Re: [EE] Suggestions for barcode scanning

I see there are lots of errors (eg 10,000 not 1000)  in my previous post
but I hope you get the idea.

Justin.

On Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 8:26 AM Justin Richards <[email protected]>
wrote:

> I used small pocket sized barcode scanners that simply scanned to internal
> text file.
>
> I then used vba in excel to extract data (the scanner mounts as a drive).
> Once in VBA i got it to do all sorts of automated things and compare with
> our online parts systems.
>
> If as you implied, each part is individually barcoded then you could scan
> every barcode then use vba to count how many of each unique barcode it
> found.
>
> If not individually barcoded, then just scan the bin barcode as many times
> as there are parts in that bin.
>
> It means that the button gets pressed 50 000 or 1000 times if there are 5
> scanners in the wild.
>
> The ones we used had buttons to remove the last entry.  Additionally for
> errors or quick quantity addition you could have a print out of your home
> made barcode code (is used the free barcode font) that you can scan, such
> as -1, x2, x5, x10 etc. Then VBA uses those code to do the post processing.
>
> The closest image match I could find online for the ones we used were
> Symbol CS1504,  They are cheap and charge when connected via usb.  I never
> had one go flat.
>
> They turned a 2 person day task into single person 30mins.  No longer
> having to data enter each item found or find it in a massive list to cross
> it off.
>
> It also could scan barcodes that were visually out of reach or where the
> numbers were human unreadable.  Obviously badly damaged is no go but
> impressive to see what it could scan.  It did find a couple of items that
> we had thought lost.
>
> Justin
>
> On Mon, Nov 17, 2025 at 3:44 AM Alan Pearce <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> Depending on the format of the barcode, it should be possible to use a
>> readily available barcode reader to enter the barcode into a spreadsheet
>> column, with the count then being entered into the next column. A simple
>> bit of VBS programming could then move the cursor to the first column in
>> the next row.
>>
>> Easy to do if the barcode is a UPC, possibly more difficult if the barcode
>> is a 2D one that could contain other info as well (e.g. UPC, supplier,
>> etc)
>> although this wouldn't be impossible to deal with using some VBS.
>>
>> Then you have everything in a spread sheet that you can sort on barcode to
>> match against whatever stock program you use.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, 16 Nov 2025 at 19:30, smplx <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> > If you're thinking of writing your own code the simplest solution might
>> be
>> > to take a picture of the barcode along with a hand written count then
>> dump
>> > all the pictures to a PC and post process. It should be trivial to
>> process
>> > the pics.
>> >
>> > Regards
>> > Sergio Masci
>> >
>> > On Sun, 16 Nov 2025, Denny Esterline wrote:
>> >
>> > > I'm overseeing a physical inventory count at year end and looking for
>> > tools
>> > > or suggestions.
>> > >
>> > > We’ve got about 7,000 part numbers and roughly 50,000 total parts.
>> Every
>> > > item has a barcode label with its part number.
>> > >
>> > > Ideally, I’d like to deploy 2–3 people with mobile phones or tablets
>> > using
>> > > a simple workflow:
>> > > Scan bin -> enter count -> upload to spreadsheet -> repeat.
>> > > Seems straightforward, and if we can get it down to ~10 seconds per
>> > cycle,
>> > > I think we could cover everything in a day. That’s not a hard
>> > requirement,
>> > > just a ballpark that feels reasonable.
>> > >
>> > > I’ve done some searching and haven’t found anything that even remotely
>> > > matches this workflow. Most tools I’ve seen are layered with features
>> —
>> > > inventory management, purchasing, stock levels, etc. They may be
>> great in
>> > > their own right, but they’re not built for this kind of “count only”
>> > audit,
>> > > and they seem to take several minutes per cycle and the math on that
>> > looks
>> > > like multiple weeks. That doesn't feel reasonable.
>> > >
>> > > I cannot possibly be the first person to want to do this.
>> > >
>> > > Usually when I can’t find something that “just has to exist,” it’s
>> > either:
>> > >
>> > >   - I’m describing it wrong / using the wrong search terms
>> > >   - Or I’ve got my head up my backside and there’s something I’m not
>> > seeing
>> > >
>> > > There’s precedent for both. :-)
>> > >
>> > > I’m about 90% convinced I need to write my own app for this, but
>> before I
>> > > commit, I wanted to ask the hivemind:
>> > >
>> > >   - Am I asking the wrong questions?
>> > >   - Am I thinking about this wrong?
>> > >   - Any tools, workflows, or suggestions you’ve seen or used?
>> > >
>> > > At this point, I’d even settle for slings and arrows.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > -Denny
>> > > --
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