GS1 Databar Expands Barcode Application

GS1 Databar Expands Barcode Application

GS1 Databar Expands Barcode Application

GS1 Databar is a set of barcode symbologies of varying sizes and data-carrying capacity such that it can be used for a wider range of products. It was previously called RSS (Reduced Space Symbology) but the current official name was adopted on February 12, 2007 to avoid any potential confusion with another popular RSS meaning, Really Simple Syndication.

GS1 Databar became available from January 1, 2010 for worldwide retailers and their trading partners that are ready to use the system. It is not intended for GS1 Databar to replace the UPC and EAN codes but to fill the gaps where these widely-used codes cannot be used effectively. For instance, the very small GS1 barcodes can be used on small items such as jewellery, cosmetics, hardware spare parts, electronic parts, and many more that are difficult to bar code as well as on fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables.

In addition, the GS1 Databar can carry more information about the products, such as batch number, expiry dates, or serial numbers through GS1 Application Identifiers. The capability to store more information improves product traceability, quality control and authentication, that tremendously make stocks handling and category management so much easier.

GS1 Databar is available in various formats such as the Databar Expanded, Databar-14 Omnidirectional, Databar-14 Stacked, DataBar Expanded Stacked, Databar Truncated, DataBar Stacked, and DataBar Limited. The last three have been designed for products with very small spaces available for barcodes. The stacked versions can be split into two, allowing barcodes to be used vertically. The availability in various formats has resolved a number of issues encountered at the point-of-sale of healthcare and grocery stores. Due to the GS1 Databar size, product packages will have more space for human readable information on the product including its benefits.

It is easy to link GS1 Databar to two-dimensional barcodes particularly to the MicroPDF barcode with a linkage character. If the linkage character is on, the scanner should be capable of reading succeeding barcodes fast.

The use of GS1 Databar symbology in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and retail sectors is growing at a fast pace. GS1 Databar's capability to carry the needed information to trace a drug's origin in the supply chain has proved to be very useful in making sure that only goods from certified sources are sold at drug stores. If left undetected, counterfeit drugs cost the drug industry and healthcare industry billions of dollars. Many US states are already enforcing the requirements of Drug Pedigree and other states are expected to follow soon.

Although GS1 DataBar is scheduled to be widely used in 2014 yet, it is essential that retailers prepare for the new barcode today. It is very important to check that all scanners on hand are capable of reading GS1 DataBar. One way to do this is to check with your scanning equipments' supplier or check online for possible compatible scanners.

Currently, it is still more expensive to implement the GS1 Databar compared to the other symbologies mainly due to the high cost of the technologically-advanced scanners capable of decoding the large quantity of stored information. However, like other technological advances, the prices of the scanners for GS1 Databar are likely to go down after sometime.

POST COMMENT

Running A Subrogated Recovery Action - Practical Aspects Contact Database: Knowing Its Importance The Recovery Project Part II Remove HDD Recovery Virus - Help you To Remove HDD Recovery Virus Quickly Sim Card Data Recovery for Lost Messages and Contacts Don't Suffer from Data Loss Learn Logical Data Model, Data Model Examples, Data Model Data Can be Recovered From a Burnt Hard Drive Salvage Data From Your Corrupt Zip File Easily Uninterruptible Power Supplies - Compensating for Your Lost Time and Data Advantages of using Prepaid Data Card DVI2USB DUO Records ATC Radars Data Colocation Data Center - Carrier Hotel for Servers