Article1:Sabarcodes.co.za
The A to Z of Barcodes A barcode is a machine readable code in the form of numbers and a pattern of parallel lines of different widths that is printed on a commodity. Barcodes are usually used for stock control – inventory availability, pricing and other details. It is an optical representation of the data about the object that carries it. Initially, barcodes were developed to satisfy the need of a system to automatically read product information during checkout. The barcodes were one dimensional at first, mostly about lines that varied in width, and then the two dimensional ones came into popular usage – including the shapes like rectangles, dots, hexagons and other geometrical patterns. The name ‘barcode’ stuck for these shapes too, though they didn’t use ‘bars’ because by then the name had become synonymous with any code that contained data about a commodity. The commercial intention Though it wasn’t initially the idea, barcodes quickly became successful in commercial systems, and the industrial usage of barcodes, in simple words, completely revolutionized the stock inventory system. Barcodes quickly took over as the most effective means of stock regulation and control, including easy pricing information which eased the whole supermarket experience. Barcodes quickly became hugely popular because of the universality (they can be read anywhere with a simple barcode reader and would still generate the same data), simplicity (they can be printed very easily on almost all surfaces and can contain all the information ever needed about the product), and low cost (the generating and printing of barcodes are fairly easy processes that do not include any excessive cost or huge investments). What could a barcode contain? While it is technically possible for a barcode to also include information about the pricing of commodities in the super market, it usually is not the common practice because the prices keep varying place to place based on other factors like how the product was transported and the excessive costs involved in the whole process to get the product to the end consumer’s hands. But a barcode does contain other information about the product that will not vary – things like where it was produced, the date of production and the batch number that shall denote the particular factory or place it was procured from. Is there a particular size limitation? Barcodes are usually limited by the number of characters they can hold. 1D barcodes hold 20-25 characters which led to the development of 2D barcodes that helped store a larger number of characters (around 2000) and consequently more information. A barcode can be fitted in 1/8th inch square for a 2D code but will include a sizeable reduction in the number of characters (and size of information) that can be included. They would also have to be printed in very high resolution label printer to ensure high quality print that is readable by a normal
Article1:Sabarcodes.co.za
end market scanner. The lesser the size, the more difficult it is to read the barcode. This is why some products that have less printable area actually use separate labels to give space for a barcode. Online barcodes are sold by barcode companies. You can buy a barcode or a barcode number from companies that offer barcodes for sale. Barcodes for business in South Africa are available from sabarcodes.com ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jennifer Greene is a post-graduate student in Business Management, who specializes in logistics, inventory, procurement and sales. She has written many articles on inventory management, and believes www.sabarcodes.co.za to be a very good source of information and online barcodes.