The Realistic Return On Investment of a Barcode Verifier

A common, undeniable objection to barcode verifiers is that they are expensive. Compared to a scanner, a verifier is indeed pricey, but the comparison is flawed.  One could argue that a scanner is a tool for making money, like a hammer or a drill. In the hands of a worker, it generates income. The cost of quality control is seen as overhead. However, a verifier will generate many times its initial value. It prevents chargebacks and other liabilities from inaccurate or incorrect barcodes. Another important benefit of verification is the confidence and loyalty good barcodes bring to trading partners in a supply chain.

Verifiers Return on Investment

The return on investment for a verifier may seem imagined, but it is real. Here are some examples.

• A vendor to a big box retailer was getting chargebacks for bad GTIN14 barcodes on their outer cartons. They acquired an Axicon 7015 verifier for about $4500 and it saved them $5,000 in the first week.
• An Asian garment manufacturer paid over $25,000 in chargebacks. This was the cost to relabel over bad barcodes on sea freight bound for a major US department store. Axicon verifiers at point-of-departure have eliminated all chargebacks and pay for themselves repeatedly every week.
• In the first 12 months of ownership, an East Coast soft goods distributor saved $50,000 in chargeback prevention with (2) Axicon verifiers.
  

  

  

Verifiers Bring Other Savings Too

Chargebacks are not the only way verifiers pay for themselves. Here are some other cases:

• A manufacturer of medical supplies used a verifier to find a more reliable way to print barcodes on their infusion bag products.
• A major medical device company used a verifier to prove that the alleged problem with their barcodes was the fault of the user’s scanners and not the barcodes. The user was chagrined, grateful for the news and impressed with the diligence of the vendor.
• Pick list barcodes at a Midwest manufacturer were increasingly difficult to scan. The user suspected the 1D barcodes were too long and was getting quotes on a large quantity of new scanners. A verifier pinpointed the problem as poor quality barcodes; the expense of needlessly replacing hundreds of scanners was avoided.

Verify Barcodes at the Source

Keeping poor quality barcodes from escaping does not completely eliminate cost and waste. Even if a chargeback is averted, the bad barcodes must still be replaced. The ideal place for barcode verification is where—and when—the barcodes are printed. Bad barcodes detected during printing can be corrected with minimal wasted time and material.

Axicon 1D verifiers can be used as a reflectance densitometer, to test the color combinations for the barcode and its background—even before the barcode has been printed. When the customer insists on a questionable barcode color scheme, a sign-off can save the printer from later regret—and save the account if the customer can be convinced to heed the savvy printer’s warning. That’s the work of a great vendor, and it is often rewarded with loyalty.