The Humble Barcode Is over 40 Years Old and Is Still Going Strong
Most people are unlikely to recognize the name Alan Haberman, and certainly not when mentioned in the same breath as other luminaries such as Steve Jobs, Bill Gates or Tim Berners-Lee. Yet Haberman’s endeavours arguably have had an equally huge impact on the social and economic world. You will encounter his legacy almost anywhere you look, whenever you buy something, attend a concert or sporting event, travel, send a package via courier or have a prescription refilled at your local pharmacist. Haberman championed the use of a small black-and-white symbol—the Universal Product Code (UPC)—which encoded product data electronically, and he oversaw its adoption in manufacturing and retail practice. In June 1974, at a store in Ohio, USA, a pack of chewing gum costing 67 cents became the first item to be barcode-scanned.
That epoch-making grocery store purchase transformed the world of business. Nowadays, the use of barcodes is so ubiquitous that we take it for granted. Point-of-sale transactions, inventory and distribution, labelling and ticketing—barcode technology has accelerated business processes and has helped organizations to improve accuracy, worker productivity and customer responsiveness. And it keeps evolving, so that entirely new ways to use barcode technology have opened up.
The invention of 2D barcodes and QR (Quick Response) codes, which are capable of holding significantly more data than the linear 1D barcodes found on supermarket goods, books, and so on, coupled with mobile barcode-scanning apps, have led barcode technology developers to build solutions and devices tailored to specific vertical industries.
Barcodes in Healthcare
Lexmark, Brother, Ricoh, Toshiba, and Zebra are among the major label printer vendors that are vying for space in the healthcare industry, where the adoption of barcode printing technology is particularly prevalent. Barcodes are used for tracking medical equipment and medications, and for lab specimen labelling, which helps with traceability and work accuracy. Crucially, the technology delivers accurate patient identification—central to protecting patient safety.
Dispensing wristband and medical dosage labels quickly and safely at the patient’s bedside in the fast-paced environment of a hospital or clinic requires barcode technology to keep pace. It has, without a doubt. Vendors are producing barcode label hardware that is compact, disinfectant-ready, lightweight and easily transportable on hospital trolleys. Some printers are Bluetooth and WiFi enabled, and some come with battery packs, all of which increase total mobility for use in multi-site hospital locations. As patients’ conditions and samples are unique and variable, the printers offer a solution that replaces preprinted labels with a system that creates bespoke labels on demand.
Last year, Ricoh Europe announced a partnership with Zebra Technologies Europe to further promote the use of safe patient healthcare solutions for hospitals across Europe, with plans to expand to the Middle East as well. Combining Ricoh healthcare optimized printer hardware with Zebra’s Laserband (wristbands that carry a self-laminating seal to protect against moisture, helping to prolong usability), medical professionals can easily print out personalised patient ID colour wristbands. The wristbands can carry critical information such as the patient’s name, date of birth, any existing allergies as well as a patient photo. Colour-coded labels are particularly valuable as they instantly alert staff to a patient’s special medical status, including whether a patient has a known drug allergy, which saves time when administering medication.
When announcing the alliance, Carsten Bruhn, Executive Vice President of Ricoh Europe underlined the company’s firm commitment to developing and supporting the needs of the healthcare market. Bruhn argues that the combination of Ricoh printing technology and Zebra’s Laserband product helps to reduce the risk of administrative errors within the hospital community and can “free up time for professionals, helping them to spend less time on administration tasks and more on patient care”.
Spotlight on Toshiba
Notching up over 26 years of experience in the industry, Toshiba TEC is one of the original manufacturers of barcode printers. Initially, it operated mainly in the retail sphere; its first barcode label printer was launched in the mid-1980s and was used primarily in the book publishing industry, but as Mike Keane, manager in Toshiba’s European Marketing and Business Development Division explains it wasn’t long before Toshiba’s barcode label footprint made its mark in other areas. “By the late 80s, we had already expanded our portfolio of barcode label products, and so we were well placed to meet an exploding demand in the global retail market,” said Keane. “This was driven by a massive take up of barcode labels for fresh goods such as fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products. Following this, our barcode label operation spread to pharmaceuticals and healthcare, stock management and logistics, and then to other industries.”
While Toshiba operate in 15 vertical markets, a big challenge is to gauge market trends and needs in the barcode printing industry; often manufacturers are one step removed from the end customer as they tend to operate through resellers and dealers. Keane acknowledges there is valuable market data available provided by such research giants like US-based VDC Research and Forrester, however he points out that the real difficulty is getting specific targeted data from the European perspective. To overcome this, Toshiba’s business development team has focused on building up long-term ties with corporate clients in these key vertical markets to ensure that customer needs are met.
“In the past, one or two products would launch every one to two years, however in the next semester, Toshiba is looking to launch four or five new products.” –Mike Keane, Toshiba
Having recently developed its own brand of labels to complement its barcode label hardware line, Toshiba has its eyes firmly set on the future and there is plenty to be excited about. “In the past, one or two products would launch every one to two years, however in the next semester, Toshiba is looking to launch four or five new products,” comments Keane. He anticipates that growth in the mobile barcode printing market will be quite steady, especially in Europe. “Already we see that the postal and courier industry is one big growth market. Courier delivery drivers need to dispense print labels on the spot rather than hand-write labels and delivery notes which can be hard to read and time-consuming to fill out.”
Futuristic Barcode Uses
Innovations in wearable mobile devices like Google Glass and apps for such devices as well as apps for iOS and Android mobile devices present countless opportunities for barcode technology to redefine the way people work and choose to live. For example, some barcode scanning apps for Google Glass, such as Scandit’s ‘Pick by Vision’ or RedLaser for Glass, enable a hands-free way to compare prices on goods in an instant. By simply tapping on the device’s side or saying “scan bar code,” Google Glass will scan the product’s barcode and provide the product’s pricing data and detailed information, enabling consumers to make instant, informed purchasing decisions. In terms of use in enterprise settings, an app like Scandit’s can enable Glass-clad employees to manage inventory and order picking hands-free by simply looking at the product’s barcode and saying the quantity aloud, which is an incredible time-saver. In science, DNA barcoding is helping to track and identify countless species’ populations, from the diminutive honey bee to the International Barcode of Life (iBOL), a huge biodiversity genomics initiative with the aim of barcoding five million specimens representing 500,000 species over a five-year period; and this is just during phase one. Barcode technology, since that first scanned chewing gum purchase, has undoubtedly revolutionized society. It would be interesting to fast forward 100 years and see where it takes us.