Printing & Labels

Printing & Labels

Beam provides a comprehensive printing system that supports RFID labels, barcode labels, and PDF documents. Whether you need to tag individual items, print shipping labels, or generate delivery notes, Beam's print workflow handles it all from a single interface.

Print Formats

RFID Labels

RFID labels combine a printed visual label with an encoded EPC (Electronic Product Code) chip. When you print an RFID label, Beam writes the EPC data to the tag's chip and prints the visual information simultaneously. This ensures that each physical label is uniquely linked to an item in your inventory.

Barcode Labels

Standard barcode labels print a scannable barcode along with item details such as name, article code, and quantities. These labels are compatible with all barcode scanners supported by Beam.

PDF Documents

Beam can generate various PDF document types for your operational needs:

• Delivery notes included with shipments for the recipient.
• Invoices billing documents generated from order data.
• Pallet lists overview of items packed per pallet.
• Order lists summary of all items in an order.
• Item reports detailed information about specific items.
• Inspection reports complete inspection data including attached photos.

The Print Buffer

The print buffer is a queue that collects all pending print jobs before they are sent to a printer. This allows you to batch multiple items and review them before printing.

The print buffer workflow consists of the following steps:

1. Add items to the print buffer from item detail pages, order pages, or bulk actions.
2. Click the buffer icon in the header bar to open the print buffer overview.
3. Review the queued items and remove any that should not be printed.
4. Select a printer from the list of available printers.
5. Choose a label template for the print job.
6. Print the entire batch or select specific items to print.

EPC Tag Generation Methods

When printing RFID labels, Beam needs to generate a unique EPC (Electronic Product Code) for each tag. Three generation methods are available:

Unique (Random)

Generates a completely random EPC for each tag. This is the simplest method and works well when you do not need to encode product information into the tag itself.

Hybrid (Base Code + Serial)

Combines a base product code with a unique serial number. This method allows you to identify the product type from the EPC while still maintaining unique identification for each individual item.

SGTIN-96 (GS1 Standard)

Follows the GS1 SGTIN-96 encoding standard. This is the industry-standard format used in global supply chains and is recommended if you exchange RFID data with external partners or systems that expect GS1-compliant tags.

Label Templates

Label templates define what information appears on a printed label. Templates can include the following elements:

• Item name and article code.
• Quantities (total, per location, per batch).
• Barcodes and QR codes for scanning.
• Custom fields defined in your column configuration.
• Your organization's logo.

Templates are configured by administrators and can be tailored to different use cases, such as shelf labels, shipping labels, or product tags.

PDF Document Templates

PDF documents are generated from configurable templates. Each document type (delivery note, invoice, pallet list, order list, item report, inspection report) has its own template that defines the layout, included fields, columns, custom headers and footers, and file name patterns. Administrators can customize these templates in Settings under the PDF Templates section.