Developed together with our users: how to finally organize a warehouse efficiently using a Start List

Reorganizing a warehouse often sounds easier than it actually is. Many companies know their inventory management needs improvement, but get stuck as soon as they begin. And that’s not surprising. In practice, we see that inventory management has often grown over the years without a clear structure. Materials are scattered throughout the warehouse, only experienced employees know where certain items are located, and returned materials are placed back somewhere without being registered. Meanwhile, materials quietly disappear from inventory or are used on projects without ever being invoiced.

For some organizations, this mainly leads to frustration and extra searching. For others, it has direct financial consequences. I recently spoke with a raw materials supplier where downtime of a single machine costs more than €150,000 per hour. At that point, it becomes immediately clear how important inventory control really is.

Yet reorganizing a warehouse often turns out to be the biggest challenge. Not because companies are unwilling to change, but because gaining oversight is difficult—especially in technical organizations with specialized materials. Often, only experienced technicians or warehouse employees can determine exactly what an item is and whether it should even remain in stock. As a result, many inventory projects become complex and time-consuming.

That is exactly why, together with our users, we have spent the past years developing a method that makes inventory management simpler. No complicated implementation or theoretical model, but a practical approach that works on the shop floor. A method that helps technicians, warehouse employees, and purchasers build an organized warehouse step by step, without having to perfect everything immediately.

The foundation of this method is the Start List in BarTrack. The process begins by selecting the suppliers whose materials are kept in stock. From there, a list gradually develops of items that are currently in the warehouse or should remain there. This can be built manually, but many companies choose to involve suppliers in the process. Suppliers often know exactly which materials are frequently used and help quickly identify the items that are important to keep in stock.

After that, the real warehouse setup begins. During this process, we noticed something remarkable across nearly every organization. Technicians and warehouse employees often have strong preferences about where materials should be stored. And that makes sense—materials used daily should be stored nearby. Every extra meter walked ultimately costs time.

Together with our users, we therefore developed the Start Sticker. A simple barcode that allows employees to flexibly decide which materials are stored in which bins. Using the BarTrack Mobile App, an item from the Start List is linked to a sticker. From that moment on, BarTrack knows exactly which item is stored in which bin, without requiring the final location to be fixed immediately.

It sounds simple, but in practice it makes a huge difference. Teams can first experience what works logically on the shop floor before everything is permanently organized. In the meantime, materials can already be scanned and ordered, which creates a lot of peace of mind during the setup process.

Once it becomes clear where the bins should ultimately be placed, the locations are added to BarTrack. Think of cabinets, shelving units, warehouse zones, or service vehicles. By then scanning the Start Stickers, BarTrack knows exactly where every item is located. Step by step, this creates a fully organized and digital warehouse.

The final step is printing the definitive Inventory Stickers. These contain all ordering settings that were configured during the setup process. From that moment on, inventory management truly becomes simple. Materials can be scanned, ordered, and issued without searching or manual administration. Working with pick lists also becomes far more efficient as a result.

What makes this method unique is that it was developed entirely together with our users. Not from theory, but from daily practical experience. Every improvement originated from situations that technicians, warehouse employees, and purchasers encountered on the shop floor. And that process continues every single day. Together, we keep improving BarTrack so inventory management becomes not more complicated, but increasingly simple.

Summary