The barcode is a great invention and it has now appeared on just about every item that we buy or use and it is hard to imagine what life was like before the series of lines was added to a product label. However the barcode is of no use at all without a device that will read the information that is stored on the code, this is where the barcode reader or scanner as it is sometimes referred to is necessary.
Barcodes, Barcodes & More Barcodes
Barcoding your product, asset or package can save your organisation time, money, increase productivity, make keeping control of stock easier; in fact it is hard to contemplate what we all did before the advent of the barcode. Depending on the product, or item which the barcode is to be attached to, will largely determine to a large the type of material and life span of the label that will be needed.
Thermal printed barcode labels
A question that we are often asked is “what is thermal printing” and the answer is that this is a method that is often preferred when producing barcode labels. Barcode printers use either direct thermal or thermal transfer techniques to apply ink to labels. Put simply a thermal printer is a non impact printer which works by using a print head which contains a lot of small heating pins that on contact, effectively burn dots onto special coated paper.
Producing barcode labels
DataLabel has been producing barcode labels for many years and we are familiar with all the necessary procedures that must be employed if a good readable barcode label is made to sit on the product. Barcode labels are imperative for most modern businesses today; there cannot be a product that does not have one in the commercial or retail world.
Barcodes standards explained
There are seven standard barcode labels and each one has a use that can be specific to an industry or a particular use. For example, code 39 is an alphanumeric code by which the width of the bars, colours and spacing make up a series of 43 characters, consisting of uppercase letters, A to Z numeric digits 0 to 9 and a number of special characters.
The important barcode
There are a number of barcodes in use but importantly as far as we are concerned here in the UK, only two are universally used, others such as Royal Mail are specific to them alone. It is perfectly possible to print your own barcodes, but it can be difficult and it does really require some expertise and above all a thermal printer. In addition you will need some professional label printing software, specific to your printer.
Are you printing your own labels?
We are happy to supply labels for your particular requirement in whatever form is required for the product. However if you are want to print the labels yourself, again this will not cause any difficulties, but we will know the printer specification so we can make sure the labels we supply are compatible.
Your Business & Barcodes
This clever invention has made the whole experience of shopping in the supermarket, paper shop, convenience store, accessory shop, a whole lot better than it was a few years ago, thanks to the barcode. You grab the items that you want and hey presto you are through the checkout in no time, no longer looking up prices and punching them into a cash register, not at all, a simple swipe across the barcode reader and the information is loaded electronically into the till.
QR Coded Labels
Increasingly at DataLabel we are being asked to incorporate QR coding to labels, this is in order for manufacturers this is in order to link with their own main websites, or to give the customer promotional information. To explain a QR code, which is short for “quick response” is a specific two-dimensional barcode, which is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones.
Barcode medication systems transform safety
Trials carried out in Bristol using barcode label technology has been used in a number of care homes with great success and has resulted in medication safety systems have being transformed. This pioneering technology is due to an innovative collaboration between NHS Bristol, Pharmacy Plus and the care home sector.