Commitment Time: How to Buy a Barcode Verifier

The decision has been made. You have the go-ahead from purchasing: go ahead and buy a barcode verifier. Motivated by what?

(a) The cost of chargebacks,

(b) collateral damage to your vendor reputation,

(c) a mandate from your ISO auditor, or

(d) recognition that quality can be a strategic advantage.

Maybe something else.  Pain is often the motivation. Sometimes the motivation is more visionary or strategic. Whatever the stimulus, the decision to move forward has been made. Now you must choose.

How do you choose?

A human paradox raises its ironic head. Sick, depressed, scared or angry, most of us want comfort food. Or a drink. Or a smoke. Or a shopping spree. It promises to fill a need, but does it really solve a problem?

A major purchase decision is a similar threshold. Thousands of dollars in the balance. Your career (always) under the magnifier. Choose wisely or embarrass yourself (or worse). What is the smart decision? What will win accolades? There are two seemingly safe passages: (a) something familiar and (b) something cheap. There is another way, better than smart. There is wise.

Fools can be smart. Better to be wise.

Here is a short list of what is required of a barcode verifier. When you have the go-ahead to buy one, here is what you should look for:

• Accuracy – The device must measure and report barcode quality to a known degree of accuracy. It must comply with a standard that is accepted everywhere.
• Reliability – The verifier should have a track record and a great factory warranty. Ask for user recommendations—not curated user reviews. And ask about how to keep the device accurate and reliable.
• Authoritative – Even a non-working clock reports the right time twice a day. How can you be sure the verifier grade is unquestionably correct every time, all the time?
• Easy to Use – Unless your expertise is barcode quality, you probably have other things to worry about. Complicated, confusing verifier settings are not helpful when you are working to meet a production deadline.
• Easy to Understand – Do the test results help you make adjustments to improve the grade? If not, what good are they?
• Realistic pricing – Yes, the cost of a verifier is a consideration. The plain truth is all verifiers are expensive, even the ones that are not accurate, reliable, authoritative or user-friendly. The real difference from a cost perspective is value.

If the least expensive verifier produces a questionable result or does not point you to a solution to improve barcode quality, most if not all of your smaller investment is wasted.  The smartness of the decision will soon be forgotten when the foolishness reveals itself.

Keeping Promises

Quality is intrinsically important. It helps you and your client keep promises.

Quality creates a great strategic advantage.

Keeping promises is value; value creates loyalty; loyalty builds businesses.

We can help. Barcode Test LLC is an independent barcode test lab. We test barcodes as a service. Verifiers are the tools we use.

Contact us. We can help you find the right device, or test your barcodes for you.

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