Rack Position Labels: Print, Stick, Scan
The print template, the Code128 encoding, the position-resolution logic — and why an A4 printer is all the hardware you need.
Rack and position labels are the addresses of the warehouse. Without them, “where is this pallet” is a question answered by walking around. With them, the answer is a scan.
Print template
/api/storage-racks/[id]/labels generates a printable PDF for a rack’s positions. Each label carries the rack code, the position code — rack code, row and column, so A3-2-4 is rack A3, row 2, column 4 — a Code128 barcode encoding that same position code, and the code again in plain monospace text underneath, for the day a handheld misreads and someone has to type it. The labels are laid out as tiles on A4 with bars roughly 12 to 15 mm high, so any office printer produces them and any label stock or laminate pouch takes them.
Code128 specifically
Code128 is the linear barcode standard that handles alphanumeric content cleanly, decodes reliably on phone cameras, and works with every USB wedge scanner sold in the past decade. Other formats (QR, Datamatrix) have their advantages, but Code128 is the one that “just works” on the broadest range of warehouse hardware. The platform standardises on it for rack position labels.
Position resolution
When the scanner reads a position label, the platform resolves it to the rack-position row in the database, with the warehouse, zone, and rack hierarchy attached. The scanner’s warehouse mode then expects the next scan to be the asset or pallet being placed there — and writes the move record without the operator typing.
Where racks come from
Warehouses, zones and racks are set up under Settings > Core > Locations: a rack is a code, a name, a number of rows and columns, and the zone it stands in. The rack detail page at /core/storage-racks/[id] shows the grid position by position and is where the label PDF is printed from. The rack list searches across all racks before it paginates, so a tenant with three halls finds rack R-14 without scrolling. Deleting a rack or a zone opens a confirmation dialog that first shows what depends on it. Nobody deletes a rack with forty pallets on it by accident.
Re-printing
Labels fade, get torn, get covered by other labels. The print template can re-issue any rack’s labels at any time. Because the position code is derived from the rack code, the row and the column, a re-print produces labels that match whatever was already in the system.