{"id":35881,"date":"2026-11-05T08:45:42","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/claruswms.ai\/warehouse-scanning-system\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T08:46:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:46:20","slug":"warehouse-scanning-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claruswms.ai\/nb\/warehouse-scanning-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Warehouse scanning system: how it works on the floor"},"content":{"rendered":"

A warehouse scanning system reads the barcodes on locations, pallets and products, then checks each scan against the stock record before a movement is confirmed. Done properly, it stops the wrong item, the wrong location or the wrong quantity being recorded as right. The scanner is only half of it. The software rules behind each scan decide what a scan is allowed to change, and that is where a warehouse either gains accuracy or simply gets faster at making mistakes.<\/p>\n

This guide looks at scanning from the process side, stage by stage, and ends with the questions to put to a supplier. For the hardware and barcode basics, read our barcode scanner system<\/a> guide first. This one assumes you already have barcodes on your products and want to know what those barcodes should do.<\/p>\n

What a warehouse scanning system does<\/h2>\n

A warehouse scanning system pairs scanners or mobile devices with software rules, so each receipt, move, pick and despatch is recorded from the barcode that was physically scanned, not from someone typing a number in later.<\/p>\n

The word that matters there is “rules”. A scanner reads a code and passes it on. The system decides what that code means: whether this pallet belongs to this order, whether the location is valid for this product, whether the batch matches what the task expects. Without those rules, a scanner is just a faster way to record the wrong thing.<\/p>\n

Clarus’s strekkodeskanning<\/a> runs on Android handheld devices, and the handheld workflow builder<\/a> lets each site set its own scanning steps. Every task is held at line level, so each scan confirms one specific job.<\/p>\n

Where scanning fits in each stage of the warehouse process<\/h2>\n

Scanning means something different at each stage. The table shows what gets scanned, what the system should check, and what usually goes wrong when nothing checks it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Stage<\/th>\nWhat gets scanned<\/th>\nWhat the system checks<\/th>\nWhat goes wrong without a check<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Goods in<\/td>\nPallet label (GS1 barcodes or a receipt reference)<\/td>\nProduct, quantity and batch against the advance notice, or prompts for missing batch and best-before data<\/td>\nTrucks wait while staff work out what has arrived<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plassering<\/td>\nLocation code, then pallet<\/td>\nThe location is valid for the stock and matches the putaway task<\/td>\nStock goes into a location nobody can find it in<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Replenishment<\/td>\nPick face location and pallet<\/td>\nStock moved to the pick face that the order demand needs<\/td>\nPickers keep climbing to high racking for stock that should sit at the pick face<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Plukking<\/td>\nLocation, pallet, product<\/td>\nEach scan matches the open pick line, and wrong items are rejected<\/td>\nA picker takes the item next to the right one<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pakking<\/td>\nOrder reference and each item<\/td>\nReal-time check that the barcode matches the order, with the packer stopped if it does not<\/td>\nA second person has to check the pick by hand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Despatch<\/td>\nOrder or load reference and pallet<\/td>\nThe order is on the right vehicle and in the planned sequence<\/td>\nThe first orders picked go out last<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stock check<\/td>\nLocation and pallet<\/td>\nCounted quantity against the live stock record<\/td>\nCounts stop operations or run into overtime<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Goods in: scanning against the advance notice<\/h3>\n

Goods in is where a scanning system either saves a shift or costs one. If the supplier sends the load data before the truck arrives, the receipt can be quick. In the best case, a 26-pallet load is received with 26 scans, one per pallet, because the rest of the load detail is already on the record.<\/p>\n

When nothing arrives in advance, the receipt becomes a blind receipt. The handheld prompts the operator to find the batch and the best-before date on the pallet, and the system cannot check them against anything. That prompt is only useful if the process also says what to do when the label cannot be found. Otherwise the pallet sits on the dock while someone works it out.<\/p>\n

Den varer inn<\/a> flow can read the three barcodes that a standard GS1 pallet label usually carries: one for article number and quantity, one for batch, and one for the pallet’s serial shipping container code<\/a>, the GS1 identifier for shippers and logistic units. Two Benelux customers, for example, had labels that carried the same identifiers in different layouts, so the scan has to be set up for the labels you actually receive. Check that in the demo with real pallets from your suppliers.<\/p>\n

Putaway: a location is only a code<\/h3>\n

From the system’s point of view, a location is a code. If the operator scans that code and then the pallet, the stock is recorded there. That sounds simple, and it is why the location scan matters: it confirms where the stock physically went, not where someone meant to put it. Directed putaway<\/a> sits on top of this and suggests a location for each pallet, so the operator is not guessing.<\/p>\n

Quarantine follows the same logic. Stock can be put on hold automatically when it is received and put away, through an automation set against the account. Held stock cannot be allocated to a task until it is released, and the system records the hold reason, who placed it and when. One 3PL customer used this for animal feed that had to be signed off by a qualified vet before it could move. The floor should not have to remember that a pallet is on hold. The system should not let it move.<\/p>\n

Picking: stopping the wrong item at the shelf<\/h3>\n

On a pick task, the handheld asks for the location first, then the pallet, then the product. If a picker scans a location the task does not want, the screen says so and shows where the stock should be. That is the difference between a scan that records a pick and a scan that checks one.<\/p>\n

The order of the walk matters too. Pick routes follow a walk sequence set against each location, so the plukking<\/a> run can be set to finish at goods out. If carriers collect at different times, the system can also pick by carrier and service, so the first collection is picked first.<\/p>\n

Paper pick lists are the common alternative, and they move the check to a point where it costs more. On a paper pick, the check happens after the pick, not during it, which is why it usually needs a second person walking round the pallet. Workflows that send staff up and down racking also sit inside your manual handling duties, which HSE’s guidance on manual handling at work<\/a> helps employers meet under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992.<\/p>\n

Packing and despatch: checking the order before it leaves<\/h3>\n

At the pakkebord<\/a>, scan verification is the last barrier. The barcode has to match the order, and if it does not, the system stops the packer. This is the point where a pick and pack<\/a> operation catches order errors before they reach the customer.<\/p>\n

Despatch has its own sequencing problem. If the warehouse picks 100 orders without knowing which ones leave first, the first 20 picked can end up at the front of the bays while the last 20 are the ones that need to go. Feeding load references and priority numbers from the transport system into the warehouse system fixes that, because release order then follows the vehicle schedule.<\/p>\n

Stock checks and cycle counts<\/h3>\n

Full stock takes are expensive, because they usually mean stopping operations, paying overtime or counting on nights. Many operators count a fixed sample of pallets each week instead and track the error rate on that sample. A sample only tells you something if it is counted the same way every week and the errors are logged.<\/p>\n

Scanning makes that practical. Counts recorded by scan against the live stock record are faster to finish and easier to audit than a clipboard. The stock checks<\/a> feature is built for that structured approach. JODA Freight, a refrigeration 3PL, reached 99% stock accuracy in year two, after running in the 90 to 97% range in year one. Stock takes went from weeks on Excel to a single day, and its year-end counts take two to three days. Read the JODA Freight story<\/a> for the full picture.<\/p>\n

What a warehouse scanning system needs to do<\/h2>\n

Before you look at any product, write down what the scanning system has to stop. These are the functions to check in every demo.<\/p>\n