Barcoding & Warehousing FAQ’s
Contents
1.1. Install
2. Warehouse Layout and Bin Numbering for Sicon Barcoding & Warehousing Projects
3. Training
4.1. Can Sicon Barcoding handle Complex Barcodes (GS1-128)?
4.2. When creating new labels formats, should I use an existing report and changing it to a label?
General FAQ's
What product version will I have installed onto my system?
Our products are in a four monthly cycle, but will receive Hot Fix updates for bug fixes and minor product changes to release versions throughout the year. At the start of the cycle we will review the wish list and known issues and prioritise these into the work plan for the development phase. In addition to this, we often have entirely new features that are being added to the products; these will generally be included in the new features section ahead of time. At the end of the development cycle, the products are fully tested and documented in the online Help and User Guides before being officially released as a new version.
During the development cycle (between official release versions), there will be pre-release versions available to Business Partners and clients who wish to use new features as they are added. These versions will not have documentation added to the online Help and User Guides for the new features and will not go through the full testing process until the end of the development cycle, but will be suitable for demonstration & testing purposes. They will include selected Wish List items and project specific functionality. We will install these versions onto live systems where the new features are needed but clients should be aware that there is a small risk associated with using a pre-release version. The risk is small or we would not allow it, but where the benefit outweighs the risk we are happy to work with clients to deliver improvements to the products early (if Customers do not wish to have a pre-release version, they will need to wait for the release version to become available). This version will not be available for Business Partners to download, but will be available where we are working on joint projects and developing specific functionality.
If you would rather wait for an official release, please contact the Project Admin Team to put your installation on hold.
Install
How long will a new Barcoding & Warehousing installation take?
We will schedule ½ a day to complete the install plus 1 hour for App install.
Warehouse Layout and Bin Numbering for Sicon Barcoding & Warehousing Projects
The warehouse will usually have Isles, Bays and Shelves and the logical way to define these would be in this order. It makes it easy for new staff or those unfamiliar with the warehouse to quickly locate a specific bin location.
The Barcoding App will guide the users to put away or pick using the bin loca- tion sequence (alpha numeric) which may not be the most efficient order in which to move around the warehouse and pick or put away.
For example some sites will travel down one side of an Isle and then back up the other. Others may choose to move across the Isles and pick from bins on both sides as they move down the Isle. This is typical when the Isle’s are not very wide and there is not room for people to move both up and down and pass each other in an Isle.
In order to allow for maximum flexibility we allow a ‘Pick Sequence’ to be added to each bin location. If this is populated then the barcoding App will follow the pick sequence and not the bin location sequence.
Our recommendation would be to keep the layout logical, as in the examples below, and change the pick sequence via the import until you achieve the most optimum warehouse movements.
Training
We recommend that only a couple of Superusers attend the training sessions. Our training is on a train the trainer scenario, where our consultants will train the Superusers on how to set up the system and how to use it. The Superusers will then roll out the module to the end users.
How do we connect to carry out Barcoding & Warehousing training?
We ask that you check with your IT department prior to the initial training session that there will be no firewall issues in using this method of connection. If there are likely to be security issues, please contact your project administrator and we will be happy to find a solution.
Will the product training happen at the same time as a Barcoding & Warehousing installation?
No. This will be scheduled with the relevant parties after the installation. This allows for any issues found during installation to be resolved and ensure all systems are working as they should be.
Label Formats
Can Sicon Barcoding handle Complex Barcodes (GS1-128)?
We often get asked ‘what barcode types can the Sicon solution handle?
Most barcodes across the World follow the GS1 standard, however, there are instances where you may be asked about ‘Complex Barcodes’ and whether the system can handle GS1-128 barcodes. In some cases you may be asked whether Sicon Barcoding & Warehousing can handle serial/batch numbers.
The answer in many cases is yes.
Learn more about the Basics of BarcodesGS1-128 is a global standard allowing additional elements to be included alongside the product barcode, enabling these to be read in a single scan.
Below is an example of a complex barcode:
As you can see it has numbers in brackets that correspond to the options within GS1-128.
- (01) – This is the Stock Item Barcode or GTIN
- (10) – This is the Batch Number
- (30) – This is the Quantity
If we scan this barcode when adding stock, from that single scan, it has found the stock item and populated the quantity & the Batch Number.
If this was not a GS1-128 barcode, scanning the barcode would only have identified the stock item; we would have had to manually enter the Batch Number, and quantity.
This also helps simplify the process, for example, when moving stock around the warehouse, or picking & despatching Sales Orders, with the user only having to scan a single barcode.
If you identify a customer currently utilising, or wanting to use GS1-128 barcodes, it is worth getting a few examples and checking with your Sicon Partner Manager. There are a vast number of identifiers that can be used in a GS1-128 barcodes, and not all are relevant or available to be used.
Learn more about the Basics of BarcodesWhen creating new labels formats, should I use an existing report and changing it to a label?
When creating new labels formats, we would advise you not to take an existing report and changing it to a label. Either create a new label using the wizard or adapt an existing label.
