | What each production run used |
| Work in progress | A job ticket on the tray, crate or trolley | Which run it belongs to, and how far it has got |
| Finished goods | Each unit, and each carton with its batch | How many were made, in which batch |
| Dispatch | Each carton loaded | What left, for which order and customer |
| Returns and recalls | The batch code on returned cartons | Which batch failed, and who received it |
A factory that starts small should begin with receiving, finished goods and dispatch. Those three scans give a stock figure you can trust and a record of which batch went where. The materials and their place in production are covered in raw materials inventory.
Which barcode should a manufacturer use?
Use your own code for anything that stays in the factory, and a GS1 number for anything sold through shops. The choice depends on who will scan the label, not on what looks professional.
| What you label | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Raw materials, racks and job tickets | Your own code in Code 128 | Free to make, prints on any label printer, never leaves the factory |
| Units sold through supermarkets and shops | A GS1 number (GTIN) printed as EAN-13 | Retailers' tills scan it, and it is unique worldwide |
| Cartons and pallets for distributors | GS1-128 | Carries the GTIN with a lot number and an expiry date |
| Packs that must show batch and expiry at the till | A 2D code beside the EAN-13 | The direction GS1's Sunrise 2027 sets for retail |
Code 128 and GS1-128 look alike but are not the same. GS1 Belgium and Luxembourg describes GS1-128 as built for logistics, "not for retail POS scanning", and notes that Code 128 "is not a GS1 barcode".
GS1 numbers come from your country's GS1 office, which licenses your business a company prefix. A tralac factsheet lists Uganda's prefix as 605, Kenya's as 616, Tanzania's as 620, Nigeria's as 615 and Ghana's as 603. Where a country has no GS1 office, businesses license numbers through GS1's global office or a neighbouring one.
Don't buy GS1 numbers for things that never leave the factory. Do get them before a supermarket asks, because changing the code on printed packaging means paying for a new print run.
Packs are also moving to 2D codes. GS1 US asks brands to "Add 2D barcodes to existing packaging" and retailers to read them at the till. A 2D code can carry the batch and the expiry date that an EAN-13 can't.
For example: a batch recall at a juice maker
Batch codes on cartons decide how much you must pull back when one batch goes wrong. Without them, every carton made that week looks the same, so the whole week comes back.
For example, a juice maker in Kampala bottles 6 batches a week, 400 cartons each, and sells a carton of 12 bottles for UGX 36,000. A supplier warns that one delivery of mango pulp was bad, and it went into Tuesday's batch. The figures are illustrative.
| Line | Without batch codes | With batch codes on cartons |
|---|---|---|
| Cartons to pull back | All 2,400 from the week | The 400 from Tuesday's batch |
| Value at UGX 36,000 a carton | 86,400,000 | 14,400,000 |
| Customers to call | Everyone supplied that week | Those whose dispatch scans show that batch |
The batch code cuts what must come back by UGX 72,000,000, to one sixth of the week's output. Shops can also see which cartons on their shelves to pull, so the other five batches keep selling.
The same logic applies to soap, cosmetics, animal feed and anything else made in batches. How lot and serial numbers differ is in serial and lot numbers.
How to use barcodes in manufacturing, step by step
Six steps take a small factory from paper to scanning, and each can be finished before the next starts. Pick inventory software that reads barcodes from a scanner and from a phone camera before you print anything.
1. List every item and give it one code
Write down every raw material, packaging item and finished product, with one code each. A 50 kg sack of sugar and a 1 kg bag are different items with different codes, as units of measure explains.
2. Choose the code type for each item
Use the table above: your own codes inside the factory, GS1 numbers on what shops sell, and GS1-128 on cartons for distributors. Decide this once, and write it down for whoever orders labels next year.
3. Print labels that survive the factory floor
Put each label on a flat panel, away from seams, folds and curved edges. Direct thermal labels fade with heat and light, so use labels printed with a ribbon for stock kept for months. Cold rooms need labels whose glue holds when wet.
4. Label the places as well as the goods
Give every rack, shelf and bin its own code. Scanning the place and then the item records where the item went, so nobody searches the store room for it later.
5. Scan at every move
Make one rule: no scan, no move. Materials are scanned in at receiving and out to production, and finished cartons are scanned in from the line and out at dispatch.
6. Count by scanning, and fix the gaps every week
Count one area each week with a scanner, and correct the records the same day. A count a week finds a missed scan while people still remember it; see how to run a cycle count.
Five mistakes that undo a barcode system
A barcode system is only as good as the habits around it. Each of these five mistakes opens a gap between the records and the shelves.
- Unreadable labels. A smudged, torn or taped-over code gets typed by hand, and typing is the error the system was meant to remove. Replace damaged labels the day you see them.
- Forgetting to scan. A pallet moved without a scan is a gap in the records. Each evening, compare the day's scans with the delivery notes and dispatch notes.
- The wrong barcode. A label printed for the wrong product sends stock to the wrong record. Test-scan the first label of every print run and check the name that appears.
- Two codes for one item. If the supplier's barcode and your own are set up as two products, stock splits between them. Keep one code per item and scan only that one.
- No training. Show each person the one or two scans their job needs: the storekeeper receives and issues, the packer finishes, the loader dispatches.
Get these right and the scans keep your inventory accurate and quick to handle, with no extra staff.
How to run barcodes in a small factory with ArmPOS
ArmPOS has no production module: no bill of materials, no work orders, and no automatic use of materials when goods are made. A small manufacturer can still run its barcodes in it for buying, storing, counting and selling, and record each run in two steps.
- Set up materials and finished goods as products. Give each group its own category, such as Raw materials, Packaging and Finished goods. For a material bought by the sack, build a Sack unit on Kilogram with Multiply 50. Make it the product's Purchase Unit (Categories, brands and units).
- Code and label them. In Code Product, scan the supplier's barcode or click the barcode button to make a number. Products › Print Labels prints sheets or stickers from 50 mm x 25 mm up to A5, or a size you set (Print barcode labels).
- Receive materials with a purchase. Scan each item into the purchase; the status received adds the stock. The purchase's menu has Print Labels for the products on it (Record a purchase).
- Track expiry on materials that go off. Switch on Track batches & expiry for the product, and each purchase line takes a Batch No and an Expiry Date (Batches and expiry dates).
- Record each run with two adjustments. A Subtraction takes off the materials used, and an Addition puts on the finished goods made. Put the run in the Note, such as "Run 42, mango juice" (Count and adjust stock).
- Sell, dispatch and count by scan. The POS takes a USB scanner or the device's camera. Count Stock makes a counting sheet for one warehouse and one category (The POS screen).
The Stock Adjustment Report totals the quantities added and removed, with each adjustment's cost. Divide a run's material cost by the units it made, and use the result as the finished product's Product Cost. A bill of materials keeps that sum the same every run.
ArmPOS labels carry the name, the code and the price, not the batch. Print the batch number and expiry date on each carton with your date coder or stamp.
Frequently asked questions
What are barcodes used for in manufacturing?
To record each move of materials and goods by a scan: receiving, storing, issuing to production, finishing and dispatch. Each scan replaces a written or typed entry, with its errors.
Do I need GS1 barcodes?
Only on goods sold through retailers that scan at the till, or for partners who ask for them. Your own codes are fine for raw materials, racks and job tickets.
What is the difference between Code 128 and GS1-128?
Code 128 is a barcode symbol anyone can use for any code. GS1-128 uses the same symbol with GS1's rules, so a carton label can carry a GTIN, a lot number and an expiry date.
Can I use a phone instead of a barcode scanner?
Yes, at low volumes: a phone camera reads barcodes. A receiving bay or a packing line that scans hundreds of cartons a day goes faster with a handheld scanner.
Should a factory use barcodes or RFID?
Barcodes, for most small factories. RFID pays mainly where tags are reused, on crates and pallets that come back, as RFID vs barcodes works out.
Start with the three scans that matter most: receiving, finished goods and dispatch. To keep materials, products and labels in one place, create a free ArmPOS account and set up your first product with its code.
