Warehouse operations in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central typically rely on barcode scanning for speed and accuracy. But barcodes are not always available. Vendors ship without labels, existing bin racking has only printed text, and lot numbers on packaging lack barcodes.
Teams face a difficult choice: spend time and money printing and applying new labels everywhere, or fall back to slower manual entry that risks errors.
Why is barcode dependency a problem in warehouse operations?
Most warehouses start with the ideal situation: vendor or manufacturer barcodes already on incoming product. These scans are instantly processed and cross-referenced in Business Central via item references, GTIN fields, or custom mappings.
When vendor barcodes are unavailable, the next step is often to print your own. Yet printing labels for every item, every lot, or retrofitting hundreds of existing bin locations is not always practical.
This means:
- Teams must choose between relabeling costs or manual data entry
- Items without barcodes slow down receiving, counting, and movement
- Manual entry introduces typing errors and delays
- Partial barcode coverage creates inconsistent workflows across the warehouse
Without a way to capture data from existing printed text, warehouses are forced into workarounds that reduce speed and accuracy.
What gaps exist when barcodes are not available?
Standard barcode scanning assumes labels are present on every item, lot, and bin location. When they are not, the process breaks down at several points:
- Receiving goods without vendor barcodes requires manual lookup and entry
- Lot and serial numbers printed on packaging cannot be scanned directly
- Bin locations with only printed text codes require new barcode labels
- Mixed environments with partial barcode coverage lack a consistent capture method
This often leads to:
- Slower receiving and put-away processes
- Increased data entry errors
- Delayed inventory updates in Business Central
- Additional cost and labor for printing and applying labels
How does OCR text scanning address these limitations?
Optical character recognition lets rugged Android devices read legible printed text such as item numbers, vendor product codes, lot numbers, serial numbers, expiration dates, or bin codes almost as fast as scanning a barcode.
Warehouse Insight from Insight Works now supports barcode-free scanning through OCR on compatible devices from manufacturers like Honeywell and Datalogic.
This enables warehouses to:
- Receive goods by scanning printed item numbers or vendor codes directly from packaging
- Capture lot and serial numbers from human-readable text without manual typing
- Scan existing printed bin codes on racking without applying new barcode labels
- Use barcodes where available and fall back to OCR text scanning where they are not
Every scan, whether barcode or text, updates Business Central in real time. Once captured at receiving, a proper barcode label can be printed immediately for downstream processes like picking, shipping, and counts.
How do you get started with barcode-free scanning?
Getting up and running follows these steps:
- Install Warehouse Insight from Microsoft Marketplace
- Use the assisted setup to connect to your location and configure scanning behaviors
- Pair with compatible devices — many modern Honeywell and Datalogic models support OCR capture alongside traditional barcodes
- Leverage the Barcode Generator PowerTool for label creation where needed
Barcode-free scanning works best when teams need to start scanning without waiting for a full relabeling project. OCR text recognition removes a major friction point, making mobile warehouse management more accessible without forcing changes to existing processes.
Disclaimer: This content is shared for informational purposes and is not promotional.
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