[thelist] OT: Barcode scanners and hardware inventory

[Andrew Seguin]

> We are in the process of moving our office and to help with inventory and
> tracking (for both hardware and furniture) I would like to implement the
> use
> of a barcode scanner.  The questions that I have are:
> 1) has anyone used this technology before for this purpose
Well, me... I used to take care of inventory where I work, at least until
web dev/web server maintenance for the intranet took over as full time
work ;)
During my time, our office purchased a bar code printer and two bar code
readers.

> 2) do you have any suggestions on brands/packages/services/etc
I only know of Intermec's products, as the buying was not left up to me.
Another office in a different city went for different kit. The hardware we
got was good, the software that comes prepackaged freely was far from
super although the software they sold, and that I saw in use at another
site, seemed fair but it was expensive to license.

> 3) is it possible to customize the interface for the software in terms of
> what we can track
Well, in general just as is, the bar code readers won't come with
inventory software unless you buy a kit I guess. Us, here, simply made our
own software to run on the hand held...

Some bar code scanners simply interface via keyboard port (a bar code
after all is just an encoding mechanism, nothing magical), they are
probably less expensive, but you will be limited to carrying around a
laptop of PC with you. On the good side, they'll work with whatever
software you make buy, even a simple web based application (there was a
thread a while back on Evolt seems to me about that .. or maybe the PHP
mailing list..).

Otherwise, there are some like we bought, which are actual little
computers, LCD display and connect to the PC via a serial cable (ours are
Antares 2410 if I remember the model correctly). Even better, superior to
ours, there are some with networking via RF. Of course, cost increases for
these. These more powerful ones though might also be harder to interface
with software from other companies, or may even almost require custom made
software (for the price, it was simpler and cheaper for us to make small
software to work with CSVs that are transfered around).


>
> Any input would be greatly appreciate!
Well, I don't know how big your office is, but...

The bar code equipment cost us several thousand dollars to purchase, and
then one week of my time programming (one weeks salery) before getting it
all to work, couple more weeks of on/off work to complete it.
It was about two months before our site was fully using it, even now, with
our offices spread over three buildings/25floors... it isn't always that
great a bonus for us. What works best for us is simply keeping track of
serial numbers and doing quick inspections every now and then by a local
IT tech.

I finaly ended up making an online form where the techs enter their info
about any repairs, movements, etc. The person replacing me on inventory
can then view the submitted forms. Also, she can quickly simply 'return'
the form to the user for corrections and moves via this system.
Although it has only been in use for two weeks now, this system has
generated a lot more support from the techs, then the bar code scanners
over the space of 6months. The reason I think, is that it is quicker to
submit changes to those takeing care of the inventory databases this way
then to use the bar code scanners.

While I considered automizing the system via a web app, from my experience
on inventory, miskeyed information happens much too frequently (both by me
and the techs), so we ended up with incorrect labels and/or incorrect
information in our database. Laziness is also a factor that was hard to
work around... tagging thousands of items (PCs, printers, etc) gets
dreary.

Continuing in the field of inventory though, I would say that if you are
in the process of moving, considering implementing an inventory system,
then it could be a good thing if you are truly ready to invest some time
to get it all working well. You could have the computers fully inspected
upon packing/unpacking.

A few good things would be good to keep marked down for your equipement is
basicaly age, warrenty information(or contract #s, or where to find,
etc..), and quantifiable qualities (like processor speed&ram for PCs,
screen size for monitors, etc).

Inventory for us is not really to make sure the location is correct (well,
we try to keep that up to date, especialy for empty cubicles), but more to
help management decide/know on PC purchasing / upgrade costs.
"We need to upgrade to windows 2000, what will be the cost?" and via the
database it was easily possible to generate reports on PCs to replace,
hard disk upgrades, memory upgrades, etc.

If you are a smaller office though... you might not find this all that
useful and spreadsheets might be easier...

All in all though, bar coding doesn't help much for that kind of process.

I Hope that helps, but if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to
contact me offlist if you have any other questions.
Andrew Séguin.

>
> Todd
>