Purpose of bar coding

Bar coding lets you track physical inventory by associating assets with a unique bar code. After the system is set up, you can add, inventory, transfer, and dispose of asset items by scanning bar code labels with a handheld terminal, downloading the scanned information to a PC, and transferring the downloaded file to the Lawson Asset Management application, which completes the processing.

Issues to consider about bar coding

Bar coding keeps track only of the physical location and condition of an asset. It does not deal with the financial or accounting aspects of asset management.

Bar coding works in one direction only. Data flows from the handheld terminal to Asset Management, but changes you make in Asset Management do not flow back to the handheld terminal.

You can use several handheld terminals to perform the same operation and feed into the same Asset Management database file. This is typical of an inventory situation, where you might have a different handheld terminal operator performing the inventory in each separate location.

Each asset item is assigned a unique bar code, but there is no bar code for the entire asset. This design allows for partial asset transfers and disposals. Asset Management tracks all the items that belong to an asset by designating the first scanned item as the parent item, and adding associated scanned items as a child item.