We’ve made the point countless times before, and it bears repeating: barcode verifiers are expensive, but as a risk management tool, they pay for themselves. As a risk management tool, a barcode verifier accomplishes many important functions:

  • Evaluating print quality problems
  • Tracking print quality deterioration over time
  • Identifying the cause of the print quality problem
  • Validating barcode compliance to a specific application
  • Supporting customer confidence and loyalty

Not an Option

A barcode verifier in a highly regulated business is not an option. It is a metrology tool that requires periodic recalibration and recertification, and the quality system auditor will want to see the log. This also accrues to confidence in your process and accreditation. But if this is what you do and why you do it, you are getting only half the potential value of your barcode verifier investment—and probably most, if not all, of your other quality and compliance investments, too.

Risk management tools create value when they drive action, not just documentation.

Action, not Archives

Print problems detected by a barcode verifier point to printer settings including impression, print speed, barcode orientation, substrate and ink or ribbon compatibility and other problems. The verifier can also pinpoint compliance problems, which are structural, unrelated to print quality but every bit as important.

While documentation is important, its value extends beyond passing an audit. Leveraging that value starts with asking questions:

  • Are certain print quality problems recurring? What parameters are involved?
  • The Defects parameter is often related to poor printer maintenance
  • Barcode structural problems are often caused by the design data, not printer settings. How well do graphic design and label printing communicate?

Leverage Mindset

Examine the mindset. Is the barcode verifier considered just a reporting tool? When it tells you what is happening with your barcodes, do you just fix it and move on?

There is a potential treasury of information that the verifier can point you to: how often does this problem arise? Is it always just this printer, this design file, this substrate, this operator?

Early identification, timely decisions and collaboration turn potential risks into opportunities for prevention. It’s not more work—it’s just thinking differently.

We can help. Contact us here.

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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