Warehouses
Warehouse bin and location barcodes that stay scannable
A bin label is not a product label. It has to survive a forklift aisle, a dusty shelf lip, and a handheld scan from three feet. The symbology is almost always Code 128 of a location you invented on purpose. This guide is the house standard we recommend when a shop outgrows writing “back left” on painter’s tape.
LabelStack editors · August 28, 2026 · 12 min read
Name the location so a human and a scanner agree
Pick a scheme and write it down. A common one is aisle-rack-shelf-bin: A-04-C-12. Another is zone then slot: RECV-014. The barcode value should be the same string a picker can read without a scan, or a tight token plus a printed title. Do not encode a sentence. Do not encode a GTIN of the product that currently sits in the bin—the product will move; the location should not.
Code 128 is the default. It handles letters, digits, and hyphens without the width penalty of Code 39. Use Code 39 only if a device on the floor will not take Code 128. Mixing both on the same aisle is how a new hire’s scanner “doesn’t work.”
Size the sticker for the scan, not for the leftover 5160 pack
Avery 5160 (1″ × 2.625″) is fine on a tote lip or a small parts bin you scan from a foot away. It is a poor aisle marker. Avery 5163 (2″ × 4″) or a larger custom label gives a taller bar and a title you can read from the fork. Quiet zone still applies: do not run bars into the screw head on a shelf.
Print black on white. Yellow “caution” stock looks like warehouse culture and scans like mud. If you need colour for zone, colour the title or a stripe, not the bars. LabelStack’s custom line can hold ZONE-RECV while the barcode stays A-04-C-12.
Durability is a stock problem, not a PDF problem
Office 5160 paper on a shelf edge lasts until the first sweaty glove. For a real aisle, use polyester or vinyl label stock rated for the temperature of the space, and a printer that can mark it (often thermal transfer, not an office laser). You can still design the grid in LabelStack and export SVG for a thermal-transfer app, or print laser proofs to check the scheme before you buy the expensive roll.
Do not laminate with a glossy pouch. Matte overlaminates made for barcodes exist; office laminators do not. If a label will live outdoors, indoor 5160 is the wrong product regardless of the barcode quality.
Keep retail codes off the furniture
A tote is not a sellable unit. Printing a UPC on it teaches the receiving gun the wrong lesson. Location labels are Code 128 of locations. Product labels are UPC/EAN/FNSKU of products. Carton labels are ITF-14 of cartons. If those three jobs share a printer, they should not share a CSV. Three working sheets, three PDFs, three test scans.
LabelStack will let you mix symbologies on one sheet because a mixed inbound is a real job. A location run should not be mixed. Filter the spreadsheet first. The bulk CSV guide covers columns and row-level errors; this page is the content of those columns when the “product” is a place.