Barcode
The industrial use of barcodes can be traced back as far as the 1960s, in some cases as a means to identify railroad cars. Common linear barcodes started appearing on grocery shelves in the early 1970s as the UPC barcode to automate the process of identifying grocery items. Today, barcodes are just about everywhere and are used for identification in almost all fields of business. When barcode technology is utilized in business processes, procedures are automated to increase productivity and reduce human error. Barcoding should be used whenever there is a need to accurately identify or track something.
The type of barcode that should be used may depend on several variables, including the following:
1. Standards and mandates
2. Purpose and use
3. Data encoded
4. Printing and/or decoding methods