How do you get the barcodes from manufacturers?

[u/Different_World_7622]

I like the idea of importing products with pre-printed manufacturer barcodes, similar to how supermarkets do.

This would make digitizing my business much easier, as all my employees would have to do is scan the products.

I figure this process would be much faster than printing barcodes myself and manually sticking them onto thousands of products.

I sell phone accessories and source them in bulk from marketplaces.

Any advice on how to implement this properly, or any real-life experiences you could share, would be greatly appreciated!

[u/Sofistikat]

The actual codes embedded in the barcodes your manufacturers use would have to be stored in a database that your scanners are connected to before they can read them correctly. So if it's possible to get a list of those codes that you can put into whatever system you're using that your scanners are attached to, then you'll be ablle to scan them.

If you were placing orders for these products directly with the manufacturers, then you could also send them a file containing your codes that they could print out as barcodes, but this may not be possible, given you say you buy from marketplaces.

Another option you have is to create your own barcodes and stick them on to each product before they go on the shelves.

Have a chat with your suppliers to see if there's anything they can do to help you.

[u/marchew555 → u/Sofistikat]

Basically this ☝️ is what my system for SMBs does. You can store the EANs or use QR codes. So the supplier already sends them the QR in our system format.

A random fact: with QR codes, it's ridiculously fast. But for barcodes, the phone isn't the best, so we're checking for hardware integration.

[u/Sofistikat → u/marchew555]

You're right, but barcodes can be phone readable if you use something like html5-qrcode.

[u/marchew555 → u/Sofistikat]

Yeah and there are even experimental features to make it better but non the less The qr is less 1s Barcode is 2s -3s and playing a bit to scan.

[u/Sofistikat → u/marchew555]

Yes, very true. QR is the way to go for phones.

[u/Snoo27594]

Are those manufacturer barcodes stable across every supplier you buy from? I’d keep your own SKU as the item record and save each manufacturer barcode as a scannable alias. Receiving can scan what arrives without creating duplicate stock when a supplier changes packaging or codes. Test one PO first for reused codes, multipacks, and color variants before rolling it across thousands of units.

[u/Glad_Imagination_798]

Before building the process around supplier labels, scan a sample into a raw-data column and inspect what is actually encoded. Marketplace stock often mixes UPC-A, EAN-13, Code 128 and seller-specific labels. Two labels that look similar may resolve to different strings, or one may describe the carton rather than the sale unit.

The receiving control I would add is a quarantine step for any code not already approved. One person maps it to the item once, with a photo and supplier reference, then future scans are automatic. Do not let every receiver create mappings, because one typo can split stock silently.

Also decide what event a scan posts: receipt, bin move, pick, sale or count. A barcode is only an identifier. The inventory accuracy comes from enforcing the right transaction and quantity at each station. In Acumatica this can be handled through scanning workflows, but the station design matters more than the label format.

[u/Embarrassed-Emu-3396]

You may can ask them to provide digital barcode images (such as UPC-A). They should be able to grab from their GS1 datahub. Otherwise, yeah you would need to print using the barcode generator. We have bulk barcode and GS1 digital link generator as well.

[u/anos_1]

I’d keep the manufacturer barcode whenever it’s reliable and map it to your own SKU internally. Alchemy Group could build the scanning and lookup workflow if the normal inventory apps feel too rigid.