What is a bar code?
Why are bar codes used?
How are bar codes used?
Where are bar codes used?
How many kinds of bar codes are there?
How do I read a bar code?

What is a bar code?

A bar code is a (usually) printed array of contiguous (usually) black bars and white spaces that encode data and that can be decoded with the appropriate bar code reading hardware and software.

 

 

Why are bar codes used?

We use bar codes because you and I, as data entry people, are very slow and very inaccurate. How slow are we? We are at least 4 to 20 times slower than automated bar code scanners.

 

It is in inaccuracy of data entry that human beings are astonishingly bad. You and I make one error every 35 to 60 characters. A person who types for a living goes along at about 1 error per 100 characters. Someone who wins typing contests makes 1 error every 250 characters.

 

A well-designed bar code system will make 1 error every 27,000,000 characters.

 

And errors cost companies money. An un-recovered error - one that makes it out into the real world on a document - can cost the company, it is estimated, $40 to $125.

 

 

How are bar codes used?

Typically manufacturers print item bar codes on an item's packaging. Sometimes bar codes are printed on labels and applied to manufactured goods. Bar coded labels are also found on shelves and bins in retail outlets and warehouses.

 

 

Where are bar codes used?

All over the word: on items, packages, pallets, bins, shipping containers, and many other places.

 

 

How many kinds of bar codes are there?

Bar codes are printed in different formats called "symbologies." The symbology we see on goods in the supermarket are called UPC, which stands for Universal Product Code. Two other common symbologies are called Code 3 of 9 (or just Code 39), and EAN (European Article Numbering system). There are probably over 50 distinct symbologies in the world.

 

 

How do I read a bar code?

In general, bar codes are not meant to be read by a human being. One could train oneself to do this, but it would not be of much value. What counts about a bar code is: can it be read by the appropriate scanning devices? That is, was the bar code printed so that a scanner can read it quickly?