He Barcode, an insignificant element at first sight, was from its birth a complete revolution, and not only in the world of commerce. In addition to how we buy and sell all kinds of products, it has changed all kinds of aspects of society, and its use has spread to all kinds of sectors. Today, already half a century old, it has also evolved to give way to variants and technologies such as QR codes or RFID technology.
Every day there are 10,000 million people who use a barcode in any of its formats, a much higher use than, for example, the popular Google search engine. Plus, its identifying vertical black and white lines have far more visibility than any of today’s most popular brands, from Nike to Apple to Starbucks.
This set of black and white lines is found in practically all the products that are bought and sold around the world, and its origins go back to the need to end the queues to pay that formed in the middle of the last century in the stores of feeding. They needed to have a solution that would allow their owners and employees to capture product data automatically. A system capable of doing this type of task with greater precision than humans was also necessary, thus reducing or eliminating its errors. (Zolpidem)
Was an IBM engineer, George J. Laurer, in charge of creating the barcode. Seen from the outside, the process seemed simple, but it wasn’t. In addition, the design of it took several years. Initially, in the late 1940s, the design for the barcode looked a lot more like a target than it did. Proposed by Joe Woodland and inspired by Morse code, it was circular. But it was not effective, which Laurer realized while working on the improvement process, because during printing it was stained.
To avoid this, he designed a vertical pattern of strips that he presented to his superiors around 1972. IBM management accepted the change, and Laurer worked with Woodland himself and with the mathematician David Savir to develop and finalize the details of the new format. Among the novelties added by them to the barcode were a verification digit to be able to check if there were errors in them or not. The information about a product that is stored in a barcode can be read with the help of a specific scanner, of the multiplane type, and that can be fixed or portable.
In 1973, IBM submitted its final proposal to the Symbol Selection Committee of the Uniform Grocery Product Code Council, a group made up of grocery store companies, which accepted it. And soon after, he started using it. In June 1974, an Ohio supermarket called Marsh’s Supermarket installed the first UPC scanner for reading barcodes.
Its mission was to reduce customer waiting time at checkouts, expedite product collection, and increase employee productivity. The first product to be scanned was a pack of gum, and since then, barcodes have spread to stores around the world, causing a revolution in retail. But also in the way consumers buy and pay.
The Barcode Evolution: QR Codes and RFID Technology
Although the use of the barcode is still practically universal in its original format, this is not to say that it has not improved since its creation. Or that it has not given rise to other elements. Indeed, its evolution has led to the birth of QR codes, which have experienced a veritable explosion since the pandemic to replace restaurant menus. They are also used in informative posters to access various information online, or to access the download page of mobile applications from which they are read.
Actually, a QR code is just a barcode, which has codes in a square format instead of the original. It can be 2D, like the traditional ones, or also 3D. In these cases, QR codes are capable of storing more information. In these cases they can even be used to locate anomalies in different types of machinery. For this, yes, it is necessary to use specific solutions for fixed industrial scanning, as well as computer vision.
These fixed industrial scanners represent a growing trend in industrial automation. It is capable of reading the barcodes of products and equipment that move along conveyor belts. Also those that move through order lines both in warehouses and in distribution centers.
Through this system, logistics managers or customers who have purchased a product can know its position and status. In short, they also serve to check if a product has gone through a specific point or has not yet done so.
These types of scanners can also be configured to verify that product labels are correct. Or to confirm that the items in an order are packed and/or picked up. They can also facilitate shipments. Thanks to the possibility of configuring the fixed scanners for artificial vision, they could also identify items that are not suitable for return, depending on the regulations of each store or company. In addition, of course, to see from the outside of a package if a product is defective or has been poorly designed. Also if it is mislabeled.
RFID systems and technologies are already a more sophisticated step in the evolution of barcodes. They are used above all in points, products and systems where there is not so much visibility. In areas such as those dedicated to the monitoring and control of stock in stores and warehouses, logistics, pharmacy (for drug control) and health.
This may surprise many, who do not associate barcodes in any of their formats. But the truth is that both barcodes and their scanners are used daily to quickly and accurately link patients with their histories and medication. Even with their doctors and treatments. They are currently a guarantee not only to identify defective products or to reduce human errors in many sectors. Also to minimize health failures and ensure that patients receive the care they need in each case.
In fact, according to Mark Thompson, Director of Retail at Zebra Technologies in EMEA«there is much more to the barcode than meets the eye. It has revolutionized the way of doing business around the world, from commerce, to hospitality, health or logistics, making transactions and product tracking faster, easier and safer. It has even opened the door to other later innovations, such as QR codes, radio frequency identification (RFID), fixed industrial scanning or computer vision. As for his future, it is clear that he is here to stay. Since its discovery, we have witnessed developments so innovative that their value will only increase more and more, and technologies such as mobile scanners or fixed industrial scanning, will be essential for the success of all types of sectors and global industries.
