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Barcode Verification Service

Scan first time, every time

Barcode verification checks your GS1 barcodes are correctly created and printed such that any scanner will be able to read them first time, every time

Quality control

If a barcode does not scan, data inaccuracy and time delay can enter the supply chain. Verification is an important quality control tool, helping ensure that your barcodes scan with accuracy and speed at each point in the supply chain and that trading relationships are well supported

Verification will confirm whether a barcode is fully compliant with GS1 standards. You receive a written report on the results of a verification test, identifying any inadequacies in the bar code and any potential problems with it.

Please click on the links below for more information on Verification.

What is Barcode Verification
What is a verifier ? How does it differ from a scanner ?
Why not just use a scanner to check readability ?
Who needs to use verification ?
What are the Benefits of Verification ?

What is Bar Code Verification?

A barcode's primary function is that of carrying data from the point at which it is originated to the point at which the data has to be captured. So the bar code is a vital link in the data communication chain of any application. If it fails, the chain breaks. A barcode which does not scan often causes more problems to trading partners than no symbol at all. Verification of barcodes is, therefore, a useful tool to add to quality control procedures in order to ensure that the barcodes will scan correctly throughout the supply chain. Verification aims to check that the symbol is able to fulfil its function, by performing two principal tasks:

· enabling the symbol producer to measure their output and to apply feedback in order to control their process
· predicting the scanning performance likely to be achieved by a symbol.

Verification is relevant to all levels of packaging including retail units, inner packaging or display cartons, shipping units, and pallets if GS1 labels are used on the pallet.

What is a verifier? How does it differ from a scanner?

A verifier is a precision measuring instrument designed to provide consistent and repeatable measurements of a symbol and to analyse these measurements in relation to the likely scanning performance of the symbol under a range of conditions. It has to be calibrated before use and be controlled regularly to maximise the repeatability and consistency of its measurements.

A barcode scanner simply decodes the pattern of bars and spaces into the data encoded in the symbol. It does not measure any of the parameters that affect how a bar code can be decoded.

Why not just use a scanner to check readability?

No two barcode readers are the same. The optical arrangements available for scanners vary widely, ranging from light pens or wands to CCD scanners and hand-held or omni-directional laser scanners, and from manually-operated to automatic, unattended devices. Inevitably, these show quite noticeable differences in their scanning performance. Also, in order to maximise their performance, manufacturers of barcode readers build all kinds of clever features into their decode algorithms to help the equipment decode even poor quality symbols reliably and as rapidly as possible. However, not all of these work in the same way and two different readers might well have different degrees of success with the same symbol.

So test scanning a symbol with, for example, a wand reader will not give any reliable indication of whether it would read with a laser scanner, nor even that any other wand reader could read it successfully. Nor does it help you understand whether the symbol deviates from perfect and if so what is wrong with it. At best, it can be used as a "go/no-go" test of whether a symbol can be read by that scanner (only), and to check the data content; it is risky to extrapolate any wider conclusions. But a verifier bases its assessment on the use of a standardised reference decode algorithm specified as part of the symbology specification, and on calibration of its optical response. Both of these enable consistent and objective quality assessments to be made irrespective of what type of scanner will be used in the application.

Who needs to use verification?

Anyone who is handling barcodes and who has an interest in their performance has a potential need for verification. The main classes of user are:

the printer of the symbols (this might be a packaging manufacturer, or the product manufacturer if he uses an on-demand printing system), for quality assurance and process control purposes;
the person on whose product or item the barcode is being applied (the brand owner), for assurance that your customers will accept the symbols;
the person receiving the barcoded item, for assurance that the symbols will work satisfactorily in your operation
persons handling the goods at intermediate stages of the supply chain, who may wish to assure themselves of the symbol quality for similar reasons.

It is the responsibility of the ‘originator’ of the barcode (usually the brand owner of the product being barcoded) to ensure that it meets the quality requirements of the entire supply chain.

Benefits of Verification

The biggest benefits of verification are, simply, reassurance and confidence that the barcode will perform as intended at all stages of the product's passage down the supply chain, leading to untroubled supplier-customer relationships. Additional benefits accrue to the symbol producer, who is able to make use of the measurement information on the symbols he is producing to monitor your production process and adjust your equipment or procedures in order to correct any deviations from your optimum quality. Package designers can use feedback from verification to make sure that symbol size, position and colour will not result in point-of-use difficulties. The receiver of barcoded products, too, reaps advantage from verification of incoming barcodes, to assess the likelihood of their causing him scanning problems in your handling and inventory control systems, or at the point of use.