What is a Barcode Anyway?

Many people, when they talk about barcodes, are referring to retail barcodes which are comprised of a GS1 13 digit Global Trade Item Number encoded into a one dimensional barcode using EAN13 (UPC-A in the USA) barcode symbology that was originally developed by IBM. So, a “Barcode” is not just one thing.

1. It’s a global trade data exchange system for business.
2. It’s an item number issued by GS1 the manager of the system, that uniquely identifies your product from every other product in the world.
3. It’s a data encoding symbology that can be read by widely available barcode readers to speed data entry into information systems.

New retailers who develop their own products or white label others, will soon be told that in order to sell in retail, you need to have barcodes. This means you need a globally unique item number for each of your retail sale packs that you can use to print a barcode on your product packaging.

You can get the barcodes from GS1, but they require you to sign up as a member and pay annual fees plus the costs of your barcodes. GS1 membership includes the listing of your products on a globally accessible product database. If you sell to big retailers, they may insist on GS1 membership as a condition of being a supplier. But if you sell direct and through small retailers this will not be required, and you can get your barcodes from other suppliers.

Why GS1?

GS1 (Global Systems 1) evolved from EAN and UPC* which were founded to standardise trading information exchange between businesses in the retail supply chain. They developed a lot of data standards for EDI (Electronic Data interchange) so that businesses with very high transaction volumes could save a lot of money on manual data entry. The biggest impact that most people see from this effort was the introduction of barcodes on products. This automated the identification of products at checkout and meant that manual price tagging was no longer required. It also helped retail stores to track the inventory of their items in store. It was huge and it transformed retail. *(European Article Numbering organisation or Universal Product Code Council in the USA)

Barcode Symbologies

Barcodes were developed to automate data entry into computer systems. They are scanned with a laser and a reader that measures the differences in light reflected off the black and white bars. Modern scanners now use imaging scanners so that they can read 2 Dimensional barcodes like the now ubiquitous QR code. 2D barcodes can code a lot of data in a small space, 2,000 or more characters, making them very useful for variable product data or general information.

Barcode symbologies have evolved and are better at encoding data with less bars which also makes them easier to read. The barcodes you see everywhere on retail items use the EAN13 standard which is a very efficient way of encoding numbers 0-9. There are lots of different symbologies that are used for various purposes such as Code 128 standard (used for some GS1 barcodes) which encodes the full ASCII character set, and Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF), which is another numeric only barcode used for the EAN14 carton level barcodes.

If you don’t know what symbology your barcodes are, you can check them with a barcode scanning app on your phone, which will read them and tell you the barcode symbology. If you are having trouble reading the barcodes, make sure you are not using an old symbology for your barcodes. For example Code 39 barcodes can have very fine minimum bar widths that are hard to read if they are not printed very precisely. Many barcodes are printed by thermal label printers at only 200dpi, and the print quality is variable and can be poor if they are not set up correctly. Code 128 is much better for general use as it has wider bars.

Common 1D Barcode Symbologies and Their Applications

Common 2D Barcode Symbologies and Their Applications

The Future?

GS1 are proposing a transition to 2D barcodes but I don’t see this happening any time soon. The only point of moving to a 2D barcode is their ability to encode additional information such as pack size or batch/expiry data or other product information. The use case appears a bit vague to me, so I don’t see this taking off until something makes it compelling.

The key issue is that every POS (and every WMS) in the world would need to be able to parse out the item number from any other information encoded in the 2D barcode. Which seems like an unlikely feat of global coordination. Another issue is that there would still be a lot of scanners around that can only scan 1D barcodes. You can still buy 1D only barcode scanners if that is all you need, as they are cheaper.

GS1’s suggestion is that you print a 2D and a 1D barcode on your label to ensure backwards compatibility But I expect manufacturers will resist, and it may cause practical problems if both barcodes are scanned at the same time. Unless it becomes mandatory in your world, my suggestion is to stick with 1D barcodes.

Non-Retail Barcodes

Outside of the retail industry the use of barcodes on products is far from universal. Many industrial items are not barcoded as they never go anywhere near a POS system. Some industries have developed their own barcoding standards as the GS1 retail system was not thought to be suitable. One example of this is the Health Industry Barcode that seeks to apply the principles of barcoding in retail to the specific needs of the healthcare industry.

If you are not in retail and you want to use barcodes, then of course you can. If there are no regulatory bodies governing how you use them, then you have the freedom to use them how you want in a way that makes sense within your business and with your trading partners. But learn from the best, have a look at how the retail system works and adapt it to suit you.

WMS and Barcoding

How are barcodes used in a warehouse management system? There are three main uses:

1. Item Id. Barcodes on items confirm that you are handling the correct item during receiving, putaway, replenishment and picking. If you don’t have barcodes, it is still fine to use a WMS, but the system needs to be set up to not require a scan of the item number. The LCC-WMS can be set up this way.
2. Licence Plates. Licence Plates are barcodes used as a reference number attached to a carrier of stock (Pallet, Tote, Carton etc) and are used to move the carrier (with all its contents) around the warehouse with one scan. Licence Plate barcodes can be simple numbered labels printed locally in the warehouse, or they can be part of the GS1 system where they are referred to as a SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) and applied by the shipper of the goods so that the receiver can speed their receipting process.
3. Bin Location Numbering. The storage slots, bins, locations, positions, (so many names for the same thing!) are usually barcoded so that moves of stock and counts are tracked accurately for a physical location in the warehouse. I have a detailed paper on warehouse location numbering if you are looking at barcoding your racking.

All a barcode does, is facilitate accurate data entry into a computer system. Wherever you need to capture data about anything, you can do it with a barcode. In the warehouse, barcode scanning comes as close as anything to guaranteeing that you are handling the right item, in the right place. With the right WMS workflow, it can also guarantee that your item count is also correct.

Barcodes are a mature and delightfully simple technology that works so well they are everywhere now. That is the best kind of tech.