Tech

Importance, Types, Benefits and Disadvantage of Barcode Technology

By William Immelt

Posted on November 8, 2021

A bar code signifies a method of upholding the data in a visual, machine-coded form. Initially, barcodes extracted data by the varying widths and spacings of the parallel lines. But, nowadays these parallel lines are commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional and can be scanned by special equipment called barcode readers. With the change in science and technology, came the two-dimensional variant using rectangles and dots as their symbol. These were named Matrix codes or 2D barcodes. This time, the barcode can even be scanned by a smartphone with a build-camera using specialized application software.

Barcode scanners are used in association with the bar codes. It is a complex device that gets connected to a computer for its operating. It gets connected through an internal decoder and a code through compatible ports. Information is often transacted or preached through these two devices simply by converting optical impulses to electrical impulses.

The sources get transmitted by the prime light source, lenses, and photoconductor within the bar code scanner. The bar code is scanned for the outcoming image and the photoconductor copies or reads the image thoroughly. This then further gets decoded by the inbuilt high dimensional decoder circuit. The decoded output is further transmitted via the scanner’s output impulses to the computer. This thing thus enables the users to interpret the data for further use. There are several forms of barcode readers available such as; hand-held or physically lead, hands-free or wireless, wearable, laser or digital, and the most frequently used scan engines.

History about Bar Code Technology

The bar-code was invented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard silver, which was patented in the USA in late 1951. The invention was casually focused on Morse code, which was thin and thick bars. However, it took about twenty years before it became commercially successful. But, they were soon abandoned when the privatization of railways took place. Barcodes became more popular and useful when they were used as checkout systems in supermarkets.

This particular task made it superbly universal. In 1973, the UGPCC choose the barcode designed by George Lauren. His chosen barcodes contained vertical bars, printed even better than the circular barcodes earlier invented by woodland and silver. The very first use of the non-ubiquitous universal product code was performed on a pack of chewing gum in early June 1974 at the Marsh supermarket in Ohio.

Importance of Barcodes

Bar-codes are used widely in the markets and across a number of applications:

Mobile loyalty – mobile loyalty has been a successful program in recent days and is used widely by many retail chains, restaurants, hotels, etc. they offer their customers the privilege to sign up and manage their orders and belongings by mobile and get rewards for those.

Multiple barcode capture – multiple codes are used generally in supermarkets. Retailers are able to extract the UPC, manufacturing date, lot number, etc. from an item to make records and serve the customers well.

Optical character recognition – businesses that carry invoices with customer names and account numbers in OCR fonts can use an image to extract the information into an application. Other fonts also include a barcode use such as Magnetic Ink character recognition and U.S currency.

Shipping/receiving – shipping labels use 2D barcodes that contain more information and allow better data accuracy. Pick and pack usually scan the 1D and the 2D barcodes under shelf labels, product labels, and then finally pick and pack and ship orders. 2D codes give small footprints than 1D codes.

Advertising – with the help of a smartphone and just by downloading an app that can read barcodes you can discover a lot more information about whatever is being advertised. The 2D barcodes not so popular in the US has a variety of use in Japan. They have 2D barcodes almost everywhere such as retail stores, fast food corners, train stations.

Types of barcodes

There are various types of barcodes available, few are really rare and are not so used;

Code 39 – This is the eldest barcode around and is commonly found in electronics, governmental departments, etc. it’s a 1D, lineal alphanumeric code with the ability to include the entire 128 ASCII character set. If you take space as a huge concern, then this could be the best choice.

Code 128 – Derived from the ASCII 128 character. This type of barcode is used extremely in packaging and shipping works worldwide. This type of code, barcode 128 features an automatic switching that allows users to optimize it for the required barcode length.

Interleaved 2 of 5 – Barcode 2 of 5 is a numeric-only barcode used to encode pairs of numbers only. They are commonly found in warehouses, distribution, and manufacturing. The number of digits used here must be even for this format of work. So, a zero is added after a great odd set of numbers.

Universal product codes – This type of barcode is commonly found on every grocery and on a retail product. This was originally originated in the grocery stores to provide a quick receipt process and inventory tracking.

International article number – This set of barcodes is generally used by booksellers, libraries, universities, etc. These 13 digit codes were created from the ISBN for each respective book tracked. This type of bar code is of great help for the unique identification of publishers.

PDF417 – This form of stacked linear 2D barcode can be found in many types of driver’s licenses. This is the most chosen standard for the department of homeland security because of its unique capabilities and functions. It can be expansive in size; 4 times larger than the 2D barcodes.

Data matrix – This is identified as the most common 2D barcodes available these days. It is square in shape and can encode large amounts of information in a very small space. It is very popular in electronics manufacturing, healthcare, etc. when companies need more storage 2D barcodes always prove superior to the old 1D counterparts.

Benefits of using Barcodes

Some of the benefits of barcodes are;

Barcodes eliminate the possibility of human error. A bar code scan is fast and reliable and takes immensely less time than data entry by hand.

Using a barcode system reduces the training time of the employee. It takes only a few minutes to learn the and-held scanner for encoding the barcodes. This makes the training process cheap and short and thus no other employee has to compensate for training them.

Barcodes are inexpensive to design and print. They can easily be fixed economically, in a variety of finishes and materials.

Barcodes are immensely versatile. They can be used in any type of data collection work. This even involves pricing, tagging, and inventory information.

They provide better decision-making. Just because data is procured rapidly and accurately it is quite easy to make more informed decisions. Thus, better decision-making helps save more time and money.

Data obtained through a barcode scanner is quick and easy, saves an ample amount of time. This quick procedure ensures that data entry will not be a hectic problem anymore.

Barcodes help keep every data of the inventory. This makes it easy for the employees and eventually less money gets wasted in the process.

Disadvantages of using barcodes

Cost – For using such technology, one has to be purchased with such expensive stuff. The price is even higher in the case of a 2D scanner. For small business entities, this cost cannot be justified.

Physical damages – These types of machines are easily vulnerable to physical damages done. Just like other materials, these are too fragile and have wear and tear. Such technology when damaged takes a lot to get repaired and thus implies an additional burden for small industries.

Information – This type of technology can only code a fixed amount of information only. And this information’s are mostly about the product and manufactures. Even, crucial information regarding the date of expiry and manufacture is not included. They provide the extra burden of gaining information separately from each product.

Security – Not all the barcodes are genuine or legit. There may be some leaked or malicious barcodes set up intentionally by some cyber criminals. If by chance anyone scans a corrupted barcode, the system can potentially be handed over to the hackers without knowing. This could even open up other information to the hackers. Since the USB connecting the scanner and the computer as a keyboard acts as the perfect source to gain easy access to the operating system.

Conclusion

Since, by now after getting through all the important facts about the bar code scanner and the technology in use, It’s really a tough one to ignore in our modernized world nowadays. In these days of constant technology change, it has been a huge invention for the supermarkets and industries whatsoever. Regardless of the cons of the barcode scanners, the benefits provided by them are of huge advantage to us. It’s no doubt that it has already become an integral part of our commercial life.