Verifying a Barcode with a Scanner or Smartphone

Albert Hu on Unsplash

We often get inquiries about poorly grading barcodes, or barcodes that fail to scan with a verifier, but scan just fine with a smartphone or scanner.

What does a scanner or a smartphone tell you about a barcode. Here is the complete list:

• The barcode decoded, or…
• The barcode failed to decode

That’s it.

Verifying with a Scanner

Here is the complete list what you don’t know about a barcode scanned with a scanner :

• You don’t know if the barcode data is correctly formatted for its application
• You don’t know if the barcode is already failing or nearly failing the ISO print quality standard. It either scans or it doesn’t. Most applications require at least a C grade.
• You don’t know if the barcode will scan on other brands or types of scanners. Laser scanners behave differently from CCDs and camera-based scanners.
• You don’t know if an older or newer scanner than yours will have the same results as yours

Verifying with a Smartphone

Using a smartphone is even worse. You don’t know all of the above, plus:

• You don’t know if a scanner can see the barcode if it is printed in color and/or against a colored background. Your smartphone uses white light or ambient light. A scanner doesn’t.
• You don’t know if the quiet zones are intact
• You don’t know if the barcode is the correct type for the application.
• You don’t know if the barcode has the correct dimensional properties

Using a scanner or smartphone to verify a barcode only provides one thing: false confidence. Is that really what you want when there is so much liability with a bad barcode?

Liability

How much liability is there?

• Some retailers fine suppliers up to $5 for each unreadable barcode.
• What would it cost to remake all the bad barcodes—and the cost of the labor to affix them? Imagine a shipment of seasonal shirts from Vietnam in a sea freight container of 40,000 of them.
• What does it cost when a barcode disrupts the launch of a regulated product, like a drug or medical device?
• What is the cost when a bad barcode disrupts the recall of contaminated food, a dangerous child’s toy, or a defective medical device? Some people are sickened. Some die.
• What does production downtime cost when a bad barcode halts manufacturing, breaks a supply chain, or pollutes an inventory system with incorrect information?
• What is the value of lost future sales due to reputational damage?

It’s quick and easy to manage that risk. We can help.