QStock Inventory works independently of barcode symbologies. The barcode scanner/computers read and interpret the popular barcode formats.
QStock Inventory recommends setting up UPC Cross References to allow your team to be able to scan barcodes your vendors have used and map the data to your item numbers. This relationship can also include a Unit of Measure and a Quantity based on need.
Parsable barcodes are barcodes that can contain multiple data points to be mapped into QStock. the delimiter is a Ctrl+5 character and the current order in which we read will be
- Stock Code or X-Reference (UPC/SKU)
- Lot 1
- Lot 2
- Lot 3
The most common barcode symbologies that we find used and are supported on the mobile computers we recommend are:
- UPC-A – 12 numeric digits – 11 user specified and 1 check digit.
- UPC-E – 7 numeric digits – 6 user specified and 1 check digit.
- EAN-8 – 8 numeric digits – 7 user specified and 1 check digit.
- EAN-13 – 13 numeric digits – 12 user specified and 1 check digit.
- Code 39
- Code 93
- Code 128
- EAN-UCC 128 – Variable length alphanumeric data – the practical upper limit is dependent on the scanner and is typically between 20 and 40 characters. Code 128 is more efficient at encoding data than Code 39 or Code 93. Code 128 is the best choice for most general barcode applications. Code 39 and Code 128 are both very widely used while Code 93 is rarely used.
- Australia Post
- BPO
- Codabar
- Codablock A
- Codablock F
- Code 11
- Dutch Post
- GS1 Composite
- GS1 DataBar Expanded
- GS1 DataBar Limited
- GS1 DataBar Omni-Directional
- Infomail
- Intelligent Mail
- Japan Post
- Maxicode
- Micro PDF417
- MSI
- PDF417
- Planet
- Plessi
- Postnet
- Interleaved 2of5
- Matrix 2of5
- I2of5 – variable length numeric data – the practical upper limit is dependent on the scanner and is typically between 20 and 50 characters.
- Data Matrix – Data can consist of any type of data including binary or alphanumeric and be up to 3116 bytes in length.
- Aztec – Data can consist of any type of data including binary or alphanumeric and be up to 3750 bytes in length.
- Maxicode – Maxicode can hold up to 93 alphanumeric characters or 138 numeric digits. Maxicode is used almost exclusively for United Parcel Service package identification.
- PDF417 – PDF417 is a little more complex and it is difficult to say exactly what its capacity is because it depends greatly on the type of data that you encode in a PDF417 symbol as well as the amount of error correction capacity that you choose to use in a PDF417 symbol.
- QR Code
- 2D
- RFID
At QStock Inventory we recognize that barcode scanning is the key to accuracy and efficiency. QStock natively prints barcodes in Code 128 because of its ubiquitous nature and the density of the barcode allows for the most data in the smallest space. Label printing is a part of the receiving process, and can be performed ad-hoc via the handheld or the desktop client.