August 20th, 2010
RFID has been a hot topic for some time, with much rhetoric talking up the technology and its, often unproven benefits. What is frequently overlooked, however, is that for many companies there is still a lot of life left in the humble barcode and that existing systems offer a proven and cost effective, although perhaps less sexy, method of stock and product management.
In many cases, an RFID tag will just be holding a simple tracking or serial number to identify a particular item, making no use of the read-write capability of the tag, making the amount of data stored no different to that of a ‘traditional’ 1D barcode.
On the other hand, 2D matrix barcodes, such as PDF417, QR Code and Datamatrix can hold many hundreds of characters of information. These conventional barcodes have already proven themselves capable of enabling efficient stock management, while a new generation of GS1 DataBar codes are expanding the potential of the system still further, offering sophisticated traceability and product specific labelling opportunities.
If you’re interested in more about 2D barcodes and printing, have a look at the Citizen barcode printers…..
Posted in Sounding off | No Comments »
July 23rd, 2010
I’m not sure if New York is becoming a hotbed of 2D bar code innovatation, or if the businesses there are just better at promoting new ideas than anybody else? However, following my recent post on interactive posters in Times Square, here’s another interesting application; this time on around 2,000 garbage trucks!
The idea is that you capture the QR bar code on the side of each tuck to download an instructional video on recycling in the city.
It’s good idea, although I’m not sure how many people will spot the sign on the side of the truck. Partly because of its relatively small size, partly because the chances are that they may be in a car at the time, or simply because to most people in any city refuse trucks are simply part of the landscape, so tend not to be studied in any great detail.
It does, however, once again illustrate the potential for this new generation of bar codes in both exotic and more run of the mill retail, logistics and applications and even industrial applications, where of course they generally require high performance print systems to produce the volumes of labels required.
If you’d like to learn more about New York City’s approach to recycling then there are some interesting videos here.
Posted in 2D bar code technology, Sounding off | No Comments »
July 19th, 2010
Rapidly evolving needs of production, packaging and retail organisations are driving innovation in barcode technology. For example, the latest GS1 DataBar codes carry significantly more information than conventional techniques and provide an ingenious solution to marking small or irregular shaped items, including jewellery, fruit or electronic components, as they can be printed on dramatically smaller labels.
What’s more these barcodes also support Global Trade Identification Numbers (GTIN) for detecting variable data such as batch, expiry date, serial number, price, monetary value, size or weight. This in itself breaks the existing boundaries of enhanced product identification, providing superior traceability, product authentication and quality assurance, while streamlining many manual processes.
Ultimately, this provides companies with a heightened degree of control enabling greater levels of accuracy and product data, allowing manufacturers to make better informed decisions regarding maximising profits and cutting waste.
If you’re interested in the technology required to print DataBar labels in high defination and small sizes then you may like to look at the latest bar code and label printers from Citizen.
Tags: Bar code, GS1 DataBar
Posted in GS1 Technology | 1 Comment »
July 16th, 2010
This advert for Beck’s beer was pointed out to me on a bus stop recently by someone who know’s my fascination for all things barcode.
You can clearly see in the middle the two ‘locating’ pads for a QR code in the middle of the advert. But, on closer inspection, you realise that it is just ‘art’ because there isn’t a full barcode on show!
However, it does prove two things!!
- that people are becoming more and more aware of these 2D-codes
- that sometimes you can be too analytical and just not enjoy the image for what it is – a beer advert!
Just in case, I did try to see if it would decode – but with no luck. You can try by viewing the larger image here and let me know if you have any more success!
Posted in 2D bar code technology, Sounding off | No Comments »
July 9th, 2010
Thumb through a magazine, walk down the street or read the back of a food or drink container, and you’ll find a QR bar code. These small squares are becoming ubiquitous and when scanned by a mobile phone camera will provide you with a wide array of information via the web. Companies across the globe are embracing this digital phenomenon, with businesses in almost every sector of industry now using QR bar codes to communicate directly with consumers.
QR, 2D or mobile barcodes have been huge in Japan for some years. In Europe the initial takeup was slower; Harrods is thought to have been the first British retailer to exploit the technology when it ran adverts with mobile bar codes to promote an exhibition in early 2008. Since then, the rate of takeup has been rapid.
For example, last year Google sent out 100,000 stickers to retailers to display in their shops, which when scanned found their location on Google Maps. QR bar codes have featured in an exhibition at London’s V&A museum, are being used by major brands in adverts and posters and are now becoming available for smaller stores for local promotions.
In almost every instance the bar codes have to be printed, often in large volumes for use on packs or products; which, of course, is where advanced, high resolution and reliable bar code and labels printers are critical.
Tags: Bar code, mobile technology, QR
Posted in 2D bar code technology | No Comments »
July 5th, 2010
Surely the 36th anniversary of the first commercial application of bar code technology, in a supermarket in Ohio on packs of Wrigley’s gum, deserved more than a brief mention on a few web blogs?
Last October, Google’s famous logo was changed for the day to celebrate the original patent approval for the barcode some 57 years ago and this made headline news around the world.
Given the huge impact that this technology has had on the world, and the massive potential that it still has for further development, it would have been good to see something a little higher profile for the first commercial use.
But maybe I’m being too simplistic? Rather than tickertape rallies in Times Square or mass demonstrations of public adulation in major capitals around the world, perhaps the most fitting celebration is the meteoric rate at which the latest generation of 2D bar codes are being taken up in almost every walk of life?
This, surely, is the ultimate accolade, both to the founding fathers of the bar code, Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver, and to those early pioneers who had the vision to launch such an innovative technology on the unsuspecting shoppers in Ohio on June 26th 1974.
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June 18th, 2010
Now, this is what I call a brilliant example of the use of bar code technology.
The City of New York has just celebrated Internet Week 2010 by posting huge QR (Quick Response) or 2D bar codes as interactive posters all round Times Square. New Yorkers simply scanned each code with a mobile phone or PDA, equipped with a suitable application, to grab free tickets, messages and information on events in the city.
If you click here you’ll see some more excellent examples of bar codes on buildings around Times Square.
What next? Interactive billboards in Berlin, signs in Singapore or QR codes on the sides of trucks so you can scan them as they drive by? We’d love to learn more about weird or unusual 2D bar code applications, so if you’ve seen some great examples then post a comment to this blog and we’ll publish the best ones we receive.
Tags: Bar code
Posted in 2D bar code technology | 1 Comment »
June 15th, 2010
Lufthansa has recently announced that its passengers can now check-in with a boarding pass sent to their mobile phone. In fact, I’ve used the system and it works really well. Using standard 2D bar code technology, this system makes it quicker and, hopefully, less painful to catch flights – anything that cuts down the time we have to spend hanging around airports has to be a bonus! You can
see more details at Lufthansa’s website.
In a further development in the UK, ticketing specialist Masabi has reached an agreement with TheTrainLine.com to rollout its mobile ticketing service. This eliminates the need for paper tickets, with similar technology to that employed by Lufthansa being used to show a downloaded 2D barcode image, which is then scanned by a ticket inspector. It’s quick, delightfully simple and makes fantastic use of several technologies, bringing together 2D bar codes, mobile communications and Internet applications.
If you’d like to read more follow this link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/18/barcode_tickets/
Tags: Bar code
Posted in 2D bar code technology | 1 Comment »
May 18th, 2010
Is this an example of consumer democracy in action?
We’re rapidly becoming familiar with the ability to check barcodes in a store and be sent information of where products can be found more cheaply or of special promotions.
It’s clever stuff, but no longer brand new. But here’s an interesting take on the subject, with a mobile phone application developed by Barcoo. This allows customers to point their phones at the barcodes in shops to find out how environmentally friendly a company is, or even how it treats its staff.
With a growing percentage of consumers becoming concerned about ethical issues, this new app and others like it look like they may present an interesting dilemma in the future for manufacturers and retailers alike. It also raises interesting questions about who decides what is and isn’t ethical and, of course, highlights yet another fascinating application for the humble bar code.
Tags: Bar code
Posted in Sounding off | No Comments »
May 6th, 2010
In conjunction with our partners throughout the IT channel we work closely with many different customers, in different sectors throughout industry.
In particular, we’ve lots of experience in the warehousing, logistics and courier sectors, where our printers are used to produce labels, receipts, dockets and tracking documentation.
To show how our products are helping key customers we’ve produced a series of case studies, the latest of which looks at how we’ve worked with Newbury data to help City Link improve efficiency and productivity of its UK operation.
The full story can be found here: citylink.pdf
Tags: Bar code, label and receipt printers
Posted in Printers in action | No Comments »
