While it is self-evident why barcode verification is necessary, it is less obvious why periodic recalibration of a verifier is important. What could be changing and making it necessary? Isn’t a verifier just a glorified scanner? Scanners do not need calibration.
While it is true that scanners are usually not recalibrated, they do degrade over time and may eventually begin to fail. Why they are not recalibrated is probably a combination of factors, including cost and inconvenience. As such, a scanner is basically a pass/fail gauge, although in truth it is not thought of as a gauge at all. This alone makes barcode verification even more important. When a scanner fails, the specter of liability immediately arises. The best defense is a report from a verifier that establishes that the barcode is good—and the scanner is at fault.
Only a calibrated, compliant barcode verifier can do this. It is a risk management tool that pays for itself. As such, regular, periodic recalibration is essential. What exactly does recalibration accomplish to keep the verifier honest?
Accuracy
In recalibration mode, the verifier is shown a test barcode with known dimensional characteristics. This resets the verifier so that it has a documented basis for testing the accuracy of barcodes it will subsequently evaluate. Accurate element width is key to accurately gauging print gain, which, when extreme, degrades reflectivity and makes accurate scanning increasingly difficult.
Consistency
Barcode verifiers are also scanners, subject to the same wear and tear factors. Recalibration counteracts these factors within the verifier’s life cycle, adjusting fading LED intensity and flattening the reflectance level of the scan field. Here again, when the verifier is set to expect a perfectly uniform substrate behind the barcode, it is properly sensitive, as a test device, to uneven substrates that will cause scanning problems.
Spend a Little Now or a Lot Later
Almost everyone comments about the high initial cost of a barcode verifier. It is a bit of a mirage. Barcode problems can creep up over time, costing a little here and there and adding up over time. Often, unmonitored printing leads to a major barcode failure, costing many times the price of a verifier. The apparent high cost of a verifier is nearly insignificant compared to the damage done by a failed barcode: damage not only to the balance sheet, but also to the confidence of an important trading partner, the damage to future business and the intangible damage to a reputation in the marketplace.
Compliant or Complaint?
When barcode verifier recalibration is neglected, the verifier becomes unreliable. Verification reports can be optimistic, passing barcodes that should be rejected or failing barcodes that are fine. Either extreme is wasteful at best or potentially devastating at worst. Either extreme has a price. A calibrated verifier saves real money at both ends. A verifier pays for itself.
Why are barcode verifiers not recalibrated? There are several reasons including the cost, although it is a small fraction of the possible cost of a bad barcode. Another factor is the inconvenience of the verifier being away. As an authorized Axicon verifier recalibration facility, we routinely turn around recalibrations in 24 hours or less, often return shipping verifiers the same day as received. We have rental units available when more extensive repairs are needed.
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