Quality in Challenging Times

Quality is always important. Challenging times make quality even more important.

This also applies to barcode quality. Supply chains are always critical and arguably more so in challenging times.

Quality is Always Important

When this article was originally published in August 2020, we were descending into a global pandemic. All of us have lived through challenges since then, and will do so again. Except for the most dire of circumstances, hunkering down and waiting out the storm is a poor option. We need to be proactive. Barcodes hold supply chains together. Skimping on quality during a crisis is short-sighted and needlessly risky.

It’s not about getting ahead–it’s about proceeding carefully and wisely: responding rather than reacting.

Barcodes keep supply chains intact. Bad barcodes cause delays–and that’s the least of it. At worst, bad barcodes break the chain.

It has been a wild ride for businesses but stable supply chains remain critically important.

Barcodes Connect Systems

A supply chain is a system of many components. Barcodes are the connective tissue that holds it all together. The most advanced scanning systems fail if the barcode doesn’t work. ERP systems stall when the upstream supply chain breaks. Manufacturing operations including robotic systems halt when barcodes in the process don’t scan. Finished goods to distribution centers lounge on the docks. Where are the savings from cutting the quality budget? Of course quality comes at a cost–but the cost of reduced quality is often much higher.

Barcode verifiers are an investment. Where exactly are the savings that quality control promises? How can you compute the outrageous claim we make, that a barcode verifier pays for itself. See our case histories for situations where barcode verifiers solved a problem. But the greatest savings are when a barcode problem is prevented, when there was no actualized damage. How do you calculate the value of an averted loss? Now the CFO’s are getting restless. Now it’s down to trust. Real money will be spent to save what?

What is your product–really?

It’s not difficult to calculate a “what if” hypothetical occurrence.  Insurance companies do it everyday. But that’s not really the point. It’s more meaningful to take the larger view of your product. What actually is your product? I think it falls into the same category as the restlessness of the CFO. It’s a matter of trust.

Your product is a promise. Perhaps it nourishes a body, or a mind. Maybe it entertains, or helps you heal. Maybe it supports health and prevents llness. Whatever your product is, it is also a promise. Getting your product to where it delivers its promise–that’s what the barcode does. How important is that? What’s it worth? What’s it worth when times are good? Is it worth any less in difficult times?

We believe that the promise carries a greater value, is worth more, and is even more important in difficult times.

Trust and Verify

A final thought. Barcodes do a more than just get the product to your trading partner, to your store, into your hands. Barcodes also manage the inventory at every level in

the supply chain, right down to the retail outlet. Barcodes make sure your store doesn’t run out of your favorite yogurt. That same barcode also ensures that you have the correct product and pay the correct price. Yes mistakes do happen but thanks to barcodes, they are a tiny fraction of millions of transactions every day, globally. Once again, it’s all about trust.

Trust and verify. Ronald Reagan made it famous but he didn’t invent it. He first heard it from a scholar of Russian history,  Suzanne Massie. It makes sense.

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