Barcode Plastic Card
Barcoding is a popular option at the online card print. Most all modern retail cash register systems read barcodes at the checkout stand so this is the perfect and fast way to gather information about customers and what they are buying. It is also a great way to manage memberships in facilities and operations that have many cards to flow in and out. Each card is capable of carrying a unique barcode on either front or reverse side. The benefits are almost infinite: the card can then be linked to a database of select information tailored to your individual requirements.
Barcodes
A series of wide and narrow bars that can be scanned. There are many different types of barcodes, the most common one seen is the Universal Product Code or UPC code that you see on items that you purchase at stores. You can scan the barcode with your barcode scanner and it will then bring up the information that is stored on your barcode. We can also put the number that is associated with the barcode as a human readable number so if your barcode did not scan you can also manually type in the barcode number in which it would bring up the same information that is stored. The type of barcode you will need will be dependent on the type of scanner you have. This information would be found through your product provider. There are many different types of barcodes that are used today so all we would need to know is the type of barcode you will need and the number sequence that you would like to use on your cards.
Purpose of Barcoding
Barcodes are symbols read by machines that are used to store data. Including barcodes on plastic cards offers companies an efficient way to track consumer information. Barcodes are most often used for identification, tracking, inventory and as part of retail (POS) point of sale systems. Barcodes are read and decoded by barcode scanners which are optical or laser devices. These scanners interpret the widths of the bars and the stripes and then send the data. Many barcodes include a chek digit at the end of their sequence to insure the integrity of the data. Using barcodes on plastic cards allows for many benefits such as allowing for automated work processes that are fast and accurate. The use of barcodes can eliminate many errors and save a business time and money.
Types of Barcodes
There are many different types of barcodes that are used on plastic cards. Some of these barcodes have a fixed length while others can vary in size; some contain only numbers while others can contain numbers and letters.
UPC, EAN, Bookland and ISSN
The UPC (Universal Product Code) was he original barcode which was created for the purpose of tracking consumer products and automating the grocery checkout process. The UPC is 12 decimal digits where the last digit is a check digit. EAN was developed as a method to make the UPC barcode universal. EAN barcodes add an extra digit to the beginning on the numerical sequence so that there would be enough digits to handle the requirements of the entire world. EAN is primarily used in Europe, however the Uniform Code Council made it mandatory that all retail systems recognize both UPC and EAN. Bookland barcodes are typically used for books and ISSN barcodes are used on non US periodicals. Each of these barcodes use numeric characters only and have fixed length. They also include on ore more check digits.
Code 128
This barcode is a high density barcode that is widely used in the shipping and packaging industry and there are three variations; code set A, code set B, and code set C. This barcode offers a variable length and has a mandatory check digit as well as being capable of encoding alphanumeric or numeric-only characters.
Code 39
This barcode has become remarkably successful for a variety of applications and is widely used for ID, tracking and inventory purposes. Code 39 or sometimes referred to as Code 3 of 9, can vary in size and length, use numeric and alphanumeric characters, and can be used anywhere a simple barcode is needed. Code 39 can be decoded with virtually any barcode reader making it the most widely used. This barcode starts and stops with a * symbol and prints the number or alphanumeric characters in a human readable format alongside the barcode itself.
Interleaved 2 of 5 (ITF)
This is a compact numeric only barcode that encodes information on both the bars and spaces. This barcode is mainly used in laboratories and on corrugat ed boxes in the shipping industry, however, it is an older barcode that isn't used very often anymore.
Codabar
FedEx, libraries, and blood banks are the typical industries that utilize this numeric only barcode.
MSI-Plessey
This numeric barcode is used to encode information for libraries.
POSTNET
This is the barcode used to encode ZIP codes on US mail.
PDF 417
This is a very dense two dimensional barcode used to encode information and is found on the backs of many states' drivers licenses.
Data Matrix
This is another two dimensional barcode that takes up less space than the PDF 417 and is the basis for the Universal Identification barcode (UID) which is mandated by the Department of Defense.
MaxiCode
This two dimensional barcode is used by the United Parcel Service.
