Tracking your inventory, while extremely important, is also very difficult to do. There are many devices and technologies available to assist you in tracking inventory on your warehouse’s pallet rack, but often these technologies are not easy to understand. Wouldn’t it be nice if everything could be written in English—without barcodes or symbols—so that both man and machine could read what is written on pallet rack tags and stickers?

Well, this technology is possible and was actually invented decades ago. The technology is called OCR, or optical character recognition. OCR utilizes an input device, like a scanner, and computer software that enables a computer to see and understand written or typed words. OCR has been successfully used by the U.S. Post Office (for mail sorting) and by companies managing written documents, but for inventory, OCR software is a lesser known technology.

Today there are OCR hand readers, line scanners, and more which are used for inventory management. These OCR readers are able to “see” both barcodes and regular English words, which is quite beneficial for warehouses receiving goods that are labeled in a variety of different ways. OCR and inventory software is also promising for warehouses because it enables both humans and machines to read the same language on pallet rack tags, inventory reports, and more. Generally, OCR inventory software is not as accurate as barcode technologies, but advances are made every day.