Warehouse Insight does not restrict the type of barcode a warehouse can use. It supports common symbologies including QR codes, Data Matrix, Code 39, and linear GS1 formats such as GS1-128, and it reads structured data embedded in GS1 barcodes, including lot numbers, expiration dates, quantities, and units of measure, then maps that data directly into Business Central item tracking fields.
Barcode symbology is simply a technical choice
A barcode symbology is the pattern used to encode information, whether that pattern is a one dimensional linear code like Code 39 or a two dimensional code like Data Matrix or QR. Warehouse Insight does not care which symbology a vendor, a customer, or an internal labeling process already uses. If a product arrives with a manufacturer barcode, that barcode can be scanned as is. If a company prints its own labels, Business Central includes barcode generation tools that support GS1, Data Matrix, and other formats, so a company is not locked into a single symbology across its supply chain.
For labels printed in house, two dimensional formats such as Data Matrix are generally the better choice when the encoded data is long or includes special characters, since these formats hold more information in a smaller space and tend to be more resistant to smudging or partial damage on a warehouse floor.
Extracting structured data from GS1 barcodes
The GS1 barcode standard is built to carry more than an item number. A single GS1 barcode can include the item identifier, lot number, expiration date, quantity, and other application identifiers, all encoded in one scan. Warehouse Insight is configured to recognize the structure of a GS1 barcode and parse out each of these data elements individually. Once that configuration is in place, a single scan during receiving can populate the item number, the lot number, and the expiration date on the corresponding item tracking lines in Business Central, without requiring a warehouse associate to type any of that information manually.
This same configurable parsing approach applies to barcodes that are not GS1 formatted as well. If a company uses a custom barcode structure with its own arrangement of item number, quantity, and variant code, that structure can be mapped during setup so the system knows where to find each value inside the code.
Why this matters for inventory accuracy
Manual data entry is one of the more common sources of inventory errors, particularly with lot numbers and expiration dates, since these are long strings that are easy to mistype. Capturing that information directly from a barcode scan removes that manual step and ensures the data recorded in Business Central matches what is physically on the product.
Relevant Tools
Warehouse Insight is the mobile barcode scanning solution referenced here, supporting flexible barcode symbologies and configurable data extraction across receiving, picking, put away, and inventory counting. WMS Express covers the same core barcode scanning functions, including receiving, picking, inventory counts, and bin movements, for companies that need those fundamentals without the broader customization options in Warehouse Insight. This is a completely free app from Insight Works for Business Central.
Whatever barcode format is already in use on the warehouse floor, Warehouse Insight is built to read it, and where those barcodes carry additional data like lot numbers or expiration dates, that information can be captured automatically rather than typed in by hand.