Nearly 48 years ago to the date—on June 26, 1974—the first-ever barcode was scanned at a grocery store in Troy, OH. It was a monumental day that changed the world by transforming the supply chains of nearly every industry on the planet. Since then it’s become the bedrock of mobile data capture, making businesses—and lives—more efficient and productive.
To commemorate this historic event, we’ve created our own National Day! June 26 will now be known as National Barcode Day, a way to recognize and celebrate everything barcode scanning has meant to the world.
And, we used our June Huddle to bring together experts from Barcoding and Datalogic, a global technology leader in automatic data capture and factory automation, together to talk about what barcode technology has meant to them and to the world.
Read our overview of the June Huddle to get valuable insights from:
…and don’t miss the video, where you can get a more in-depth look at our thoughts on efficiency, accuracy, connectivity, and more. In the meantime, check out this overview!
Barcoding’s Impact on The World
The impact of barcoding technology cannot be overstated. As Shane Snyder put it, “Today, we can’t eat without barcodes.” Barcoding underlies nearly every other process in the supply chain, and allows companies of all sizes to extract greater productivity out of the resources they have.
Once just a grocery store identification system, it’s now used to generate and leverage massive amounts of data that make it possible for our products to move through the supply chain with ease, accuracy, and safety. Watch the video to hear Mike Svetal’s story about how his son’s soccer injury put him face-to-face with barcoding’s value, as well as other examples of the long-term and far-reaching impact of the barcode.
What Does the Future Hold?
Where does barcoding go from here? To quote Shane Snyder, “The barcode is still the fastest, easiest, most consistent, most reliable, most accepted way to capture a piece of data. And that’s going to stick for a long time.”
The experts agree that barcodes aren’t going anywhere, despite other technologies, like RFID and machine visioning, being the perfect solutions for very specific applications. Instead, customers will continue to extend the ways in which they leverage barcodes, just as the industry will continue to adapt barcoding technology to address different and evolving needs.
The Barcode and Labor Shortages
Labor shortages are a reality and will continue to affect productivity and output, forcing organizations to figure out the best ways to deploy their resources. Some, like large retailers, are doing that by implementing self-checkout, and barcoding is a big part of supporting that move. Similarly, automation solutions are found in businesses of all sizes today, allowing them to do as much—or more—with fewer people.
In fact, empowering employees with technology that will streamline their work, ensure its accuracy, and reduce training time should be a top priority for most employers today.
What To Do With All The Data
So, once you get a barcoding solution up and running, what do you do with all the data you’re generating? That’s where a partner like Barcoding comes in. Together we’ll determine what data you need, what format you need the data in, how often you’ll receive it, and more. Then, and only then, can you decide where you can apply it to affect positive change within the organization.
- Alfredo Machado talked about a customer—an online retailer—that discovered a new way to use data they were getting from their barcoding solution. The customer had replaced handheld scanning devices with overhead cameras to make order packing faster; the video that was captured was then fed to CCTV cameras throughout the facility. The cameras could identify mis-picks, locate stolen goods, and more
- Watch the video to learn what Mike Svetal talking about how both light and sound can be used to guide workers and improve their accuracy, and how automation can be used to quickly determine accuracy of entire pallets of goods
Where To Start
Here are some tips from the experts for where to start your barcoding program:
- The first step is to ask yourself where you’re having (or anticipating) issues in your process. Will you be adding more inventory that will require new capabilities? Do you have an old fleet of devices that are slowing you down? Are you doing traditional, time-intensive inventory counts? Look and invariably you’ll see opportunities to save time and improve efficiency. Shane Snyder summed it up this way: “Look for the clipboards. If you’re seeing clipboards out there, there’s an opportunity for improvement of data capture.”
- Once you’ve evaluated your processes (and the people involved in those processes) you can begin talking with a partner about the technologies available, how you’re going to implement a solution, about the expected impact, about the ongoing “care and feeding” of the tools, and about how to ensure the security of the system and your data
We ended the June Huddle on a high note, talking about the future of barcode technology and its use in hybrid solutions that combine multiple technologies.
Check out the video to hear Jody, Shane, Mike, and Alfredo talk about their thoughts on achieving optimum efficiency in your operation. You can also learn more about National Barcode Day by clicking here or below!
Watch the june huddle Video
