Written by Marcus Rivera — former Amazon warehouse manager. More about me →
I set up three barcode inventory systems during my 12 years at Amazon — from a 500-SKU returns processing station to a 50,000-bin fulfillment center. The principles are the same whether you have 100 products or 100,000. Here is what I would do if I were starting from scratch today.
Most small warehouses pick Code 128 — it handles letters and numbers, packs data tight, and every scanner on the market reads it. I recommend Code 128 for bin locations and internal tracking. If you ship to retailers, your products already have EAN-13 or UPC-A barcodes — use those. Generate your labels with our free Code 128 generator.
You do not need a $2,000 industrial scanner. A $150 Bluetooth handheld from Zebra or Honeywell scans Code 128 at 30 inches reliably. For label printing, a $300 Zebra ZD620 thermal printer at 203 DPI prints scannable barcodes all day. I tested this exact setup at an Amazon returns facility — 10,000 scans per day, zero hardware failures in six months.
Bar width: 3 dots on 203 DPI printers. Barcode height: 80px minimum. Quiet zone: 10mm each side. These are the exact settings I configured for three Amazon warehouses. Use our bulk barcode generator for batch label printing. Generate your inventory labels →
Written by Marcus Rivera — former Amazon warehouse manager. More about me →