If in the 1960s bar coding was first used in the United States to identify railroad cars, then already in 1973 the “Universal Product Code” (UPC barcodes for Amazon– Universal Product Code) appeared for use in industry and trade. Since 1977, a similar system “European Article Numbering” (EAN – European Article Numbering), which is a type of UPC, has been used to identify consumer goods in Western Europe. The EAN code is a set of numbers from 0 to 9. The entire code designation can be expressed in eight (EAN-8) or thirteen (EAN-13) digits. The abbreviated symbol (EAN-8) is used for marking small items. American and Western European codes are compatible, the only difference between them is that the UPC code contains 12 characters, and the EAN code contains 13 characters.
A barcode printer is a very useful and universal device, thanks to which you can mark almost everything legibly, aesthetically and permanently. Barcode labels are a simple and quick way to mark items, giving an immediate measurable visual and functional effect. The EAN-13 (European Article Numbering) (European Article Numbering) barcode has spread rapidly in retail, wholesale and warehouse trade since 1974. Almost every product available in the supermarket has EAN-13. It is used to assign unique numbers to manufacturers and products.
What is the EAN code and how to get it?
An e-shop does not need an EAN code to exist. The situation changes when a given e-store decides to sell in comparison websites. So let’s consider the advantages of having this code. The purpose of the EAN code is to uniquely identify a given product. Online stores usually get it along with other information from their suppliers.
If you want to get an EAN barcode printing online, you must register for the GS1 System. It is an integrated file of internationally applicable standards for automatic identification and transfer of information about identified positions or services. Integrated standards, enabling automatic data collection and communication, are a decisive advantage of the system. There are many types of barcodes. So how to choose the correct one?
– For manufacturers – accounting for the total number of manufactured products, complete sorting and sorting by types, grades, general names, as well as accounting records, drawing up new orders by selecting the right goods in a certain amount and final sending to trade;
– For retail sellers – acceptance of products by quantity and assortment, distribution to the warehouse, control and accounting directly in the store and the sales area, constant checking of the safety of goods and regular replenishment of stocks as they are sold.
Such popularity in the use of a bar code is quite rightly justified by a number of advantages over other means of identification (magnetic, digital, sound, visual and radio frequency):
- Due to the use of ordinary inexpensive paper, the barcode price is relatively low;
- Prompt sending of information about the goods through the electronic communication system;
- Clarity, which guarantees high protection against possible errors during barcode reading.
Effective management of production, quality and accounting processes requires timely and accurate product control. Identification is an effective mechanism that allows you to trace the path of a product from warehouse to sale. This is the establishment of the nature and purpose of the product on the basis of a set of ordered information, which is used to find out all the existing characteristics that determine the uniqueness of the product, that is, its differences from all others. In recent years, computer-based automatic identification technologies have become the most widespread, designed primarily to increase labor productivity and significantly reduce costs.
