Inventory > Keeping it Simple > Using Manufacturer's Barcodes

Some items may come with a manufacturer's barcode or Universal Product Code (UPC) on them. Sometimes it can be useful to use these barcodes if you don't want to label the items yourself. To use a manufacturer's barcode simply use a barcode scanner and scan the barcode into either the items UPC 1 or UPC 2 field. Or if you don't want to create your own stock number, then you can scan this barcode into the item's Stock Number field.

Care should be used when using pre-barcoded items:

A manufacturer's barcode may be unique but may track more information than you want about an item. For instance a manufacturer may be tracking size and color of their items with the barcode. However, you might not want to track color of all your items. In this case you might not want to use the barcode.

2.	A vendor might not track all of the information in a barcode that you want to track. The reverse from the situation above.

3.	Also manufacturer's may change barcodes from year to year (because of a color change from "red" to "chili"). You might not want to create a new item for this new style. So you will have to change the barcode in the UPC field when re-receiving the item to account for the color change.