Hello charlayne,
In a nutshell, the use of UPC bar codes should have a favorable impact
on productivity, costs and customer satisfaction, even more so when a
company has dealings in more than one country. All of these will
improve its standing versus its competitors.
The web site of ITSCO Auto ID Products has a pdf file of a 35-page
booklet titled “All about bar codes”, which you can access at
http://www.itsco.net/pdf/allaboutbarcodes.pdf
The booklet makes some points that are relevant to your question:
“In today’s business environment, staying competitive is critical to
your success. Bar code data-collection technology is an effective way
to improve the bottom line and meet the competitive challenges your
organization faces every day.”
Bar codes and associated technology have “significantly increased the
speed, efficiency and accuracy of data collection and entry. Early
applications of bar code scanning, which included retail
point-of-sale, item tracking and inventory control, have been expanded
to include more advanced applications such as time and attendance,
work-in-process, quality control, sorting, order entry, document
tracking, shipping and receiving and controlling access to secure
areas.”
Linking the results from these applications to management information
systems has resulted in increased productivity, because, as a result,
“opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and customer
responsiveness have developed for retailers, transportation and
package delivery companies, manufacturers, wholesale distributors and
service providers.”
The benefits of bar coding are given as:
Faster and more accurate data entry. This results in reduced labor
costs (sometimes the savings are enough to pay for the entire data
collection system that is being used) and also reduced revenue loss
from errors. Reduced errors will also increase customer satisfaction
and promote return custom. Bar codes can also save capital outlay by
allowing a tight control of inventory.
The automated data collection that is possible with the use of bar
codes provides faster and easier access to data, and therefore results
in improved management. It enables rapid, fully-informed
decision-making.
These advantages operate at various levels of the supply chain:
At the point of sale, bar coding saves checker time and so reduces
salary costs. In addition, less staff time is required on taking
inventories and ordering products, since this can be done
automatically. The use of bar codes speeds up the time required to go
through checkout, and this increases customer satisfaction. Also,
automated ordering of products when supplies get low means that
customers will be less frustrated at not finding what they want. They
are therefore more likely to return to this retailer. Moreover, “with
bar code data-collection you can tell not only what the customers are
buying, but when they are buying it and in what combinations. This can
improve business management by suggesting better locations for goods
in the store and identifying advertising
targets.”
In manufacturing, bar codes can be used to track the production
process, making it easier to identify and solve any problems which
arise. The same advantages apply as above with respect to managing
inventories, so that production is not affected by a lack of supplies.
The use of bar codes to track workplace attendance can cut costs by
eliminating a lot of the paperwork otherwise required, as well as
eliminating time clocks.
While the booklet does not specifically single out UPC bar codes,
these do enable all the processes described above to be integrated
seamlessly across the world, thus further increasing productivity and
simplifying relations with clients and suppliers.
Search strategy on Google: "UPC bar code" increased competition |
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