Stock and inventory management is a daunting and time-consuming task, especially when businesses are manually doing so. Manually managing and recording huge inventory may lead to unpredicted stockouts, inaccurate records, costly overstocking, and much more. It will then result in impacting customer satisfaction to operational costs.
By this time the world has transformed from typical business models to modern business ones by leveraging smart solutions to their problem. Therefore, they are using smart QR codes for better and faster stock and inventory management. QR codes help modern businesses by giving a fast and reliable way to track and manage stocks.
According to the latest report, modern businesses have experienced a 30% increase in their overall operational efficiency through implementing smart QR technology in inventory management.
Therefore, in this blog post, we are going to discuss the main role QR codes play for modern businesses for better inventory and stock management.
Understanding the Main Role of QR Codes in Stock and Inventory Management
QR or Quick Response codes play a key role in managing the stock and inventory of modern businesses. They have streamlined the stock management process making it easier than ever. Here are some key roles we’d love to mention:
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1. Real-Time Stock Management
When businesses are armed with up-to-date data about the stock, they can make quick and well-versed decisions about the future. Without real-time data, businesses may feel difficulty in managing stock and result in inventory issues. Therefore, QR codes help businesses to track stock and inventory data in real time.
Every time the stock is received, transferred, or sold; businesses can easily update the status by scanning the QR code. This will assist in avoiding possible production delays because of missing or lack of parts.
2. Quick Speed and Accuracy
Doing data entry manually about the stock may lead to having inaccurate records which will eventually have a bad impact on inventory management. In that case, QR codes again play a key role by eliminating possible human error in the overall management process. It will then enhance the business’s accuracy in the stock management system quickly.
3. Ease of Use
QR codes make inventory management easier by letting businesses quickly access and change inventory information. These codes, unlike barcodes, which frequently require dedicated scanners, are capable of being scanned using smartphones, tablets, desktops, or other devices.
This availability allows modern businesses to update inventory, review product specifications, and monitor stock levels while on the go, which will improve overall operational efficiency.
For your better demonstration, we are using an online QR scanner to scan the QR of the stock data to get the item name, ID, category, quantity, location, and last update. From this, a business can easily and quickly access the stock data.
Below is the pictorial result in which we have scanned the QR code of an item in the inventory through an online mobile QR scanner:
In the above result, you can see how a business gets all the information of a specified item in the inventory by just scanning the QR on that product label. It helps businesses to easily get all the data and then update the records accordingly.
4. Incorporation with Other Systems
Sometimes businesses have no real-time data about the other departments such as accounting and much more. They have to ask the other departments to get the data which will take a lot of time.
In that case, QR codes play a critical role in incorporating with other business systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or accounting software. Doing this will streamline the overall inventory management resulting in seamless data flow across multiple departments.
5. Data Security
Having manual data about the inventory and stocks always has a risk of losing the important details. This is because everyone can have access to such records, or the records may get corrupted which will surely damage the overall business operation. Moreover, in some cases, your files can get corrupted, and you no longer have access to the data.
QR codes again came forward and played a key role in solving this problem for modern businesses by encrypting the data into the code to prevent possible data loss. It will protect the data security and integrity of the important data businesses carry.
One more thing these codes have is that the businesses still scan and access the data even if the codes are partially damaged. This will help the data remain accurate and accessible.
Moreover, an additional thing the businesses can do is encrypt the QR codes to restrict access to sensitive information. This will make sure that only higher authorized individuals can get access to the data about inventory. Doing so will enable improved traceability and oversight in the inventory management system.
Case Studies of Modern Businesses Using QR Codes for Better Stock Management
After understanding the key role QR codes are playing in modernizing inventory management, we thought it was better to discuss some case studies that would provide a clear idea about how these codes streamline the stock management procedure. Here are some of the case studies for different businesses:
Case Study 1: For Retail Business
A leading retail chain has implemented QR codes to check the stock of the items across multiple store locations. The employee used mobile devices to scan the QR on the product shelves which automatically gives updates about the inventory records. Now, the retail store can access the real-time inventory and stock data of multiple stores within seconds.
Result: The retail sector reduced the stock conflicts by 40% and also enhanced restocking efficiencies
Case Study 2: For E-commerce Business
A fast-growing e-commerce business that needs to handle thousands of orders daily has implemented QR scanning technology in its stock and inventory management system. It helps them to manage the high turnover rate of the product. The business labels each product with QR codes which eventually helps them to track the data of the product from stocking and packing, to shipping.
To optimize and streamline the return procedure, the e-commerce business also implemented this technology. The e-commerce store provided each of its clients with pre-printed QR codes which they can scan if they want to return the product. This significantly helps the business to quickly record and update the restock data of the returned products.
Result: The e-commerce business reduced the decline in order processing time by 25% and also decreased the product return-related delays by 20% through implementing QR codes.
Potential Risks and Consideration
Though the QR codes help streamline the overall stock and inventory process, there are also some challenges and considerations that businesses may face before or after implementing them. Let’s discuss such risks and consideration in detail:
- Sometimes businesses need to train their employees about how to manage inventory using QR technology. It may take a lot of time for training. Moreover, it is also time-consuming and sometimes costly to implement a QR-based system from scratch.
Therefore, if businesses are thinking of implementing QR scanners in their stock and inventory management, they must recall these challenges before taking a start.
- To scan the QR codes, businesses need mobile devices or scanners which may not be accessible in all business environments. It is also costly to buy devices for employees for better business inventory management operations. So, if a business is going to implement QR technology, it must consider such issues.
- Although QR codes provide encryption and data security to the inventory, a business still must implement strong cybersecurity measures to protect the data system from possible breaches. Implementing measures will be more costly because a business will need to hire cybersecurity experts to protect the data. So, a business must consider this challenge before implementing this technology.
Note: If modern businesses have the capability to overcome the above-mentioned challenges, they must consider implementing QR code technology to streamline stock and inventory management.
Final Thoughts
Undoubtedly, QR code technology has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses in streamlining their stock and inventory management i.e. order processing, reducing stockouts, and improving inventory replacement. QR technology also plays a key role in reducing potential human errors.
However, with so many perks, there are some challenges and risks that any business must consider before implementing this technology. In this blog post, we’ve discussed the key roles, case studies, and challenges of implementing QR codes in stocks and inventory management.
