Select Page

Brand owners, manufacturers, packages, retailers, and more all use barcodes to track their products from production to the point of sale. A barcode that has failed to scan is catastrophic. It slows down production lines and causes expensive reprints, wasted product, and chargebacks.

If you generate barcodes in a regulated industry such as medical devices, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, packaging, retail and printing; need to produce reports confirming the quality of the barcodes; and/or are a quality assurance manager, engineer, or line technician you need barcode verification (the process of verifying barcodes) and barcode verifiers (the technology that performs the verification).

Barcode producers need to ensure that their codes are readable and certify that they meet industry requirements.

DEFINING BARCODE VERIFICATION AND ISO CERTIFIED BARCODE VERIFIERS

Barcode verification is a grading process. It assesses the quality of the barcodes and whether they meet industry standards ISO/ANSI standards. Verification helps guide barcode producers through the marking process and certifies the code quality with printed reports. Barcode verification hardware and software needs depend on a variety of factors such as the barcode symbology, size, printer, and marking methods.

A barcode verifier is what helps make sure your barcodes can be read correctly throughout your enterprise and supply chain. A verifier provides critical information addressing a range of circumstances that might impact barcode reads, verification, and ease-of-use like optic scanners or lasers, 1D versus 2D barcodes, range of sweep distances, and more. Barcode verifiers assign an overall grade to a code based on measurements of several parameters.

These parameters are the factors that affect barcode readers’ ability to identify and decode a code. Verifiers test different parameters for 1D, 2D, and DPM codes based on governing standards like the ISO international standard and provide an official/regulatory caliber verification.   

THE IMPORTANCE OF BARCODE VERIFICATION AND THE BENEFITS TO YOUR BUSINESS

When a barcode fails, the cost of reprinting and then reshipping corrected batches can be expensive. As such, barcode verification reduces product returns, packaging waste, and other expenses. Verification alerts code producers to the printing issues early on in production by monitoring the results.

A barcode verifier can generate reports that certify the quality of the producer’s codes. These reports can be printed or exported to an archive to prove compliance with industry requirements. A majority of verification software will also check that the data within the barcode is formatted according to the application standard of the industry you are working within.

Barcode verifiers check to ensure those you are printing are the highest quality and measure them against ANSI or ISO specifications. Simply put, a barcode verifiers job is to ensure accuracy and repeatability of your barcodes.

BARCODE VERIFICATION PRODUCTS THE COGNEX WAY

Cognex offers a range of barcode verification technology that ensures the readability and compliance of 1D and 2D barcodes to standard industry guidelines. With proprietary high-resolution imaging and advance algorithms (for analysis), Cognex’ verifiers provide consistent and repeatable results. Cognex barcode verification technology solutions include fixed-mount barcode readers and a range of DataMan Series (150/260, 370, 470, and 475V) verifiers.

The difference between a reader and a verifier is that a reader is designed to read barcodes and may (depending on the software) provide print quality metrics that are useful for process control and improvement. A barcode verifier ensures that the codes are marked correctly and meet industry guidelines rather than an individual producer’s quality requirements. Barcode verifiers are a superior measure of symbol readability. The process of verifying a barcode is vastly different than simply reading a barcode. As such, a barcode verifier is a critical piece to your operation.

While most companies are using an offline, operator-based verifier to spot check codes one at a time, the way forward in barcode verification is with an inline barcode verifier. Handheld verifiers may not verify as accurately.  Real offline verifiers require a PC and are not very user friendly for shop floor verification.  An inline barcode verifier provides automated high-speed verification and quality reporting directly on your line. This prevents product waste and chargebacks. For this kind of job, we would recommend Cognex’s DataMan 475V Series an inline barcode verifier.  The 475V offers immediate feedback and visual diagnostic information which gives operators the ability to identify and correct printing and process control issues as they happen. The 475V auto-generates detailed reports for traceability, code quality, and compliance. The 475V verifies barcodes on high speed lines without skimping on analytics all while still achieving compliant barcode verification results.  Simply put, this inline verifier lends itself to speed, precision, efficiency, accuracy, and compliance of your operations overall.   

Ensure your barcodes are readable and meet industry requirements by finding your barcode verification solution today.

Researching barcode verifiers will immediately produce overwhelming results and price points. Our staff, with years of experience in barcode technology solutions, can help you narrow your choices and find the best fit for your operation, your business objectives, and your budget.  We partner with industry leaders, like Cognex, to provide the best barcode verifiers available and to customize a solution to fit your unique needs. Contact us.