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bar code (or barcode)

• A bar code (often seen as a single word, barcode) is the small image of lines (bars) and spaces that is affixed to retail store items, identification cards, and postal mail to identify a particular product number, person, or location. The code uses a sequence of vertical bars and spaces to represent numbers and other symbols. A bar code symbol typically consists of five parts: a quiet zone, a start character, data characters (including an optional check character), a stop character, and another quiet zone.

A barcode reader is used to read the code. The reader uses a laser beam that is sensitive to the reflections from the line and space thickness and variation. The reader translates the reflected light into digital data that is transferred to a computer for immediate action or storage. Bar codes and readers are most often seen in supermarkets and retail stores, but a large number of different uses have been found for them. They are also used to take inventory in retail stores; to check out books from a library; to track manufacturing and shipping movement; to sign in on a job; to identify hospital patients; and to tabulate the results of direct mail marketing returns. Very small bar codes have been used to tag honey bees used in research. Readers may be attached to a computer (as they often are in retail store settings) or separate

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• Supply chain planning and execution

and portable, in which case they store the data they read until it can be fed into a computer.

There is no one standard bar code; instead, there are several different bar code standards called symbologies that serve different uses, industries, or geographic needs. Since 1973, the Uniform Product Code (UPC), regulated by the Uniform Code Council, an industry organization, has provided a standard bar code used by most retail stores. The European Article Numbering system (EAN), developed by Joe Woodland, the inventor of the first bar code system, allows for an extra pair of digits and is becoming widely used. POSTNET is the standard bar code used in the United States for ZIP codes in bulk mailing. The following table summarizes the most common bar code standards.

 

|Bar Code Standard |Uses |

|Uniform Product Code (UPC) |Retail stores for sales checkout; inventory, etc. |

|Code 39 |Identification, inventory, and tracking shipments |

|(Code 3 of 9) | |

|POSTNET |Encoding zip codes on U.S. mail |

|European Article Number (EAN) |A superset of the UPC that allows extra digits for country identification |

|Japanese Article Number (JAN) |Similar to the EAN, used in Japan |

|Bookland |Based on ISBN numbers and used on book covers |

|ISSN bar code |Based on ISSN numbers, used on periodicals outside the U.S. |

|Code 128 |Used in preference to Code 39 because it is more compact |

|Interleaved 2 of 5 |Used in the shipping and warehouse industries |

|Codabar |Used by Federal Express, in libraries, and blood banks |

|MICR (Magnetic Ink Character |A special font used for the numbers on the bottom of bank checks |

|Recognition) | |

|OCR-A |The optical character recognition format used on book covers for the human readable version of the ISBN|

| |number |

|OCR-B |Used for the human readable version of the UPC, EAN, JAN, Bookland, and ISSN bar codes and for optional|

| |human-readable digits with Code 39 and Interleaved 2 of 5 symbols |

|Maxicode |Used by the United Parcel Service |

|PDF417 |A new 2-D type of bar code that can encode up to 1108 bytes of information; can become a compressed, |

| |portable data file (which is what the "PDF" stands for) |

A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes. Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones. Additionally, nearly all barcode readers contain decodercircuitry analyzing the barcode's image data provided by the sensor and sending the barcode's content to the scanner's output port.

A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation of data, which shows data about the object to which it attaches. Originally, barcodes represented data by varying the widths and spacings of parallel lines, and may be referred to as linear or 1 dimensional (1D). Later they evolved into rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometric patterns in 2 dimensions (2D). Although 2D systems use a variety of symbols, they are generally referred to as barcodes as well. Barcodes originally were scanned by special optical scanners called barcode readers; later, scanners and interpretive software became available on devices including desktop printers and smartphones.

The first use of barcodes was to label railroad cars, but they were not commercially successful until they were used to automate supermarketcheckout systems, a task for which they have become almost universal. Their use has spread to many other tasks that are generically referred to as automatic identification and data capture (AIDC). The very first scanning of the now ubiquitous Universal Product Code (UPC) barcode was on a pack of Wrigley Company chewing gum in June 1974.[1]

Other systems have made inroads in the AIDC market, but the simplicity, universality and low cost of barcodes has limited the role of these other systems until the first decade of the 21st century, over 40 years after the introduction of the commercial barcode, with the introduction of technologies such as radio frequency identification, or RFID.

Use

|[pic] |This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, |

| |ifappropriate. Editing help is available. (October 2011) |

Barcodes such as the UPC have become a ubiquitous element of modern civilization. Some modern applications of barcodes include:

▪ Almost every item other than fresh produce from a grocery store, department store, and mass merchandiser has a UPC barcode on it.[citation needed] This helps track items and also reduces instances of shoplifting involving price tag swapping, although shoplifters can now print their own barcodes.[citation needed]

▪ Barcodes are widely used in shop floor control applications software where employees can scan work orders and track the time spent on a job.

▪ Retail chain membership cards (issued mostly by grocery stores and specialty "big box" retail stores such as sporting equipment, office supply, or pet stores) use bar codes to uniquely identify a consumer. Retailers can offer customized marketing and greater understanding of individual consumer shopping patterns. At the point of sale, shoppers can get product discounts or special marketing offers through the address or e-mail address provided at registration.

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Example of barcode on a patient identification wristband

▪ When used on patient identification, barcodes permit clinical staff to instantly access patient data, including medical history, drug allergies, etc.

▪ Document Management tools often allow for barcoded sheets to facilitate the separation and indexing of documents that have been imaged in batch scanning applications.

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Barcoded parcel

▪ The tracking of item movement, including rental cars, airline luggage, nuclear waste, registered mail, express mail and parcels.

▪ Tracking the organization of species in biology. The barcode assigned is based on the CO1 gene.[11]

▪ Since 2005, airlines use an IATA-standard 2D barcode on boarding passes (BCBP), and since 2008 2D barcodes sent to mobile phones enable electronic boarding passes.[12]

▪ Recently,[when?] researchers placed tiny barcodes on individual bees to track the insects' mating habits.

▪ Barcoded entertainment event tickets allow the holder to enter sports arenas, cinemas, theatres, fairgrounds, transportation, etc. This can allow the proprietor to identify duplicate or fraudulent tickets more easily.

▪ They can track the arrival and departure of vehicles from rental facilities.

▪ Barcodes can integrate with in-motion checkweighers to identify the item being weighed in a conveyor line for data collection

▪ Some 2D barcodes embed a hyperlink to a web page. A capable cellphone might be used to read the barcode and browse the linked website, which can help a shopper find the best price for an item in the vicinity.

▪ In the 1970s and 1980s, software source code was occasionally encoded in a barcode and printed on paper. Cauzin Softstrip and Paperbyte[13] are barcode symbologies specifically designed for this application.

▪ The 1991 Barcode Battler computer game system, used any standard barcode to generate combat statistics.

▪ In 1992 the Veterans Health Administration developed Bar Code Medication Administration system (BCMA).

▪ In the 21st century many artists started using barcodes in art, such as Scott Blake's Barcode Jesus, as part of the post-modernism movement.

▪ Today, barcodes are issued by GS1, the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world.[14]

Quality control and verification

Barcode verification examines scanability and the quality of the barcode in comparison to industry standards and specifications. Barcode verifiers are primarily used by businesses that print and use barcodes. Any trading partner in the supply chain can test barcode quality. It is important to verify a barcode to ensure that any reader in the supply chain can successfully interpret a bar code with a low error rate. Retailers levy large penalties for non-compliant barcodes. These chargebacks can reduce a manufacturer's revenue by 2% to 10%.[15]

A barcode verifier works the way a reader does, but instead of simply decoding a barcode, a verifier performs a series of tests. For linear barcodes these tests are:

▪ Edge Determination

▪ Minimum Reflectance

▪ Symbol Contrast

▪ Minimum Edge Contrast

▪ Modulation

▪ Defects

▪ Decode

▪ Decodability

2D matrix symbols look at the parameters:

▪ Symbol Contrast

▪ Modulation

▪ Decode

▪ Unused Error Correction

▪ Fixed (finder) Pattern Damage

▪ Grid Non-uniformity

▪ Axial Non-uniformity[16]

Depending on the parameter, each ANSI test is graded from 0.0 to 4.0 (F to A), or given a pass or fail mark. Each grade is determined by analyzing the scan reflectance profile (SRP), an analog graph of a single scan line across the entire symbol. The lowest of the 8 grades is the scan grade and the overall ISO symbol grade is the average of the individual scan grades. For most applications a 2.5 (C) is the minimum acceptable symbol grade.[17]

Compared with a reader, a verifier measures a barcode's optical characteristics to international and industry standards. The measurement must be repeatable and consistent. Doing so requires constant conditions such as distance, illumination angle, sensor angle and verifier aperture. Based on the verification results, the production process can be adjusted to print higher quality barcodes that will scan down the supply chain.

[edit]Barcode verifier standards

▪ Barcode verifiers should comply with the ISO/IEC 15426-1 (linear) or ISO/IEC 15426-2 (2D).

This standard defines the measuring accuracy of a bar code verifier.

▪ The current international barcode quality specification is ISO/IEC 15416 (linear) and ISO/IEC 15415 (2D). The European Standard EN 1635 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO/IEC 15416. The original U.S. barcode quality specification was ANSI X3.182. (UPCs used in the US – ANSI/UCC5).

This standard defines the quality requirements for barcodes and Matrix Codes (also called Optical Codes).

▪ As of 2011 the ISO workgroup JTC1 SC31 was developing a Direct Part Marking (DPM) quality standard : ISO/IEC TR 29158.[18]

International standards are available from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).[19]

These standards are also available from local/national standardization organizations, such as ANSI, BSI, DIN, NEN and others.

[edit]Benefits

In point-of-sale management, barcode systems can provide detailed up-to-date information on the business, accelerating decisions and with more confidence. For example:

▪ Fast-selling items can be identified quickly and automatically reordered.

▪ Slow-selling items can be identified, preventing inventory build-up.

▪ The effects of merchandising changes can be monitored, allowing fast-moving, more profitable items to occupy the best space,

▪ Historical data can be used to predict seasonal fluctuations very accurately.

▪ Items may be repriced on the shelf to reflect both sale prices and price increases.

▪ This technology also enables the profiling of individual consumers, typically through a voluntary registration of discount cards. While pitched as a benefit to the consumer, this practice is considered to be potentially dangerous by privacy advocates.

Besides sales and inventory tracking, barcodes are very useful in logistics.

▪ When a manufacturer packs a box for shipment, a Unique Identifying Number (UID) can be assigned to the box.

▪ A database can link the UID to relevant information about the box; such as order number, items packed, qty packed, destination, etc.

▪ The information can be transmitted through a communication system such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) so the retailer has the information about a shipment before it arrives.

▪ Shipments that are sent to a Distribution Center (DC) are tracked before forwarding. When the shipment reaches its final destination, the UID gets scanned, so the store knows the shipment's source, contents, and cost.

Barcode scanners are relatively low cost and extremely accurate compared to key-entry, with only about 1 substitution error in 15,000 to 36 trillion characters entered.[20][unreliable source?] The exact error rate depends on the type of barcode.

▪ What is a Bar Code?

▪ A Bar Code is just a different way of encoding numbers and letters by using a combination of bars and spaces of varying widths. This is just another way of entering data into a computer. A bar code does not contain descriptive data. It is a reference number that a computer uses to look up an associated record that contains descriptive data and other important information. For example, a barcode found on a soda can does not contain the product name, type of soda, or price, instead, it contains a 12-digit product number. When this number is scanned by the cashier at the check-out, it is transmitted to the computer which finds the record associated with that item number in the data base. The matching item record contains a description of the product, vendor name, price, quantity-on-hand, etc. The computer instantly does a "price lookup" and displays the price on the cash register. It also subtracts the quantity purchased from the quantity-on-hand. This entire transaction is done instantly. In a nutshell, a bar code typically has ID data encoded in it, and that data is used by computer to look up all specific information associated with the data. Now you may ask, but how does computer know what those bars and spaces are? Well, let's go to bar code scanning section.

Bar Code Uses

Although the first commercial implementation of bar coding was for grocery distribution in 1970, the use of bar codes has grown enormously since.

We now see many stores across the world using bar codes at the checkout, and also throughout their distribution chain. Inter-company and intra-company distribution outside of the retail arena also uses bar coding. Bar codes are used in vehicle manufacture, document tracking, data input for domestic video recorders, time control, security access, in some hospitals even human beings are being automatically identified by a bar coded tag worn around the wrist.

Many standards have been developed for the use and control of numbering systems applied to bar codes. These standards may be international, they may only apply to one industry or just one company or office.

Bar code users may be split into two groups; those who are using bar codes within a controlled system where they must adhere to the coding standards laid down by an outside body and those who wish to originate bar codes for purely their own use and therefore have free rein to choose the most suitable bar code type (or symbology).

Dependent on the type of system which is being operated, the user may wish to produce the same bar code on all items of a particular type (e.g. 14oz. cans of a particular brand of baked beans) or may wish to uniquely identify each individual item (such as a legal file or document).

What is a Bar Code?

Everyday you see bar codes in the world around you. You see them in supermarkets, on labels, greeting cards and consumable goods. By now you also realize that bar codes have replaced the traditional pricing of products.

Bar codes can be used in every business around the world. For example:

to track assets in any building including every desk, computer, telephone, copier and desk accessory.

to track mail from the time it arrives in the mail room to the time it is delivered to each desk or location within an office.

to help security guards identify every employee, every door they enter and every room they work in.

to secure, lock or unlock entrances or exits throughout the plant.

to manage and track your vehicle fleet and each driver

A bar code can best be described as an "optical Morse code." Series of black bars and white spaces of varying widths are printed on labels to uniquely identify items. The bar code labels are read with a scanner, which measures reflected light and interprets the code into numbers and letters that are passed on to a computer. Because there are many ways to arrange these bars and spaces, numerous symbologies are possible. Common linear symbologies include UPC/EAN, Interleaved 2 of 5 (I of 5), Codabar, Code 39, and Code 128.

Figure 1: A typical bar code (Code 39)

While each symbology is in some way unique, the composition of a complete message (bar code) is surprisingly similar regardless of the symbology used. For example, all bar codes are based on some "X" dimension. The "X" dimension is the narrowest bar or space in the bar code. Designated in "mils" (thousandths of an inch), symbology standards usually specify a minimum value "X" to insure compatibility between reading and printing equipment used in open systems.

The "X" dimension determines a bar code's density. Density refers to the amount of information that can be captured in the bar code in a particular space, usually a linear inch. While not intuitively obvious, high density bar codes have low numbers (e.g., 5 mil) and low density bar codes have high numbers (e.g., 55 mil). This is because individual characters consist of some combination of bars and spaces that are each multiples of "X". When "X" is small, the area required for each character is less than when "X" is large; thus the bar code can hold more per linear inch and is said to be of higher density. Similarly, increasing the width of the narrowest element ("X") increases the space required for each character and reduces the number of characters per inch. Because the resulting code is often quite large, very low density codes are often associated with applications such as warehousing that require reading bar codes from a significant distance (3 to 30 feet).

All bar codes have start/stop characters that allow the bar code to be read from both left to right and right to left. Unique characters placed at both the beginning and end of each bar code, the stop/start characters provide timing references, symbology identification, and direction of read information to the scanner. By convention, the unique character on the left of the bar code is considered the "start" and the character on the right of the bar code is considered the "stop."

Immediately preceding the start character and following the stop character is an area of no markings called the quiet zone. Because there is no printing in this area, a scanning signal is not produced, thus the term "quiet." The quiet zone helps the scanner find the leading edge of the bar code so reading can begin. As a rule, the quiet zone should be ten times the "X" dimension or 1/4", whichever is greater.

Putting all these components together, we get a complete bar code such as the one found below. Notice the leading quiet zone followed by a start character, data, a stop character, and a final quiet zone. Link to more detail.

Any individual can use a bar code and a scanning device to gather information, sort it and later upload the data to a computer so that a report can be printed quickly, easily identifying who did what, when and where it took place.

No other simple, easy to use product can control your workplace the way the bar code can!

What is a Barcode?

When you purchase an item from any store, you will notice a label with thin, black lines across it, along with a variation of different numbers. This label is then scanned by the cashier, and the item's description and price automatically come up. The word for this is called a barcode, and it is used to read data and information based upon the widths of those small black lines. The barcode has many uses, although most of us think of them as simply a way to price items in the grocery or department store. Barcodes are becoming more and more common in just about every facet of consumer life. For example, car rental companies now identify their rental vehicles by using a barcode. Your luggage gets assigned a barcode when you check it into the airport in order to assure more accuracy when it comes to keeping track of it. Even driver's licenses today have barcodes on them in most states. Medicine prescriptions, library books, and tracking different shipments are also other ways that a barcode can be used.

So what exactly is a barcode? The technical definition for a barcode is a machine readable form of information on a scannable, visual surface. They are also often known as UPC codes. The barcode is read by using a special scanner that reads the information directly off of it. The information is then transmitted into a database where it can be logged and tracked. Merchandisers and other companies must pay an annual fee to an organization called The UCC, or Uniform Code Council, who then generates special barcodes specific to that particular company. Each number on a barcode has a special meaning, and often these numbers are added, multiplied, and divided in some formula that gives them each their own special individuality. Barcodes are very useful for maintaining accurate information about inventory, pricing, and other important business-related data.

Different companies' barcodes use a different amount of number and bar combinations. Some of the larger manufacturers will have a longer number, but this goes much deeper than how many numbers are listed. Every single number on a barcode has a meaning. For example, if the barcode number starts with a 0, then it is what's known as a standard UPC number. If the number begins with a 1, then it is what's called a "random-weight item", meaning the price of the item will depend on its weight. This is typically applied to such things as meats, fruits, or vegetables. If an item starts with the number 3, it is a pharmaceutical. There are several other variations of these numbers, and each one represents something different. If a coupon is used that has a barcode, information goes through a system that links that coupon and its value to the item previously scanned, and then the amount is automatically deducted. A complex computerized system reads every single barcode that is scanned, but these barcodes are system-specific depending on what company they belong to. There are ways the average consumer can "decode" a barcode if they know what to look for and are familiar with the variations of numbers. Barcodes make our lives much more efficient, and shopping much faster.

Resources:

Barcode Inventory Software

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Looking for Barcode Software? National Barcode offers a wide selection of Barcode Products.

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When you think of a barcode system you usually picture the UPC labels on items you buy from the store. However, there are many more uses for barcode systems and many types of barcode software.  Barcode inventory software is one of these and it, alone, has many uses that can help reduce time and costs associated with inventory.

Inventory invokes a thought of objects like nuts and bolts in a machine shop, or earrings and necklaces in a jewelry shop.  However, some of the most important items for many companies are their documents and files.  Many offices depend on these documents to complete their projects, yet they may have to share them with more than one person.  Using barcode inventory software, you can know exactly where the documents and files are, when they were checked out, and more valuable information.

No employer likes to find out that one of their employees is stealing. However, it does happen.  In addition to flat out stealing, there are also cases when employees unintentionally misplace items.  For this reason, barcode inventory software can help you keep track of costly office items such as computer equipment and furniture.

Another asset that you don’t tend to think of as inventory are your employees.  Barcode inventory software may also help you keep track of your employees.  Employees can not only clock in with the software but the software will also enter the information into a program that stores the information for later use.  This means that you don’t have to punch in the information when calculating payroll because it is already entered for you.

As you can tell, barcode inventory software can save you both time and money.  It eliminates the cost of using employees to do the work that can be easily done by a machine.  In addition, it eliminates the human error factor.  This can also save time and money.

 

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