Is Barcode Verification Necessary?

Some companies verify their barcodes, while others don’t. Whatever side of the divide they occupy, all of them have their reasons. Those who do not are the most interesting. Here are some of the reasons:

• Our new, state-of-the-art printers and barcode design software are assuring us that our barcodes will be good. The sales rep said so.
• We have been in business for over 20 years, and we’ve never had a barcode problem.
• Endless hours and millions of dollars are invested in this project. Once we bring it to market, we will have the time and bandwidth to verify the barcodes.
• We are an honest company that does everything to the best of our ability. Bad things won’t happen to us.

Much of the reasoning isn’t really reasoning at all—it’s belief. There is a big difference.  State-of-the-art equipment does not shift responsibility to others. A history of no problems is not an infallible guarantee of a future without problems. Endless hours and money spent is exactly what is at risk initially. In the real world, bad things happen to good people.

Barcode Risk is Business Risk

Bad barcodes are a risk. Barcode risk is business risk. Risk is not binary—it isn’t a question of whether or not there is risk. The question is, how much? The math is simple but easy to avoid:

What are the chances the barcode might fail? Multiply this by the cost to the project if it does. Then, compare this to the cost of a verifier. There’s your answer.

An entry-level digital printer can cost from $15,000 to $50,000. A mid-range digital press costs $50,000 to $200,000. On the low end, let’s say $100,000 is at risk.

Direct and Indirect Damage

The direct financial damage of a bad barcode includes the cost of materials and labor, express shipping, and lost margin. Retail chargebacks range from $1000 to $10,000 per incident. Non-compliant UDI labels on a medical device trigger FDA warnings and costs of $50,000 to $500.000. Serialization errors in pharma can halt production lines, costing $100,000 or more per day.

Indirect costs include the potential lifetime value loss of a client relationship and reputational damage. Word spreads quickly. You may incur insurance and legal costs, as well as operational disruption. Critical businesspeople will be distracted for weeks or months dealing with the blowback, leaving a gap in business operations that could cascade into new problems.

This is just the lower-end small business metrics. Mid-range and larger businesses have higher financial exposure. A lot also depends on the nature of the barcode problem. A minor issue can cost less than a catastrophic failure, even if the indirect costs are similar.

The Best for Last

Saving the best for last, there are two additional excuses we hear for not verifying your barcodes:

Business is Bad Right Now.

There are some mysterious gymnastics in this rationale. When the business is producing fewer products, is a potential risk less important?  If, in the so-called bad times, there is an opportunity to attract new business by purchasing a new piece of equipment, wouldn’t that investment be justified?  Investing  $5000 to $20,000 in a verifier, including installation and training.

Verifiers are expensive

Like most tools, a barcode verifier is expensive when viewed solely as a capital expense. But buying a verifier isn’t the only way to benefit from one. A barcode testing service can do the same thing without the initial investment and training costs. Plus you get an already-trained barcode expert to explain the verification report and how to improve grading.

It’s not always what you know—sometimes it’s who you know.

Did I mention that we offer barcoding testing as a service? Contact us here.