BAR-CODE PRINT STANDARD EXPECTED TO HELP

DAYTON, Ohio -- Retailers and manufacturers may insist that the best practices and technologies be used to generate accurate scan data. But it will not count for much if the bar-code symbol on the package is not up to par.

ode earlier this year.

The group is completing specifications for the voluntary standard, which for the first time incorporates the use of a verifier device, UCC officials said. The new set of guidelines does not replace the current specifications, but serves as an alternate method for producing the UPC symbol.

David Sefcik, corporate scanning manager at Giant Food, Landover, Md., and co-chairman of the scanning subcommittee of the Food Marketing Institute/Grocery Manufacturers of America Coupon Committee, told SN that guaranteeing accurate point-of-sale scan data is a growing concern of supermarket retailers.

"With Efficient Consumer Response and the attention given to relying on and sharing of data, it's becoming more and more critical that information be absolutely as accurate as possible," Sefcik said.

The new standard for print quality of the UPC was developed in response to new printing processes now being used, especially at stores, as well as the emergence of new packaging materials, said UCC's president, Hal Juckett.

"The original specification for a UPC symbol has been in place since 1972 or 1973. Since that time there are a lot of new techniques and processes for creating a symbol," he said.

The new specification incorporates use of a verifier device to analyze a bar-code symbol, said Tom Brady, UCC spokesman. "First, we developed a standard for analyzing the symbol, so everybody involved with the creation and use of the symbol will have the same understanding of what is good and what isn't," he explained.

Second, UCC worked with the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Washington to create a "golden ruler" for equipment manufacturers to use in the calibration of verification devices.

The golden ruler, which consists of a "perfect bar code" and several examples of poorly produced symbols, can be used to ensure that verifiers will recognize bad bar codes and identify the specific problem accurately and consistently.

"People who make test equipment didn't have a physical standard like that to work from," Brady said.

The UPC print-quality standard is specifically targeted to so-called "demand printers," in-store printing equipment generating bar codes for deli and bakery, among other departments.