The importance of barcode quality is not a rhetorical question. Barcode quality is very important. Barcodes are the connective tissue that holds supply chains together. Bad barcodes used to be just a checkout line inconvenience; now they can mean life or death.  But what about a real life, daily life perspective?

The UPS Perspective on Barcode Quality

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Here is a feature panel from DC Velocity magazine:

If the cause of the delay was a non-working barcode, how long do you think it would take to get resolved if you were a UPS driver out on deliveries? Most barcode problems take a lot longer than 5 minutes to solve, and $105 Million is a lot of money.

While we’re talking about UPS, here’s another insight into how important time management is for them—and how much we can infer about the importance of barcodes.

UPS Service UpdateUPS sent out the following Service Update to account holders:

Considering how automated the UPC package handling process is, the impact of a bad barcode could trigger a chain reaction long before the package gets on the delivery driver’s truck. Non-reading barcodes shunt packages into staging areas. There a human resolves the problem and gets the package back into the sortation system. Sometimes this delays delivery. The entire system depends on the barcode working right.

A barcode Problem of 1% of drivers = 90 minutes lost

Ninety minutes…if 1% of the UPS drivers experience a barcode problem on May 10th. How many delivery charges would UPS have to absorb. What would that cost?

The statistic and the notification both illustrate how important barcode quality has become. There are two essential components in what barcode quality means. The first is the structural integrity of the data encoded in the barcode. The UPC symbol of 30 years ago is a smaller, simpler data set than the barcode on a UPS label, or an FDA compliance label. The other component, print quality is no longer the sole concern. Barcodes are playing a central role in complicated, extremely time-sensitive systems. They absolutely, positively must work. The risk and liability, and lot of money hang on these two factors. That is why barcode quality is more important than ever.

Comments are always welcome.

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3db Barcode Testimonial

Our company (an advanced software company) recently worked with Barcode Test to source a barcode verifier.  Not long ago, we were awarded a contract requiring products to be marked with IUIDs in accordance with MIL-STD-130.  For that standard, marking labels must pass a verification test that evaluates many variables (contrast, size, clarity, syntax, modularity, and more).  After a thorough search, we reduced our options to a select few.

In our search for a verifier, the Axicon line caught our attention.  Barcode Test is our regional reseller for this product.   From the beginning, they were very prompt with their responses.  We ended up having a quick call with John Nachtrieb to go over our needs.  John was extremely easy to work with and provided a lot of great information.  He was very knowledgeable on the matter and was quick to offer up a demo unit (free of charge).

Upon receiving the demo verifier and testing it, a few questions arose.  John joined a call with us and answered all our questions.  Ultimately, the Axicon verifier wasn’t the best fit for us, so we shipped the demo back.  John was completely understanding.  A few weeks later, Barcode Test reached back out with another possible verifier for us to try.  While they didn’t sell that brand, they just wanted to help us find the best option that met our needs. They even offered to send us the unit that they have in-house to see if it worked to our liking. 

Barcode Test is truly a great company to work with.  Their service and willingness to help the customer are far beyond what you typically get from other companies.  They are experts in barcode quality assurance and seem willing to help in any way they can (even if that means not getting a sale and recommending another option that better fits the customer’s needs).  If anyone is in the market for barcode verification/scanning services or products, I would highly recommend giving Barcode Test a call.

Regards,

Production Manager