National Barcode Day

A barcode to us represents process improvement and innovation. Whether we realize it or not, the barcode has immeasurably improved all our lives.

Join us on June 26th, 2024 as we celebrate the 50th birthday of barcode and all the people who continue to push the edge of mobile data capture. We will spotlight our best people and solutions and peek ahead at what’s coming next for the automatic identification data collection (AIDC) industry.

50 years of the Barcode means 50 years of innovation, efficiency, and inspiration. We’re looking forward to celebrating with you this year and it’s going to be epic!

June 11, 2021

Honeywell Coming to You Live

Honeywell will be coming to YOU LIVE with some of the latest and greatest in scanning technology, data capture and some of the most anticipated product launches. Watch as experts demo them and answer your supply chain questions/challenges as they work through new awesome tech live. Register now to get a first exclusive look at new and innovative offerings from Honeywell. Any guesses on where they will be broadcasting from?

June 17, 2021

Zebra Technologies Coming to You Live

Past, present, and future collide as Zebra Technologies brings us on a journey with their industry-leading technology. We will look at how far supply chain technology has advanced and what important innovations are here today! Fun giveaways, exotic locations, super engaging speakers—this live session will have it all. If you’re a Zebra fan, you won’t want to miss this event. Bring your questions and let us see how big of a #supplychaingeek you are!

June 26TH, 2021

DO YOU KNOW HOW OUR INDUSTRY (AIDC) STARTED?

Back on June 26, 1974, the first UPC (on a pack of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit gum) was scanned at a grocery store in Troy, OH. This was a momentous achievement for the grocery industry who had been begging for help. Now, we know this barcode scan literally changed the world—and for us, was the start of our AIDC industry that has transformed the supply chains of every industry and continues to do so today. Think about how often a barcode gets used in your everyday life—grocery store check-outs, deliveries, flights, etc. It’s truly the most amazing, and yet still inconspicuous, innovation!

To commemorate this historic event, we’ve created our own National Day! June 26 will now be known as National Barcode Day—it commemorates more than 40 years of efficiency and accuracy that began on June 26, 1974, when a clerk scanned a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, OH.

Our founding partners are Datalogic and ScanSource. National Barcode Day is featured on the National Day Calendar. This day will be part of Barcoding’s new Celebration of Innovation Month (June).

#NationalBarcodeDay History

National Barcode Day commemorates 50 years of efficiency and accuracy that began on June 26, 1974, when a clerk scanned a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum at a Marsh supermarket in Troy, OH. On that day, the barcode system invented by George Lauer, an IBM engineer, began to change the world.

Since then, barcodes have been revolutionizing industries all over the world. Barcodes, also known as UPC, 1 Dimensional (1D) codes, contain data that help businesses and organizations do their jobs more easily. A more modern version of the barcode is called a QR code, or a 2 dimensional (2D) code. The QR code contains even more data than the 1D code.

Barcodes contain a wealth of information, including pricing, product, dates, manufacturer, and shipping. They are ideal for tracking inventory and sales, but they do so much more than that. Almost every industry uses barcodes, and they likely make your life easier without you even knowing it. Where can you find barcodes besides retail products?

VINs - Tracking a car's history became easier when a barcode was added to the VIN.
Libraries - Barcodes track books, videos, periodicals, and other resources in and out of the library.
Logistics - Every major shipper uses barcodes to track shipments and deliver your orders.
Healthcare - Barcodes help keep patient care more streamlined and records at the provider's fingertips.
Agriculture - Farmers use barcodes to track harvests and livestock.

Support Our Community Partner: ALAN

When disaster strikes, few things are more important than good logistics. It is the key differentiator between the wanting to deliver support and making it happen in reality.

ALAN (American Logistics Aid Network) is an industry-wide organization that exists to provide supply chain assistance to disaster relief organizations (and other non-profits). They do this by bringing the expertise and resources of the logistics industry together with non-profit disaster relief organization s. That way, help – and hope – arrive sooner.