'Learning barcode' operation

Overview

Learning a barcode means creating an entry in the product lookup table (PLU) that associates the barcode with a Product ID and optionally Lot ID and packing. In this context, the barcode is called a scankey. Subsequently when you scan a scankey barcode to identify a unit, the scanner will lookup the scankey in the product lookup table to find what information applies. Finale keeps the lookup table as part of your inventory account, and downloads it to your scanners when you synch them with the account.

In what situations do you learn barcodes?

Setup

If you use existing barcode stickers such as UPC barcodes from your suppliers instead of printing your own barcode stickers from Finale, then you need to enter the barcodes into Finale one way or another. If you have a list of all the barcodes in a spreadsheet, you can import the spreadsheet.  From your header menu, choose Inventory - > Product Lookups, then "Import Product Lookups"

But if you don't have such a spreadsheet handy, or if you are missing some barcodes, you may find it more convenient to enter them using the scanner itself. The scanner supports this operation with the "Learn barcodes" command from the main menu..

On the fly

You can also learn new barcodes on the fly as you encounter them for the first time. Typically this situation occurs during receive operations or return operations, because your supplier or the person sending you the product may be sending you a barcode you haven't seen before. After you've received it into your inventory, you will have learned the barcode one way or the other, so the subsequent operations dealing with the item will be using a known barcode.

For some companies, learning barcodes with the scanner is unusual, an exception to normal operation. If you have defined all the products you are receiving and imported or entered their barcodes prior to receiving them, then you don't need to learn the barcodes with the scanner.

For other companies, though, learning barcodes with the scanner is the normal course of business. If you are receiving items with unique serial numbers that you will use as the scankey barcodes, or if you are applying your own scankey barcodes to received items by peeling them off a roll of pre-printed unique barcode labels, these barcodes will not be in the lookup table when you scan them the first time. The Finale Data Collector software has a special mode called "learn mode" that makes the user interface efficient for these operations. See the Data Collector Settings page for a description.

Instructions for the "Learn barcodes" function

The "Learn barcodes" function from the main menu on the scanner is a fast way to add new barcodes and their associated information by scanning or typing.

The user interface is simple: (1) Scan the new barcode. (2) Scan or type the associated Product ID. (3) Repeat.

Product ID field

The Product ID must already be in the account. If you are bringing in new products, you will need to enter or import the product information from the web interface first, before learning the barcodes with the scanner. While you are there, if you are going to be entering many new barcodes then you can save some time by printing a report of Product ID barcode stickers to make a handy binder of Product IDs that you can scan instead of type in step (2).

For some company applications, the barcode associates with more information than just the Product ID. The two additional fields are the Lot ID and the suggested packing. By default, these fields will fill in as blank, but you can set them if you need to from the menu options "Set lot ID" and "Set packing qty". These two menu options set information that will apply to the barcodes learned afterchanging the option. Barcodes already learned will not be affected.

Lot ID field

If you want to learn a set of barcodes all with the Lot ID "12/12/2014", then from the menu select "Set lot ID" and type in "12/12/2014". Then scan or type the barcodes and their associated Product IDs. All of those barcode associations will absorb the "12/12/2014" into their Lot ID field. If you want the barcode itself to be absorbed into the Lot ID field, such as the case when you are are scanning serial number barcodes, then you should first change the setting on the scanner "LRN lotId is barcode = YES". Equivalently, you could scan each barcode into the "Set lot ID" option before learning the barcode, but that would be much less convenient.

Take care when using the "Set lot ID" option to remember that it applies to all barcodes learned after you set it, at least until you return to the main menu. So if you are setting the Lot ID for a particular barcode, don't forget to reset it to blank after learning that barcode.

Suggested packing field

The "Set packing qty" option is similar to "Set lot ID" except that the packing option also depends on the status of the "case/each" button above the scan boxes on the main screen. If the case/each button is set to "each", then the packing quantity set by "Set packing qty" will be ignored. If the case/each button is set to "case", then the barcode will absorb the packing quantity as its suggested packing; or if the packing quantity is blank then it will absorb the standard packing of the scanned Product ID as the suggested packing; or it the standard packing is also blank, then it will absorb "cs 1/1" as the suggested packing, which is rarely what you want but which is easy to recognize.

If the "Learn barcodes" function is all you need, then these instructions will probably suffice. If you you are learning barcodes on the fly, or if you are using barcodes for advanced applications, then it is good to understand the differences among the five contexts for learning barcodes, and to understand in each context exactly what will be entered into the barcode lookup table.

How it works: the five learning contexts in the Data Collector software

When using the scanner, you can learn barcodes in five different contexts: (1) encountering an unknown barcode while receiving in learn mode, (2) encountering an unknown barcode while receiving in normal mode, (3) scanning a Product ID or CSV barcode that does not include Lot ID or suggested packing (not in learn mode), (4) scanning a CSV barcode that does have Lot ID and suggested packing (not in learn mode), and (5) scanning in new barcodes and associating them with Product IDs and optionally lots and suggested packing using the "Learn barcodes" function on the scanner.

The first two contexts deal with new barcodes provided by your supplier or from a pre-printed roll of labels. The second two contexts deal with barcode labels that you've printed from Finale but never explicitly imported or entered into the lookup table. These second two contexts are called "Automatic barcodes". See the Data Collector Settings page for a description.

The fifth context is what you do to bring in barcodes that you know are new to the system. The "Learn barcodes" function is used most frequently when setting up a barcoding system, but you can also use it on an ongoing basis when you want to bring in new barcodes that aren't catching you by surprise.

The product lookup table

The product lookup table associates a scankey barcode with a Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing. You don't necessarily need the Lot ID or suggested packing fields, and their values will just be blank if you don't use them. You can think of the lookup table as an Excel spreadsheet with the scankey in column A, and the Product ID, Lot ID, and suggested packing in columns B, C, and D. Whenever you scan a scankey barcode to identify a unit, the scanner will lookup the scankey in column A and then fill in the information from column B, C, and D into your receive operation.

Example lookup table

In the lookup table above, the scankey 200000137526 corresponds to Product ID 3LID5023-14 with Lot ID 14MAR03A and suggested packing 72/1. The next scankey corresponds to 3LID6040-14 but has a blank Lot ID and suggested packing.

Exactly what information is "learned"?

Learning a barcode is essentially adding a row to the product lookup table, with column A being the scankey (i.e., the barcode you are learning) and columns B, C, and D being the associated information. When you learn a barcode, column B, the Product ID, is always filled in. Columns C and D, though, may not, depending on the context. The following table shows what information gets filled into the product lookup table, versus what fields are left blank:

* Blank if scanning in "each" mode (the case/each button above scan box); otherwise a case packing taken from the current packing quantity that you can set from the operation's menu, or if blank then the std packing of the product, or if blank then "cs 1/1" as the last resort for a case of unknown packing quantity.

** The item added to the receive operation will have a Lot ID if you've set the default Lot ID in the operation.

*** The filled in value depends on the RCV serial number mode setting. If the setting is AUTO or SEMI then the value will be the same as the scankey. If the setting is MANUAL then the value will be whatever you explicitly enter into the Lot ID box when receiving. If the setting is OFF then the value will be the current default Lot ID that you set from the Receive menu, or blank by default.

**** The filled in value depends on the RCV serial number mode setting. If the setting is AUTO or SEMI then the value will be the same as the scankey. If the setting is MANUAL or OFF then the value will be the current default Lot ID that you set from the Receive menu, or blank by default.

***** The filled in value depends on the LRN serial number mode setting. If the setting is YES then the value will be the same as the scankey. If the setting is NO then the value will be the current Lot ID that you set from the Learn menu, or blank by default.