How Work Order Barcoding Can Streamline Your Operations
In the world of custom manufacturing, small-run production, and job-shop services, efficiency is everything. Whether you're dipping metal in anodizing chemicals, weaving specialty fabrics, or fabricating custom HVAC ductwork, every order is a little different, every job has its nuances, and every customer wants updates now. That complexity is exactly why barcoding your work orders isn't just a nice-to-have—it's essential.
Gimbal Logic understands the unique challenges of managing custom jobs that evolve day by day. Our solution, Gimbal Barcode, integrates directly with Salesforce and is available on the Salesforce AppExchange, offering a streamlined way to track and manage work orders from intake to delivery. Here's how it can transform your workflow.
Why Barcoding Matters for Work Orders
In a job-shop environment, you’re not mass-producing thousands of identical widgets. You’re running a dynamic operation where orders vary in quantity, materials, and processes. That variability introduces risk: lost items, incorrect processing, communication breakdowns, and delivery delays. Barcoding each work order—or even each item—gives you precise, real-time visibility into your shop floor.
Let’s say you’re running a metal finishing shop. One week, you're anodizing red switch boxes for an electronics manufacturer. The next, you're painting safety railing for an office complex. Each order has its own timeline, chemical bath, and post-processing steps. A barcode affixed to every batch or item allows your team to scan and track progress as it moves through the workflow—dipping, drying, inspection, packaging. That scan instantly updates your Salesforce system.
Real-Time Status Updates, Without the Chasing
Customers don’t want to wait. They want to know exactly where their order stands: "Is my order in finishing? Has it passed inspection? Is it ready for pickup?" Without a barcoding system, answering those questions often means walking the floor, flipping through job tickets, or calling supervisors.
With Gimbal Barcode, each scan provides a timestamped update within Salesforce. That means your customer service team, your floor manager, and your client can all be on the same page without ever leaving their desk. And because it’s integrated into Salesforce, it becomes part of your broader CRM and workflow ecosystem—not a disconnected app or add-on.
Reduce Errors and Boost Accountability
Manual tracking systems leave room for error. Stickers fall off. Clipboards disappear. Notes get smudged. Human memory is fallible. With a barcode-based workflow, you replace subjectivity with certainty. When someone scans a part at the next station, the system logs it.
No guesswork. No miscommunication.
For example, in a custom textile mill, you might be producing made-to-order upholstery fabric one month and heavy-duty cargo netting the next. Each spool, each roll, can be tagged and scanned through each step of dyeing, drying, cutting, and shipping. That kind of granularity doesn’t just improve traceability—it improves confidence, both internally and externally.
Adaptability for Custom Jobs
Unlike traditional business management software platforms—often referred to as ERP systems—which are designed for high-volume, standardized production, Gimbal Barcode is built to adapt to the custom nature and flexibility of small-run jobs. You can quickly generate barcode labels for one-off jobs and track them through totally different workflows. It's not about standardization—it's about smart adaptation.
Your team doesn’t need to learn complex software or configure endless templates. If you're making HVAC ductwork for an office tower this week and residential homes next week, you can adapt Gimbal Barcode to handle that shift effortlessly. The system adjusts to your process—not the other way around.
Fast to Deploy, Simple to Scale
Gimbal Barcode works seamlessly with Salesforce, which means your team can start tracking work orders without a complicated rollout or disconnected tools. It’s built to enhance your existing Salesforce environment—no duplicate data, no fragile middleware, and no surprises.
If you’re already managing quotes, service requests, or production timelines in Salesforce, barcoding becomes an immediate extension of that ecosystem. The result? Faster implementation, smoother adoption, and deeper visibility across your operation.
Learn More
Ready to see how barcode-driven work order management can streamline your operation? Explore the Gimbal Logic Work Order Management page to learn more about how we help custom manufacturers stay agile, organized, and in control.
When you're dealing with custom jobs that shift weekly, your systems have to be as agile as your operation. Barcoding might seem like a small detail, but in a job-shop environment, it can be the difference between chaos and clarity. Let Gimbal Logic help you turn complexity into confidence.