BlogApps
What a stock app with barcode
scanners actually costs
The question comes up often and the honest answer is that it depends. Below, exactly what it depends on: how many flows you cover, which scanners you pick, how messy the accounting integration turns out to be.
Why there is no list price
An off-the-shelf stock system costs a small subscription and forces you to work its way. An application built around your process costs more up front and works the way you already work. There is a tenfold price difference between them because they are different things.
When somebody quotes a price without asking how goods enter your warehouse, that price is a guess. The real difference is not the number of screens, it is the number of exceptions your company has.
What actually moves the price
- How many flows you cover: only goods-in and dispatch, or also stocktaking, transfers between locations, returns, production
- How many stock locations and how many concurrent users
- Whether goods have batches, serial numbers or expiry dates — that changes the whole data model
- Whether it connects to invoicing and accounting, and how open that system is
- Whether it has to work without internet, syncing when the signal returns
- Who prints the labels and in what format
Equipment: where money gets wasted
An ordinary phone camera reads a barcode. That is fine at home and fine for a company with ten movements a day. In a warehouse with hundreds of movements, someone holding a phone and waiting for it to focus loses hours every week.
Dedicated terminals have a laser or an imager that reads instantly, from two metres, on scratched labels, in the cold and with gloves on. They cost more and pay for themselves in months, not years. Choosing the right equipment before a line of code is written is half the project.
The right order: define the flows, then pick equipment that supports them, then write the application. Backwards, you end up with good software running on scanners that cannot keep up.
A realistic budget, in slices
Stage one: goods-in and dispatch
Stock arrives scanned, leaves scanned, and the stock figure is real in real time. This is the slice that delivers most and can go live in a few weeks.
Stage two: stocktaking and transfers
Stocktaking happens on the move, with two people and two terminals, not with the whole warehouse shut for a weekend.
Stage three: the invoicing integration
What left the warehouse becomes an invoice without anyone retyping. This is where most surprises appear, because it depends on the other system.
Stage four: reports and alerts
What moves, what sits, where the numbers do not add up. Left until last, when there is real data to show.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Do the code and the database stay mine at the end?
- What happens if I want to change supplier in two years?
- Is the price fixed per stage, or an hourly estimate?
- Who pays if the invoicing integration takes twice as long?
- What documentation do I get on handover?
What this is about, in full
Frequently asked questions
Can we use phones instead of scanners?
Yes, for low volumes. Above a few dozen movements a day, a dedicated terminal reads instantly and from a distance, and the time difference shows in the first week.
Will it connect to our invoicing software?
It depends on the software. If it has a way to export and import data, yes. We check that before quoting, not after, because it is the most common source of delays.
How long does an implementation take?
The first useful slice, goods-in and dispatch, in four to eight weeks for an ordinary warehouse. The rest is added afterwards, with the company already running on it.
Does it work without internet?
It can be built to work offline and sync automatically when the signal returns. In a hall with poor coverage, that is mandatory.