We cannot imagine a business today that does not have use for a barcode, they are everywhere and naturally, a business that does not have them must be still labouring in years gone by. We have seen that what makes them ideal is because of the accuracy, consistency, speed and economy which they provide to the manufacturer or retailer.
Stock taking made easier
Never a thing that any business looks forward to, but it is not possible to run a business efficiently and above all know if it is profitable without undertaking a stock take at least one a year, well run business will do it more than that. Depending upon the necessity for totally accuracy or a close approximation, will determine when the stock take takes place. For most business, this is undertaken after trading has ceased for the day.
Basic uses for the barcode
We are all familiar with the barcode, it is on just about every conceivable product that has been made for many years now, and so familiar is it to us all that most of us do not even notice it any more. However, how many people realise the numerous functions that can be performed with the barcode? Put simply, barcodes have become part of our everyday lives.
Barcoding Summary
We have seen that barcoding has been part of the technology infrastructure of business for many years. While the technology is not new, the many uses for bar coding do not stand still and we are today seeing many new applications which re only just becoming relevant.
A guide to barcodes and printing Part1
We are quite used to seeing the familiar bar codes on products which are parallel, adjacent bars and are found on many products. The ones with which we are most familiar with are on the products found in the retail environment, particularly supermarkets.
Barcodes have been used for many decades now and initially were used in transport and warehousing, as well as manufacturing. Today with the rise in technology and computing, barcoding has become an indispensable tool for business operations, used for many purposes including provide immediate and accurate data collection.
Why do I need high quality barcode labels?
The answer would probably be, it all depends upon what the barcode is to be used on and the purpose of the barcode. If it is simply to price a product, then paper labels will usually satisfy most environments, but if it is for asset tagging or for industrial applications, something more robust may be required.
Three distinct types of barcode label
The pricing and selling of goods has been made much simpler since the introduction of barcode labels just a few decades ago. Generally the barcode is printed onto the product at the time when this is in its final stages and a label is attached, but there are also barcode labels available which can be affixed to any product at any point in the product’s life-cycle.
The value of a cheap barcode
There is a very well known saying that goes along the lines of “you get what you pay for” and that would to some degree apply to barcodes as well. We are now used to seeing barcodes every time that we shop, they are the familiar thick and thin parallel lines which have a display of numbers beneath them.
Barcodes and their uses
We are all today aware of barcodes and many of their uses, and although it first appeared in America 62 years ago, although it took a little while for it to become established there, but by 1979 a visitor to the United States from the UK would have wondered how the supermarkets and pharmacies managed to get all the items into the cash register in such a short space of time, the barcode was virtually unheard of here then.
An invisible barcode is being developed
Well it’s not the sort of thing that we could provide for you business, it is however a very useful tool in the fight to detect to track explosives, medicines and bank notes.
Although it is not in any way a conventional barcode, but it is a very interesting development that has been found by a research team at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in America. They found that some nano-particles have unique characteristics that can be used to mark items, reduce crime and counterfeiting; they are so small that they can be put into any object.