William van Benthum from Axicon Auto ID Ltd gives an overview of barcode verification

1. Axicon Auto ID Ltd.
William van Benthum
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2. Greetings from the Netherlands
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3. Holfeld Graphics
Rory Connaughton
Our partner in Ireland
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4. Barcode Verification
Why and how
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5. What’s the difference?
Barcode scanners
vs.
Barcode verifiers
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6. Barcode scanners
- Designed to capture barcode data content.
- Forward the decoded data to a system being used in
a certain application.
-
Such as…
a Point Of Sale cash register.
a baggage handling system.
various sorts of logistic environments.
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7. A variety of scanners
Hand held
Fixed
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8. A variety of scanners
Hand held
Fixed
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9. What’s a Barcode Verifier?
- It is a measuring or quality inspection device.
- Examines, analyses and reports the quality, and
therefore scanability of the (printed) barcode.
- It is not a scanner.
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10. Verifiers are about standards
- It compares the results of the measurements against
international industry standards and specifications.
- The ISO/IEC standard for print quality of linear codes
is 15416. For 2D Matrix codes it is 15415.
- The most well known application standard is the one
from GS1.
-Oh, and a verifier is NOT a scanner.
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11. Grading your barcode
- A verifier grades the barcode for quality.
- Grade A(4), B(3), C(2), D(1) or F(0).
- For most applications (such as the GS1 standard) a
grade 2.5 or higher is acceptable.
Did I tell you a verifier is NOT a scanner?
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12. Why verify?
- Verification makes sure that the printed barcode will
be read by the scanners in the various applications, by
various scanners in various places.
- If not, it can e.g. kill automated logistic processes.
- Non readable barcodes will cause loss of time, loads
of extra costs, goodwill, lost luggage, headaches, etc.
etc.
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13. Who verifies?
- Designers, Printers, Packaging.
- Manufacturers (food, non-food, pharmaceutical,
automotive, aerospace etc. etc.)
- Publishers
- Retail
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14. What can go wrong?
- Wrong data encoded
- Too little contrast
- Bars (and/or spaces) too wide or too narrow
- Insufficient light margins/quiet zones
- Defects caused by e.g. dust in print heads, wrinkled
ribbons, blocked (inkjet) nozzles etc. etc.
- Barcode is too small or too large (magnification)
- Code is truncated
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15. What can go wrong 2?
- Missing (or split) bars because of faulty print heads
- Using transparent substrates (plastic/glass)
- Placing barcodes too close to vertical corners or
even wrapping around corners.
- Barcodes on film distorted because of shrink wrap
- Using uncovered metal surfaces as a background for
the bars of a symbol
- Messing up the rules for using Application Identifiers
in GS1-128 for traded unit symbols
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16. Analysis
- A verifier analyses the problem area (if any) and
gives the user information how to correct the mistake
and/or improve the quality in order to achieve a
better grade.
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17. How to verify
- The scan reflectance profile (SRP)
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18. Parameters of quality
-
Edge Determination
Minimum Reflectance
Symbol Contrast
Minimum Edge Contrast
Modulation
Defects
Decode
Decodability
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19. A typical grading according to 15416
2.8/06/660
- Where 2.8 (or B) is the achieved grade.
-‘06’ is for 6 mil/150 microns. The size of the aperture
applied for the measurement.
- ‘660’ is for 660 nanometers, the wavelength of the
light source being used to illuminate the barcode.
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20. Are you still with me?
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21. Types of verification
- linear
- 2D
- all-in-one
- PC system
- Portable system
- off-line (>95%)
- in-line
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22. What does it look like
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23. What does it look like 2
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24. In-Line verification
- All codes are verified
- All results can be stored and kept as proof of ISO
compliance
- Will usually also do data content checking (AI check,
sequential numbering etc.)
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25. However…
- In-line verification requires a fixed distance from
verifier to barcode within small tolerances.
- It also requires a fixed angle of illumination to
comply with ISO/IEC standards
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26. In-Line verification
- Requires stable web printing
- Mind your speed!
- Barcode orientation is important
- What action should be taken when faulty barcodes
are detected?
- Can the printer/system be paused by an external
device?
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27. Thank you!
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