BY JAMES A. COOKE, EDITOR AT LARGE
AUTO ID
WHEN IT COMES TO BAR-CODE COMPLIANCE,
data quality matters as much as print quality. That
might seem obvious, but it’s something shippers tend
to overlook. Traditionally, their compliance efforts
have focused on the physical aspects of labeling, such as
avoiding misprints, smudges, or label placement errors.
But these days, experts say, the problem is just as likely
to lie in the data itself.
“Assessing bar-code compliance now requires more
than just checking print quality,” says Andy Verb, president of Bar Code Graphics Inc., a firm that specializes
in bar-coding solutions. “For a variety of reasons, the
underlying data behind the bar code causes as [many] or
more noncompliance issues in supply chains these days.”
Those noncompliance issues can be costly. Suppliers
whose shipments arrive at a customer’s facility with
faulty bar codes face fines or chargebacks from the
consignee as well as outright rejection. Fines can range
from $2 to $10 a carton, according to Rick Bushnell,
president of bar-code consulting firm Quad II. Those
fines could add up quickly if the receiver rejects multiple
cartons.
And it’s not just a problem for companies that supply
goods to retail chains. Although bar-code compliance
issues are most often associated with the retail sector,
industry verticals such as automotive, life sciences,
chemicals, and health care have all adopted bar-code
labeling requirements and impose penalties for noncompliance.
CODING ERRORS
As for why so many industries are imposing bar-code
mandates, the answer lies partly in modern inventory
practices. With companies cutting back on the amount
of stock they hold, distribution centers are feeling the
pressure to whisk products in and out as quickly as pos-
sible. Data verification is critical to this process. Prior to
making a shipment, the supplier transmits what’s known
as an advance ship notice (ASN) to the buyer. The ASN,
which serves as an electronic shipping manifest, contains
such details as purchase order number, total number of
cartons in a shipment, the cartons’ serial numbers, and
the contents of each box. The receiving company can
then match up the information from the bar codes with
the ASN to verify that the correct items were shipped.
To facilitate data exchange between sender and receiv-
er, industry trade groups have established standards for
bar-code symbols. The best-known worldwide standards
body is GS1, formerly the Uniform Code Council, which
assigns bar codes for the retail, apparel, health-care, and
logistics sectors. The bar code most commonly used in
the United States is the Universal Product Code (UPC),
which is found on each item sold in a store. One of the
data elements in the UPC is a unique number assigned
to each product manufacturer, known as the company
prefix. When sending products to a warehouse or DC,
GS1 member companies are supposed to use that same
company prefix to identify the goods’ manufacturer on
the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) bar-code
technologyreview
When their shipments are rejected for faulty labeling, suppliers often blame print
quality or label placement. But the cause is just as likely to be incorrect data.
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER[S]
