Everyone is familiar with the ubiquitous barcode label. They feature on just about every product you buy today.
Barcodes were introduced decades ago and although they are familiar to all, many people still don’t understand how the barcode system works. Basically, each barcode is unique to the product it is printed on. This unique code can be read by a scanner and then identified against a database of all stored barcodes on a computer system. This system can then hold important information about the item, such as the item’s serial number or identification number, the price of the item and other information such as stock levels of the item.
The information contained on this database can then be used in a number of ways. One way which is easy to see, is when a barcode is scanned at a point of sale or checkout. When the item is scanned, the item name and the price of the item is displayed. Things a customer doesn’t see here however is that the stock numbers of the item are reduced when the item is purchased. The database can be set up to let the store know when current stock is running out so they can order more.
Barcodes help with things such as when the item arrived on site, if the item has a sell-by date, if the item needs to be returned before a certain date and other such things besides.