17. Barcoding

Overview

Finale Inventory has a great mobile barcode scanning solution we call the Finale Inventory app.

The Finale Inventory mobile app is an Android-OS-based application that is designed to run on dedicated mobile scanners that have a color touch screen with built-in 1D and 2D laser/image scanners.

Here are examples of recommended scanners:

Zebra TC56 or TC57                              Symbol MC40                                           Symbol TC55

 

Where do I purchase the scanner?

Our Finale Inventory app will run on an Android Cell phone, but it will use the camera instead of a scanner to read the barcodes. This method will work in a pinch but it is very clumsy and not ideal. If you decide to use an Android cell phone or tablet, you will want to consider adding a Bluetooth scanner to the mix so that scanning barcodes will be faster and more efficient.

Here are examples of Bluetooth scanners to use with a non-scanner-based Android phone or tablet device.

   

These scanners above must be used with your Android phone or tablet. These are just examples.

No endorsement or official recommendation on these types of units.

Our Finale Inventory app is available for download from the Google Play store and from within your Finale Inventory account.

*Note: The Finale Inventory app does have a legacy version that will run on a Windows Mobile OS-based scanner.  This article will not focus on that older version.  If you need help with the Legacy software version of our app called Finale Data Collector, please search the Help Center for "LEGACY BARCODE" articles.

We currently do not have any support for a mobile scanning app that will work on an iPhone or iOS device.  We only support Android-OS-based devices for mobile scanning.  Remember this is only talking out the mobile scanning solution, your Finale Inventory account, and subscription if fully compatible and usable on a PC, Mac, or ios based web browser like Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

 

First things First

You should have a Finale Inventory account subscription plan that includes the use of the mobile scanning application. This is a Gold-level subscription plan or above.  Please see our pricing plans with their capacity options here: Finale Inventory Pricing Plans

Contact service@finaleinventory.com to upgrade your existing plan if you needed.

 

Where do you begin?

Here are ten elemental steps to succeed in using a mobile scanner with your Finale Inventory account. 

1. Aquire an Android-OS based scanning device

Where do I purchase the scanner?

2. Connect the mobile scanning device to your Wifi

Consult your scanner/hardware manual on how to configure the Android device to access your Wireless network infrastructure.  Know your WiFi access point names and password.   Access the Android Settings.

   

Then go to WiFi, and choose your WiFi access point and enter your network access credentials

3. Install the Finale Inventory app on the mobile device

Direct download link for Android OS App Finale Inventory Mobile Scanner App

4. Run the Finale Inventory app and connect it to your FInale Inventory account

• Run Finale Data Collector and choose 1. Sync

• After pressing Sync the scanner will take you to the WiFi Sync screen. Your account name is in between the slashes on your Finale Inventory Log in URL For example if your web browser URL for your account is https://app.finaleinventory.com/ACCOUNTNAME/ enter the account name in lower case with no spaces when the scanner asks you for your account name.

  

•  Enter your username and password you log into Finale Inventory with on the web.

• IF you have problems typing your password, you should go to 14. Settings, and change setting #54 Show password typing to YES.  Then go back to 1. Sync, and try again, and you will be able to see what you are typing in for a password instead of the *****.

  

• NOTE: If you were successful in typing in your Account name, Username, and Password you will see this screen, press the Sync button!

  

• Once you have successfully connected to WiFi with your account, the scanner will cache the account name and username for 24 hours. You will have to type your password in again if the scanner loses connection or power.

5. Configure the Finale Inventory app settings to meet your needs

What are the normal settings for configuring the mobile scanner?

6. Make sure your Finale Inventory account knows about YOUR barcodes

Before you get too excited and start scanning barcodes, make sure the barcodes you are going to scan Finale knows what they are.  Finale can print barcodes for any products you have in Finale.  We can also print labels for your Racks/Bays/Shelves/Bins which Finale calls Sublocations.  Finale can print labels in many different label formats such as Avery full sheet labels and we can print to any thermal label size as well for use with Zebra, Dymo, Rolo, and many more label printers.  You do not print any labels from the mobile scanner, you print all labels from your Finale Inventory account on the web from the web browser.

See here for more information about printing labels in Finale.

How do I create barcode labels within Finale

How do I print barcodes for my bins or shelves

• In order for the barcode scanner to be able to scan a barcode and know exactly which item(SKU/Product ID) in your Finale Inventory account you just scanned, you must map YOUR barcodes(UPC/Code128/EAN/QR) to your Finale Inventory Product ids with an entry in the Product lookup table.   If you scan a barcode that was created and printed from Finale of the Finale "Shortcode", this barcode does not have to be mapped. It is already known to Finale Inventory and does not have to be learned or have a product lookup created for it.  A Finale "Shortcode" is an internal, non-public, private barcode created automatically for all of your Product Ids by Finale Inventory in a UPC format. These may be used for your inventory in your warehouse for all stock management transactions with Finale Inventory mobile scanner.  IF you are using your own UPC codes, the manufacturer or supplier or vendor barcode that is already on your products, you must teach(learn) those barcodes to Finale Inventory before the scanner will be able to use them.   If you do not do this, the scanner will respond with an error message stating "Barcode lookup not found".  Teaching Finale your barcodes is easy.  Here are four easy methods.
• If you set up your Finale Inventory account initially by importing your products from a marketplace like Shopify or Magento, it is possible that the Barcode values were imported from there as well and they will automatically be mapped to your product id with a lookup.  This is not always the case but it is possible if the integration and marketplace are configured correctly and the values of your barcodes are good.  Check your Product lookup view in Finale and see if there are barcode values created as product lookups to your product ids.  If not, no worries, you may import them in bulk.
• Manually created - From the Product Lookup view screen press the Create product lookup button:

• This works fine for one or a few new barcodes but if you have dozens, hundreds, or thousands of barcodes to map to products in Finale Inventory, you will want to use an Import method to create them.
• Importing barcodes is the same as other Product id aliases or lookups.   All you need is the Value of the barcode as the Product lookup and the Product id it is mapped to. Import them all at once. Importing your Product Lookups (Scan Keys)
• You can even use the Mobile scanner and the Finale Inventory app to teach Finale Inventory about your barcodes. It is called Learning barcodes. Here is a video that shows you how.

7. Sync the Finale Inventory app with your account

• Remember that your Mobile scanner is not a real-time connected device. It uses Wifi to connect to your Finale Inventory account but it does not stay connected or automatically updates itself. You must always press the 1. Sync button on the scanner to sync the scanner with your account. This will download all new information from the cloud(Finale Inventory) and also upload all transactions you completed on the scanner since the last time you synced.

8. Complete inventory transactions on the scanner

• Use the mobile scanner and the Finale Inventory App. Go Pick/Pack a Sales order, or do a Stock Change, or Stock Transfer, or Stock Take, or Receive a shipment against a Purchase order. To learn more about these operations, watch all the videos on our mobile barcode operations.

9. Sync the scanner to upload what you did to the cloud(your Finale Inventory account)

• Remember your scanner will not sync itself. You must press the sync command to upload any work you completed on the scanner to your Finale Inventory account. There is no setting or feature to make it sync automatically. You are in control. If you have more than one scanner deployed and in use with multiple users, each scanner is independent and has its own downloaded content from when it was last synced. So, if you need access to information that was done on another scanner that has not been synced, that scanner must be synced and then you must sync your scanner to receive the results.

10. High Five! You are done!

 

Keep these things in mind:

There are additional settings located in the Application settings, Users tab, Mobile scanner that can control what orders and information is synced to a scanner on a per user basis.

We these settings you can control what orders from which warehouse get downloaded to the scanner by the user who syncs the scanner.

There are other settings in the Application settings, Facility tab, next to the sublocations that can control if the scanner directs a user to pick or receive a shipment at those sublocations.

Additionally, there are specific settings in your Marketplace/Selling Channel/Shipping integrations in Finale Inventory that control if you are configured to use the Mobile scanner to pick and pack orders. 

These must be set in coordination with settings on the scanner.  If you intend to use the scanner to do order fulfillment you must set your scanner setting #47. Sync sale as: Packed and you must enable the use of the barcode scanner to pack shipments in the Pull sales to finale integration task on the integration.

When using the scanner to Receive PO shipments or Pick/Pack Sales orders:

For Purchase Orders and Sales Orders to be synced to the scanner the following conditions must be true:

• The Status of the order must be "Committed"
• The PO must have a Destination Location or the SO must have an Origination Location selected.
• The Order must have at least one product id added to it with a positive order quantity(not zero).
• The Order must have not been shipped complete. There must be items left to ship. If the Order has all of its items shipped, there is nothing left to pick.

If you receive errors when scanning an order id barcode for Receiving or Picking see this help article for assistance.

I scan an Order ID barcode on my packing slip and the scanner responds with "Order ID not Found"

For a more expanded discussion on the Finale Inventory app and the many Settings/Configurations in the software: Learn about the Finale Inventory app Settings to customize how the scanner behaves

Here are some application touch screen tips for the Android-OS version of the App.

• The top menu bar on the screen is no longer a Screen orientation swap between portrait mode and landscape mode.  Android automatically rotates the screen for you when you turn or rotate your device
• The top menu bar is a soft link to the Android on-screen keyboard.  In order to type into a quantity field or scan field or any data entry field, you must invoke this on-screen keyboard if you do not have an Android device with a built-in keyboard.
• There are soft keys on the bottom of the screen for the Up and Down arrows and the Tab key.  These keys are missing from the Android onscreen keyboard so we added them to the bottom of the screen.

 

Next Step: 18. Integrations