People often get confused on what is a barcode. A barcode is a number represented in vertical lines of varying widths printed on labels to uniquely identify items. It is used for tracking assets, inventory, documents & people.

In many cases, a barcode is used as the key field to your database of that product. An example is when you go into a convenience store. You go to the checkout and the product is scanned. Information comes up on the POS terminal about that product. Such as price and description. That information is retrieved from the database. Not the barcode. The barcode merely acts as a link to the database on that products information

If you really want to get technical……then a barcode (also bar code) is a machine readable representation of information (usually dark ink on a light background to create high and low reflectance which is converted to 1s and 0s, which is a binary language that computers use. Originally, barcodes stored data in the widths and spacing’s of printed parallel lines, but today they also come in patterns of dots, concentric circles, and text codes hidden within images. Barcodes can be read by barcode scanners, also known as barcode readers.

Barcodes are widely used to implement Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC) systems that improve the speed and accuracy of computer data entry. In simple English…..barcode scanners are used to scan the barcodes.

There are different formats of barcodes known as barcode symbologies. For retail, you have your GS1 barcodes. GS1 was founded in 1977, GS1 is an international not-for-profit association dedicated to the development and implementation of global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and visibility of supply and demand chains globally and across multiple sectors. The GS1 System of standards is the most widely-used supply-chain standards system in the world. Australia employ the EAN barcode symbology.

If a barcode is required for internal use, then there are many barcode symbologies to choose from including Code 39 & Code 128. These are referred to as linear or 1D barcodes.

2D barcodes are also becoming more prevalant as they have the ability to hold much more information other than a number. Actually, 2D barcodes can store over 2000 characters.

Still not sure what is a barcode. Contact us for more information at – [email protected]