Barcodes are used in applications in various industries and have turned out to be a key feature in increasing business efficiency and workforce productivity. Linear barcodes are made up of parallel bars and spaces in varying widths which can represent just about any data and facilitate automatic identification and faster data collection. Barcodes have evolved significantly from the original 1D or linear barcodes storing limited information to more advanced matrix or 2D barcodes that can store thousands of characters of data.

Initial Stage (1932 To 1967)
The idea of barcodes was first conceptualized by Wallace Flint in 1932 as a part of his Master’s thesis paper. He invented an automated checkout system for a grocery store using punched cards and flow racks to automatically dispense products. However, it is only in 1949 that modern day barcodes came into existence. Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver developed a bull’s eye style barcode as a part of university research project to develop an automated system to gather product information during checkout for a local food chain. Woodland drew inspiration from Morse code and movie soundtrack systems to invent modern barcodes.

David Collins, who worked in Sylvania, further developed the barcodes to address the problems faced in accurately tracking train cars. He developed a barcode with reflective stripes made from phosphorescent ink that can be easily read by light and pasted on train cars. Collins received several demands from various industries to launch a simpler version of his barcode to automate various business processes.

Middle Stage (1967 To 1970)
Collins, in 1967 quit Sylvania and founded Computer Identics. Later, he continued to work on automatic identification technology. He used black and white barcodes but the light source was replaced with a laser beam that scanned the barcodes from several feet away. The laser light source was smaller, cooler, and could move back and forth at faster rates over the barcodes and even read damaged or scratched barcodes. This new barcode system found application in production, shipping, sorting, distribution, etc.

Current Generation (After 1970′s)
The 1970’s saw barcodes transform from a raw concept to a viable enterprise technology. In mid 1970’s, the NAFC established US Supermarket Ad Hoc Committee of Uniform Grocery Product Code for grocery industry. The committee later formulated a standardized 12-digit code to identify any product and invited bids from companies wanting to develop the technology. IBM won the bid in 1973 with the barcode developed by George Laurer. The barcode is separated into halves of 6 digits each. The first digit is always zero while next 5 digits represent the manufacturer. The digits from 7 to 11 represent the product number or SKU, while the last digit is the check digit used for validation to check whether the code is correctly read. The barcode allows scanning in any direction and easy printing. On June 26th, 1974, a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum became the first item to be scanned by a barcode system using UPC (Universal Product Code).

Uses of Barcodes
Barcodes ensure automatic identification of a product and error free data capture in less time. It is due to this capability that barcodes are used in applications across different industries like food processing, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, retail and wholesale, warehousing, shipping and receiving, transportation, etc. The barcodes can help to accurately identify fast selling products and thereby help make timely decisions to replenish these products. Barcodes help to reduce unwanted stock by effectively identifying slow moving products. Barcodes can uniquely identify customers through membership cards that help retailers gather customer shopping pattern information. Also, barcodes ensure efficient inventory tracking across various industries that help to reduced operating costs and provide competitive advantage.

Barcodes provide detailed information on various business processes and automate the routine manual activities and tasks that help management to make timely and informed decisions. Barcodes have proved to be an effective tool to increase productivity, profitability, and accuracy of business processes across various industries.

For over 20 years, System ID has provided automation solutions and barcoding equipment to a wide range of large and small companies in virtually every industry sector. System ID offers more than 10,000 brand name products and services such as zebra printers and barcode scanners.

Barcodes have helped businesses streamline their business processes, improve workforce productivity, and achieve greater operational efficiency. Barcodes have been successfully integrated in business processes across various industries to increase their effectiveness, speed, and accuracy for better a customer experience. Barcodes are mainly categorized into two types: Linear or 1D barcodes and 2D barcodes. Each barcode type is selected as per relevant business requirements to fulfill the end objective. A barcode system consists of a scanner, a barcode label, a printer, and an external database.

Linear Barcodes:
Linear or 1D barcodes consists of parallel black bars and white spaces that can represent any form of data. UPC, Code 128, and Code 39 are some of the common 1D symbologies presently used.

Stores data only in horizontal direction
The bars and spaces in linear barcodes are grouped together to represent a specific ASCII character or a numeric digit. As the linear barcodes contains only vertical bars and spaces, the data can be stored only in horizontal direction. Even while reading the data from linear barcodes only the width of the bars and spaces is considered. Thus, linear barcodes are also referred as one-dimensional barcodes.

Stores much less data
Linear or 1D barcodes store a smaller amount of data, usually up to 12 or 20 digits. The linear or 1D barcodes contain information, which when scanned is matched with relevant data stored in local or central database leading to retrieval of a large amount of information about the item scanned.

Cannot retrieve data when erased or damaged
One of the drawbacks of linear barcodes is that it is difficult to retrieve stored data when the barcode label is damaged or poorly printed. Addition of a single extra line at the start or end of barcode can impair the readability of the linear barcode. A small tear or drawing a line through the barcode parallel to bars can disturb the decoding algorithm that makes it difficult to retrieve or read data.

2D Barcodes:
Two-dimensional barcodes have more data representation capability and can contain more detailed information. 2D barcodes can be in a matrix or stacked format. Stacked-barcodes are like a set of linear barcodes literally stacked on top of each other. PDF417 is the best example of a stacked barcode. Matrix codes are made up of a pattern of cells that can be square, hexagonal, or circular in shape and are similar in appearance to checkerboards. Data Matrix and MaxiCode are two commonly used matrix barcodes.

Store data in horizontal and vertical direction
Two-dimensional barcodes have larger data storage capacity as the data is stored in both horizontal and vertical directions of the barcode. In contrast to the 12-20 characters that a typical linear barcode can store, 2D symbologies are able to encode up to several thousand characters of machine readable data.

Stores large data
The amount of data that can be stored in 2D barcodes can reach up to thousands of alphanumeric data. The 2D barcodes ensure faster data processing as it can act as a database itself storing all the necessary data. They can condense the information from numerous linear barcodes into a single 2D barcode thus saving considerable space. The need to have external database is eliminated as accurate information can be received from the product itself. By providing immediate access to large stored data, 2D barcodes can make business process faster, accurate, less costly, and reliable.

Easy to retrieve data when erased or damaged
Unlike 1D barcodes, 2D barcodes can have error correction formulas built into the symbol which allow data to be retrieved even if the barcode is damaged. In fact, a significant portion of the surface area can be damaged and the information will still be intact. For example, some 2D symbols can lose up to a third of its surface and still be decoded. The Error Correction Code (ECC) has ability to rebuild the data from sections of barcode that has been damaged and deliver consistent correct information. Also, 2D barcodes printed on hard surfaces exposed to rugged or harsh conditions can be easily read by 2D barcode scanners.

Both 1D and 2D barcodes ensure functional enhancement of business process, efficient automated data collection, and processing of large amounts of data with accuracy across any industry. There are a number of factors to consider, like symbology compliance to industry specific standards, amount and type of data to be encoded, etc., before deciding on which type of symbology to use.

For over 20 years, System ID has provided automation solutions and barcoding equipment to a wide range of large and small companies in virtually every industry sector. System ID offers more than 10,000 brand name products and services such as barcode labels and barcode printers.

Barcodes are used in applications in various industries and have turned out to be a key feature in increasing business efficiency and workforce productivity. Linear barcodes are made up of parallel bars and spaces in varying widths which can represent just about any data and facilitate automatic identification and faster data collection. Barcodes have evolved significantly from the original 1D or linear barcodes storing limited information to more advanced matrix or 2D barcodes that can store thousands of characters of data.

Initial Stage (1932 To 1967)
The idea of barcodes was first conceptualized by Wallace Flint in 1932 as a part of his Master’s thesis paper. He invented an automated checkout system for a grocery store using punched cards and flow racks to automatically dispense products. However, it is only in 1949 that modern day barcodes came into existence. Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver developed a bull’s eye style barcode as a part of university research project to develop an automated system to gather product information during checkout for a local food chain. Woodland drew inspiration from Morse code and movie soundtrack systems to invent modern barcodes.

David Collins, who worked in Sylvania, further developed the barcodes to address the problems faced in accurately tracking train cars. He developed a barcode with reflective stripes made from phosphorescent ink that can be easily read by light and pasted on train cars. Collins received several demands from various industries to launch a simpler version of his barcode to automate various business processes.

Middle Stage (1967 To 1970)
Collins, in 1967 quit Sylvania and founded Computer Identics. Later, he continued to work on automatic identification technology. He used black and white barcodes but the light source was replaced with a laser beam that scanned the barcodes from several feet away. The laser light source was smaller, cooler, and could move back and forth at faster rates over the barcodes and even read damaged or scratched barcodes. This new barcode system found application in production, shipping, sorting, distribution, etc.

Current Generation (After 1970′s)
The 1970’s saw barcodes transform from a raw concept to a viable enterprise technology. In mid 1970’s, the NAFC established US Supermarket Ad Hoc Committee of Uniform Grocery Product Code for grocery industry. The committee later formulated a standardized 12-digit code to identify any product and invited bids from companies wanting to develop the technology. IBM won the bid in 1973 with the barcode developed by George Laurer. The barcode is separated into halves of 6 digits each. The first digit is always zero while next 5 digits represent the manufacturer. The digits from 7 to 11 represent the product number or SKU, while the last digit is the check digit used for validation to check whether the code is correctly read. The barcode allows scanning in any direction and easy printing. On June 26th, 1974, a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum became the first item to be scanned by a barcode system using UPC (Universal Product Code).

Uses of Barcodes
Barcodes ensure automatic identification of a product and error free data capture in less time. It is due to this capability that barcodes are used in applications across different industries like food processing, healthcare, manufacturing and distribution, retail and wholesale, warehousing, shipping and receiving, transportation, etc. The barcodes can help to accurately identify fast selling products and thereby help make timely decisions to replenish these products. Barcodes help to reduce unwanted stock by effectively identifying slow moving products. Barcodes can uniquely identify customers through membership cards that help retailers gather customer shopping pattern information. Also, barcodes ensure efficient inventory tracking across various industries that help to reduced operating costs and provide competitive advantage.

Barcodes provide detailed information on various business processes and automate the routine manual activities and tasks that help management to make timely and informed decisions. Barcodes have proved to be an effective tool to increase productivity, profitability, and accuracy of business processes across various industries.

For over 20 years, System ID has provided automation solutions and barcoding equipment to a wide range of large and small companies in virtually every industry sector. System ID offers more than 10,000 brand name products and services such as symbol barcode scanner and zebra printers.

Many warehouses are able to increase productivity and performance levels by optimizing their barcode automation system. Barcode printers can significantly improve performance in warehouses. Barcode printers are essential to improve efficiency in warehouse operations in different industries including manufacturing, material handling, packaging, and shipping.

Advantages of Barcode Printers for Warehouses

Barcode printer is one of the key components of barcode automation system in a warehouse. Barcode printers enable warehouse performance by making inventory tracking easier, faster, and accurate. Barcode printers used in warehouses often called as industrial barcode printers. Barcode printers for warehouses are designed differently to withstand the most demanding environment that typically exists in a warehouse. Industrial barcode printers offer many advantages for warehouse management.

-    Saves time
-    Avoiding errors
-    Enhanced Performance
-    On time execution

Saves time
Barcode printers for warehouses have a large paper capacity that helps to print more labels to operate quickly. These are able to produce a large quantity of barcodes in short amount of time.

Avoiding errors
Manual stock checks in warehouses often information inaccurate. The quickly generated barcode labels by the barcode printer makes the stock verification process in warehouses simpler and more accurate. Barcode printers can reduce the frequency of error occurrences significantly, and avoid loss of work time due to error correction. Bar coding further enables manufacturing processes to be monitored and tracked more closely to improve the company’s overall quality standards.

Enhanced Performance
Barcodes improve productivity in that many manual activities and tasks become automated enabling personnel resources to be utilized in other ways to increase the efficiencies of scale within an organization. In warehouses, even saving a few seconds per process of a bulky repetitive operation improves efficiency. Barcode printers can save a lot of time and reduce the expenditure in printing labels for warehouses.

On time execution
The increased efficiencies (e.g. improved workflows, reduction in error rates and resultant happier customers) that barcoding promotes enables on time execution for companies to save costs and substantially improve their bottom line. If your warehouse needs 24/7 barcode label output, you may need an industrial barcode printer. Industrial barcode printers are designed for higher duty cycle that facilitate on time execution.

The above-mentioned information helps you to understand the importance of barcode printers in enhancing warehouse performance.

For over 20 years, System ID has provided automation solutions and barcoding equipment to a wide range of large and small companies in virtually every industry sector. System ID offers more than 10,000 brand name products and services such as zebra printer and barcode scanners.