Production floor barcode scan

One scan box on the shop floor at /scan, signed in as staff. It reads two kinds of code and decides which is which for you.

Setting it up

Any USB barcode scanner that behaves like a keyboard works, which is nearly all of them. Point a floor tablet or a cheap terminal at the scan page, leave it there, and scan. No pairing, no app.

Mode one: advance an order

Every work order, worksheet and packing slip carries the order number as a Code 128 barcode. Scan it and the order moves to the next stage in the sequence: Artwork, Print queue, In production, QC + Pack, Dispatched. That fires the same side effects as dragging the card on the board: stock consumption at In production, invoice and customer email at Dispatched, stage history and webhooks on every move.

Scanning an order that is already at the final stage tells you so and changes nothing. Scanning the same sheet twice does not double-consume stock or double-invoice, because side effects only fire on the first entry into a stage.

Mode two: count a SKU

A code that matches no order is tried as a SKU, which is what your shelf labels carry. What happens then depends on whether a count is open:

• During an open cycle count: the scan records one unit against that SKU's line. Scan a shelf, one beep per garment, no typing.
• Outside a count: you get the SKU's current stock with a link through to adjust it.

Start a count under Cycle counts before you walk the racks, or you will be reading numbers rather than recording them.

Order numbers always win

The scanner tries orders first and SKUs second. If a code matches neither, it says the order was not found. Other shops' codes are invisible to your scan box, so a supplier label from someone else's system cannot move your jobs.

Still stuck?

Email hello@printersfriend.com and quote the name of this page. Support is on every plan, with a reply within 1 business day.