What is the meaning of numbers in a barcode (UPC in particular)?

There are several answers to this question which explains why there is so much confusion regarding this issue. Each answer represents a solution using barcodes in different ways.

Answer 1: The numbers in most barcodes represent a numerical field in some company’s database.

Example: Company A has a warehouse full of items. Each item has an ID. The ID is represented in numbers. The ID can be a SKU number. Every time the company send or receives items, they want to show it in their inventory software. Instead of having to type the numbers in (which can cause many mistakes and is very time consuming) they print labels with barcodes on them. The barcode is a machine (i.e. computer) readable code. They use a scanner to read the barcode. The scanner communicates with the software application. It tells the software that an item with a particular SKU number has entered the warehouse.

Answer 2: This answer has everything to do with UPc codes. There are several types of UPC bar codes used for different purposes. The numbers in a UPC barcode represent several pieces of information about the product.

The Three versions of the UPC barcode are: A, D, and E.

1. Version A (the regular version) - is used to encode a twelve digit number.

2. Version E (the zero suppressed version) - is a six digit code used for marking small packages.

3. Version D (the variable length version) is not commonly used for package marking. It is used in limited special applications.

4. Both Version A and E may include either a 2 digit or a 5 digit supplemental encodation. These extra digits are primarily used on periodicals and books. Supplemental encodations are supported.


The first 6 digits of the UPC barcode:

The UCC assigns manufacturers an Identification number. This is a 6 digit code. So the first 6 digits of the UPC barcode is the manufacturer ID.

The first digit of the Manufacturer ID in the UPC code represents the market segment or type of products they manufacture:

1. Consumer products - start with 0, 1, 6, 7, 8, or 9.
2. Items sold by weight - starts with 2. This is also used for items used in warehouses and stores that are not sold to the public.
3. Pharmaceuticals start with 3.
4. Warehouse and store only purposes - starts with the number 4.
5. Manufacturer coupons, and store loyalty cards UPC numbers start with a 5.

Digits 7-12 of the UPC bar code:

Represent the item number. The item number is assigned by the manufacturer. It is their code for their item.

For items sold by weight - the first five middle digits are used to identify the item. The next five digits are used to identify weight or price, with the first digit of that set signifying whether it's for weight or price.

To help illustrate the difference between UPC and other bar codes look at this example:

I hope this helps clarify some of the confusion. As you can imagine there is more to UPC codes than meets the eye. As always if you have questions about a subject or just want me to explain some things about barcodes, labels and printing - drop me a line labelady@tpgtex.com.
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Can I put upc and ean barcodes on one label?

We get this question many times. The simple answer is: Yes.
The image on the left is an example of a shipping label that has several barcodes on it. Each barcode is drown from a different field in a database.
This particular label has SSCC, Postal Code, and code 128.

A good label software program should allow you to do this and even add images.

You can read more about finding a good label software for your needs Here.

A label can have many "elements/objects" on it or just one. The printing of labels with multiple elements need to be considered as well. If you want to print graphics in full color you may want to use your inkjet printer. However, barcodes do not print well using this method. On the other hand, a color laser printer will be able to produce both full color images as well as clear barcodes.

The label on the right is an example of a label that was printed with black and white graphics and text using a thermal transfer printer with was/resin ribbon.

Green - translates into real dollars for SMB

We were wondering how we could be part of the "green" movement. Is going "green" even makes sense for a small business? Wouldn’t it involve too much work and effort? Would it be expensive? Where should we start? We started with paper recycling- it was an obvious choice, as we were drowning under mountains of paper. We placed a file box in each office. The instruction that went along with that was: "place all your waste paper in the box". Within 2 days we had to modify our instructions since we realized that we had different types of waste paper, each with its different characteristics:

1. Junk mail - went directly into our recycling boxes (as long as it did not have sensitive information - credit applications, etc.)
2. Drafts - were recycled into a different box - to be used again in our printers for internal documents or more drafts.
3. Old reports and documents - continued to be shredded.
4. Sensitive documents with company or personal information - were shredded.
5. Magazines, periodicals and news paper - after they were read or distributed among the employees they also ended up in our recycling boxes. The recycled paper is donated once a week to a local school. The school collects the paper and sells it. The money is used to buy additional supplies for the students and teacher and pay for special programs. The shredded paper is used in our packaging. We no longer use "peanuts" or other packaging materials as we produce our own now. We then started thinking of ways to REDUCE the amount of paper we were using.
   

These are the ways we found:

1. Important documents are printed to PDF and saved on our server.
2. Before printing something from the internet - we use the print preview button and choose the pages to print - if you have ever printed anything from the internet you know that what looks like 1 page is actually 3 pages. The last two pages are usually nothing but some graphics, footers, etc.
3. Email - we now email all of our invoices, quotes and purchase orders. When we asked our customers if it will be ok to email them invoices instead of mailing them - they all agreed. (We only have one customer that asked us to continue mailing his invoices.)
4. Fax - We connected our fax to an old computer (no expense there) and made it into our "fax server". Junk faxes? No problem - we click "delete" and they are gone. An unexpected added benefit was that now we can access all of our faxes. No one has to monitor the faxes and go distribute them. A fax is never lost. Using a simple fax program - we can recognize the text on the faxes; we can email them to other people.
   

Conclusion: we are saving money - We reduced the amount of new paper we buy by 70%. We used to buy 10 reams every month. A simple calculation: $50.00 a box times 12 months = $600.00. 70% of $600.00 = $420.00 a year. We are helping our community and we have less paper to file. Our filing clerk only spends about 5 hours a week filing, the rest of the time she is now able to help with the phones, and accounts receivable - we joke with her that we recycled her job too.

Going Green - More Benefits

We are in the Technology business. We have about 30 computers that are used on the regular basis. Over the years we have collected a whole grave yard of old computers. Many years ago, it made sense to upgrade computers. Not anymore! Now-a-days it is cheaper to buy a new computer than to go through the hassle of upgrading. So we asked ourselves, how can we get rid of these computers without having a small landfill named after us? We looked around and found that less than 3 miles away from our offices is a computer recycling company. We found out that the company was willing to pay for our junk computers - they pay by the pound. We certainly did not have enough computer equipment to make any substantial amount of money. Instead we reached an agreement that has been working very well for both of us: we give them the old computers and they give us equipment. The equipment is usually pretty good and is perfect for the testing we need to do for our label software applications. I love going over there. It is like being a kid in a candy store. They have equipment that originally cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. The best part - we can just pick it up and go. We have expanded our computer equipment recycling program to include all of our customers and friends, neighbors and family. We collect the old equipment and every once in a while make the trip to the recycling company and leave it there.
Over the years we have established such good relationship with the owner and his family that we are now good friends. They have become our customers. They have used our expertise in warehouse and inventory management to reorganize their warehouse, find the appropriate software for them (had to connect to QuickBooks) and help them in the implementation process. Some of the old computers we have had over the years, have been re-done and donated to local non-profit organizations, local needy families. I am just amazed by how recycling and community involvement are so tightly connected. That is one aspect of recycling I never knew about. We just love recycling, reusing and reducing.

Green Makes Sense

Since the last time I wrote about this subject, we have expanded our recycling to include: 1. Ink Toner and Cartiges 2. Plastics 3. Aluminum and tin - we donated the tabs to whatever schho/ orginization is collecting them. There is always a group that collects those. 4. Yard waste - we asked our yard people to mow the grass using a mulcher - we are going organic. This, we found out, is the best feed for the grass. (please not comments from feed companies etc.) Any other yard waste goes into a compost pile. Our yard man said, that in time for fall, we will be able to use it on the shrubs - no need to buy mulch - we make our own now. Another benefit: in our area we are limited to one garbage bin (a pretty big one) each week. We have to pay for additional bags. We have not paid anything extra for at least a year now - again we save real money.

Economy is down - Green is up

It seems that not a day goes by without hearing about how bad the economy is. We, like everyone else are trying to think how to save money. At least our business model is based on getting customers the best return on investment. Our solutions are usually very practical and end up saving our customers hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in barcode equipment, software solutions, etc. As I was a little depressed today about the global economic situation, I needed something to lift my spirit up a little. I looked back at this blog - and then I thought, hey, we are doing it! We are saving money everyday with our recycling program. We also cut on overhead expenses by having people working from their homes. Our programmers, web designer and accountant are all working from their own home offices. That means that we do not have to pay high rent for a large place. In addition, they do not have to travel and pay the unbelievable amounts of money a gallon of gas costs these days. Yes, I know prices have gone down. But I still remember when a gallon was $0.68. Ok, maybe this was not a year ago, but still paying over $1.00 per gallon looks expensive to me. Thinking about much money we have saved, and how much money we have helped collect for the local school and community center by recycling, reusing and reducing lifted my spirit. We estimate that this year alone we will be saving several thousand dollars. Even if it was less than that - it still makes sense. After all every dollar counts toward the bottom line!

Back at home

am back from India. It was amazing trip. It was not at all what I have expected. In Many ways I felt as if I went to a different planet. Everything is different there. I had my meetings, again not what I expected. The people were very nice. What I did not expect is to see technology companies on the side of the road in the middle of miles and miles of poor villages and small towns. On one side of the road is an open market, barbers in the street and on the other side, a new modern building of a technology company. The sites we saw were majestic, but dirty. Here is a picture of my mom - Rachel and myself.