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	Barcoding 101 There comes a time for most manufacturers and distributors when production inventory and finished goods can no longer be tracked manually. This happens when a small business grows into a medium-sized business, sales volumes increase, or new markets require a higher level of traceability. Believe it or not, many businesses still track their inventory levels manually (you know who you are) using Excel spreadsheets and manual ‘headcounts’. This can cause costly production delays (when raw materials are not available when they’re needed), shipping errors, quality control problems, and general Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) malaise. Fortunately, there is a whole world of solutions out there in the Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) market. AIDC includes, among other things, barcode readers and the software that connects them to databases or ERP systems. In this article, we’ll look at the basics of barcoding and how barcoding is implemented in a business environment. Let’s firm up our lingo first. When we talk about a barcode, we’re referring to any machine-readable pattern (typically contrasting stripes or dots) on a surface that visually represents information. There are many ways to build these patterns; each way is referred to as a ‘symbology’. One symbology everyone is familiar with is the UPC (Universal Product Code) that appears on consumer goods scanned at a cash register. The UPC is an example of a linear barcode – it’s composed of a series of lines. Other linear symbologies you may recognize include Code 128 (Figure 1, and also on the back of your Virginia driver’s license, top edge), and POSTNET (printed along the bottom edge of letters delivered by the US Postal Service). Another type of barcode is two-dimensional (2D). This type of barcode uses a grid of dots to store information. Typical 2D barcodes include MaxiCode (Figure 2), which appears on UPS labels, and Data Matrix (Figure 3). A hybrid barcode, such as PDF417 (also on the back of your Virginia driver’s license, at the bottom edge), uses several linear barcodes stacked one above the other. How do you decide what symbology to use? Most symbologies were developed by a particular company or user group to solve a particular problem – hence the variety of symbologies in existence today. Some only store numbers, other store numbers and letters. 2D barcodes store data more densely, meaning that more information can be stored in the same space. Some 2D codes, such as Data Matrix, are redundant – they can be partially damaged or obscured and are still readable. When implementing a barcode solution in your business, you’ll need to consider what kinds of information you need to store, how robust the code must be, and the expectations of your supply chain. This last point is very important – barcodes that do not conform to standards set by your retailers or others in your supply chain can result in delays, fees, or non-acceptance of goods. Standards are enforced in the supply chain through the use of barcode verifiers. These are special purpose barcode readers that analyze barcodes using a series of eight tests. Each test receives a grade of 0.0 – 4.0, with 4.0 being the best score. The lowest grade from all tests is used for the overall grade. The minimal accepted grade is typically 2.5. There are international standards for the testing protocol (ISO/IEC 15415 and 15416). Several vendors specialize in barcode verifiers. Depending on the market, you may be faced with regulatory requirements for the use of barcodes. For example, the FDA requires linear bar codes on most prescription drugs and on over-the-counter drugs commonly used in hospitals. The bar code must, at a minimum, contain the drug's National Drug Code (NDC) number, which uniquely identifies the drug. The FDA places further barcoding requirements on blood intended for transfusion, including information about the donor and blood type. The FDA forecasts a 50% reduction in medical errors due to these barcoding requirements. The US Department of Defense also places requirements on how products are labeled. The best way to navigate the barcode scene is to contact an industry trade group such as the Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility (www.aimglobal.org). AIM is a global trade association comprising providers of components, networks, systems, and services that manage the collection and integration of data with information management systems. GS1 (www.gs1uk.org) is a global organization dedicated to global standards and solutions to improve the efficiency of supply and demand chains. GS1 publishes a widely-used system of supply chain standards. Both of these organizations can be good starting places for learning about barcoding standards that are applicable to your market. These organizations can also assist in locating vendors, integrators, and consultants to assist you. The barcode industry offers a plethora of choices for hardware and software products. One of the largest vendors of barcode readers is Symbol Technologies, a division of Motorola (www.symbol.com). Symbol offers all types of handheld and fixed-mount barcode readers. Other vendors include PSC, Metrologic, Intermec, and Opticon. One product that warrants attention is the Visidot system from ImageID Ltd. (www.visidot.com). Using Data Matrix barcodes printed on existing shipping labels, Visidot Readers can scan all outward-facing labels on a pallet in a single scan. Visidot Readers provide automated, rapid, highly-accurate scanning. This system can improve inbound and outbound shipment accuracy, automatically update inventory levels, and generate palette manifests automatically. Another product to consider is the Ovee from National Labtools (www.NationalLabtools.com). The Ovee (Figure 4) is a desktop barcode scanner and wireless barcode lookup station rolled into one. It is designed to allow barcode users to quickly and easily verify the contents of barcoded items, and to automatically update their status and location simply by scanning them. The Ovee is designed to be simple to use and inexpensive to install and maintain, requiring no software programming to interface with existing database systems. There are numerous systems integrators who develop custom applications and perform installation and training. Barcoding Inc. (www.barcoding.com) is one of the larger integrators. Labeling products are offered by Brady Inc., Zebra (Figure 5), and many others, and range from simple desktop units to high-volume production systems. Barcodes can also be etched using lasers, producing a indelible and long lasting label, depending on the material type. This type of system is available from Keyence (www.keyence.com), Kern (www.kernlasers.com), and Markem (www.markem.com), among others. Let’s quickly look at a specific case where a barcoding system was introduced into an existing production environment. Indoor Biotechnologies Inc. (IB, www.inbio.com) is a biotechnology company based in Charlottesville specializing in manufacturing innovative products for investigating environmental and immunologic aspects of asthma and allergic diseases. The company's technology includes a comprehensive set of laboratory products for the detection of house dust mite, cat, dog, cockroach and fungal allergens. IB ships these products world-wide. IB also performs contract analysis of dust samples received from customers to determine to presence of environmental allergens. IB has traditionally relied on a manual system of tracking raw materials, production inventory, and contract analysis samples using Microsoft Excel and Access databases. This system has worked well, but the growth of the business was placing strains on the manual approach. For example, production inventory is maintained both in the Charlottesville headquarters and in the UK sales office, with each site tracking their local inventory. A unified approach to maintaining the production inventory was needed. There was also the need to link raw materials to each production run, for quality control purposes. IB also wanted to improve the traceability of contract analysis samples, and to have a way to track which step of the analysis each sample was in. The founder and president of IB, Dr. Martin Chapman, says "We needed a tracking system but were hesitant to make a drastic change to our processes. We couldn’t interrupt our business. As a small but growing business, we need to constantly look for ways to be more efficient while maintaining quality." Instead, IB purchased four Ovees from National Labtools and placed them throughout their labs. A Zebra barcode printer was installed in a central location, and was configured to print Data Matrix barcodes for application on all samples and products. The Ovees were configured to access a central sample database on IB’s existing server. For process tracking and inventory management, special barcode cards were created that can be scanned in conjunction with a sample to indicate to whom a sample is being assigned or shipped. Amy Tsay, IB’s Director of Product Development says "The Ovees have become a regular part of our process. We’re already tracking several thousand samples – as we increase in volume and range, we’ll be able to monitor our inventory and maintain quality." So far, we’ve been talking about the most obvious method of automatic identification. But the other big technology is RFID – Radio Frequency Identification. You’ve probably heard about how RFID tags are starting to transform the supply chain for big retailers like Wal-Mart. In a future article, we’ll look at RFID and talk about the pros and cons of both barcoding and RFID. The world of barcoding is obviously much larger than we can address in this article, but perhaps you’ve now got a better handle on the issues, and know better where to get more information on your specific market application. About the author: Sean Graves, PhD is a computer scientist, inventor, and author. He holds four patents pertaining to sample storage and tracking, and is currently the founder and president of National Labtools. He lives in Charlottesville.