Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Numbers On Products: An Essential Guide

By Keren Kipfer


The products that we see on the grocery market shelves and in our malls have some number coding on them that retailers and distributors use to monitor such items. Most of the time, this numbers or codes are imprinted on a products packaging or product body. Ordinary people do not necessarily need to learn how to interpret them but it important to keep in mind that those numbers serve a certain purpose. This is especially true if you are an owner of a manufacturing plant. Here are a few basic details regarding numbers found on everyday products and what they mean.

You have probably seen a barcode before. They are those black lines within a white box commonly found on a product's packaging with numbers found at the bottom. Bar codes are usually scanned to get the price of a particular product and input it to the POS machine. It is important to note that there are different types of bar coding systems implemented today. Two of the widely used bar coding schemes used by most companies are the Universal Product Code and the Electronic Product Code.

UPC is a form of barcode symbology used by most manufacturers from all around the world particularly in the U.S. and U.K. for the purpose of monitoring their items after they have been produced. The UPC is actually the barcode system with which we are most familiar. The barcode represents includes 12 numbers in a combination that is unique for every product. Each of the black horizontal bars corresponds to a digit so no bar is the same. They can be used on various computer systems as data input such as point-of-sale and inventory systems.

The Electronic Product Code system on the other hand or EPC was developed to become a universal identifier which provides a unique ID number of every physical object from all countries. They are commonly used on RFID data carriers but not exclusive. They also can be constructed to work with traditional optical data carriers such as those using linear bar codes. EPC is compatible with existing product coding systems and can define new schemes when necessary. It was designed to cater to the needs of manufacturers from various industries.

Regardless of type and location, manufacturers also add coding to many of their products and need to be able to imprint serial numbers or batch numbers quickly. This would also include expiration dates in the case of food items and beverages. A specialized printer is needed to place these numbers on every product. This type of machinery is known as an ID coder. There are plenty of options when it comes to choosing ID coders. Some of the popular brands include VideoJet, Imaje, Altima, and Domino coders.

Because of their high cost, a great number of manufacturers choose to get refurbished ID coders from ID product companies. Some also prefer generic coder inks and make-up fluids. These ID coder companies can provide you with good quality versions of coder inks from the major brands which will provide excellent printing results, all for a much cheaper cost than if you purchased inks directly from the manufacturer of your printer.




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