BARCODE SYSTEM

By:-
Suvarna Ghule (1225017)
Ashwin Tank (1225018)
Kshitij Godbole (1225019)
Yogi Bhimani (1225020)


What is Barcode System ?
A barcode system is a network of hardware and software,
consisting primarily of mobile computers, printers, handheld
scanners, infrastructure, and supporting software.
Barcode systems are used to automate data collection where
hand recording is neither timely or cost effective.
Barcoding systems are not radio-frequency
identification (RFID) systems even though the companies that
provide barcode equipment will often also provide RFID
equipment and many companies use both technologies as
part of larger resource management systems.
Brief History
As far back as the 1960s, barcodes were used in industrial work
environments.
Some of the early implementations of barcodes included the ability
identify rail road cars. In the early 1970s, common barcodes started
appearing on grocery shelves. To automate the process of
identifying grocery items, UPC barcodes were placed on products .
Today, barcodes are just about everywhere and are used for
identification in almost all types of business.

Components of Barcode system
Barcode system consists of 2 parts :-
1) Hardware
There is a wide range of hardware that is manufactured today for use in
Barcode Systems. The best known brand of handheld scanners and mobile
computers.
2) Software
There is a range of hardware on the market, software is more difficult to find
from the hardware manufacturers. Some ERP, MRP, and other inventory
management software have built in support for barcode reading and some even
allow the software to run directly on a mobile computer.
What is Barcode?

Barcodes are simply a set of symbols used to represent alpha-
numeric information instead of seeing a number "1", or letter
"A", you would see a series of black and white bars in various
combinations and in different widths.

These are used to encode data. The data encoded in such bars
can be decoded again to represent it in human readable form.


Barcode System
A typical barcode system consist of
some infrastructure, either wired
or wireless that connects some
number of mobile computers,
handheld scanners, and printers to
one or many databases that store
and analyse the data collected by
the system. At some level there
must be some software to manage
the system. The software may be
as simple as code that manages the
connection between the hardware
and the database or as complex as
an ERP, MRP, or some
other inventory
management software.
Working
A bar code consists of a series of parallel, adjacent bars and
spaces. Symbols are used to encode small strings of character
data into a printed symbol.
A bar code reader decodes a bar code by scanning a light
source across the bar code and measuring the intensity of
light reflected back by the white spaces.
The pattern of reflected light is detected with a photocliode
which produces an electronic signal that exactly matches the
printed bar code pattern.
This signal is then decoded back to the original data by
electronic circuit.
What is a Barcode reader ?
A barcode reader (or barcode
scanner) is an electronic device
for reading printed barcodes .
Like a flatbed scanner, it consists
of a light source, a lens and a light
sensor translating optical
impulses into electrical ones.
Additionally, nearly all barcode
readers contain decoder circuitry
analysing the barcode's image
data provided by the sensor and
sending the barcode's content to
the scanner's output port.


Different types of scanners
Pen type readers and Laser Scanners

Pen type readers consist of a Light source and a photo diode that
are placed next to each other in the tip of a pen or wand.
To read a bar code, you drag the tip of the pen across all the bars in
a steady even motion. The photo diode measures the intensity of
the light reflected back from the light source and generates a
waveform that is used to measure the widths of the bars and spaces
in the bar code.
Dark bars in the bar code absorb light and white spaces reflect light
so that the voltage waveform generated by the photo diode is an
exact duplicate of the bar and space pattern in the bar code. This
waveform is decoded by the scanner in a manner similar to the way
Morse code dots and dashes are decoded.

CCD Reader

CCD (Charge Coupled Device) readers use an array of hundreds of
tiny light sensors lined up in a row in the head of the reader. Each
sensor can be thought of as a single photo diode that measures the
intensity of the light immediately in front of it.
Each individual light sensor in the CCD reader is extremely small
and because there are hundreds of sensors lined up in a row, a
voltage pattern identical to the pattern in a bar code is generated in
the reader by sequentially measuring the voltages across each
sensor in the row.

Camera Readers
The newest type of bar code reader currently available are camera-
based readers that use a small video camera to capture an image of
a bar code. The reader then uses sophisticated digital image
processing techniques to decode the bar code.
Video cameras use the same CCD technology as in a CCD bar code
reader except that instead of having a single row of sensors, a
video camera has hundreds of rows of sensors arranged in a two
dimensional array so that they can generate an image.

Interfacing a barcode reader to a PC
Interfacing
Bar code readers are available with two types of output -
either "keyboard wedge" output or RS232 output.
The bar code readers with keyboard wedge output plug
directly into the keyboard port on your PC .
The other option is RS232. With this type of bar code reader
we can connect available serial port on the back of PC.


Why use Barcodes ?
When barcodes are used in the business process, procedures are
automated to increase productivity and reduce human error.
Whenever there is a need to accurately identify or track
something, bar-coiling should be used. For example, in a data
entry work environment, workers may be required to enter an
enormous amount of data into a customer database system.
Instead of manually typing a customer identification number into a
database, if the information is contained in a barcode, a data entry
operator may scan it in. This would increase automation and
reduce human error.
Barcode types and use
The type of barcode to use for a
particular situation depends
upon the use:-
The data encoded in the barcode.
How the barcode will be printed.

Benefits Of Barcoding
ACCURACY OF DATA INPUT (ERROR FREE)
AID EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF RESOURCES AND INVENTORIES
LABOUR SAVINGS BY AVOIDING MANUAL SYSTEM
COST EFFICIENT
REAL TIME DATA COLLECTION
MEASUREMENT OF WORK IN PROGRESS THROUGHOUT THE FACTORY
RAPID ACCESS TO TOTAL PRODUCTION COSTS
MORE ACCURATE DISPATCH
Applications
1)RETAIL APPLICATIONS
Super markets
Counter-mounted Bar Code scanners
Universal Product Code (UPC)
Price and description information
2)WARE HOUSING
3)HEALTH CARE APPLICATIONS
Drugs, devices, instruments
Identification of expiry date
Blood banking Blood group Expiry date
Donor traceability

ROV Bar Code Scanner Case Study
Mile High Grocery Supply Inc.
BUSINESS SITUATION

Mile High Grocer y Supply Inc. is a distributor to over 100
grocery stores in Colorado,USA.
Each day, Mile High field service workers visit these grocery
stores to perform stock checks and create stock reorder
invoices for the store.
However, this pen and paper-based process was time
consuming and error prone.
BUSINESS SOLUTION
AT&T and Serialio.com teamed up to provide Mile High an all-in-one mobile
bar code software solution to improve the restock process.
Field workers are now armed with a LaserChamp II (aka Microvision ROV
Scanner
with Bluetooth) laser bar code scanner and an AT&T BlackBerry 8310
handheld loaded with SerialMagic Pro and GridMagic software.
Now, when initiating a product restock, the worker starts by using the
LaserChamp II (aka
ROV Scanner with Bluetooth) to scan the Universal Product Code (UPC) on
the item.
SerialMagic Pro receives the bar code over Bluetooth and inserts the bar code
into the correct field in the GridMagic spreadsheet on the BlackBerry
handheld.
Continued
The worker then increments the stock order using the keypad and
then moves to the next product and repeats this process until all
products low in stock have been added to the spreadsheet.
Upon completion, the worker then utilizes the BlackBerry
handhelds wireless capabilities by attaching the spreadsheet to an
email and sending it over the AT&T network to the home office .
The spreadsheet is used to produce the pick list ,eliminating any
data re-entry previously by transcribing the paper orders.
Solution Benefits
Increased Data Integrity: Scanning bar codes is 10,000x more
accurate and 100x faster than manual Data entry.
Increased Office Efficiency: The spreadsheet is instantly
converted into a pick list, eliminating the need to digitize hand-
written invoices.
Increase Field Force Efficiency: Auto-generated pick lists and
barcode capture enable mobile workers To Create Invoices 50%
Faster And service more stores per day.
Simple & Affordable: Solution is comprised of simple mobile
hardware and common productivity software that totals between
$500-$600 per worker.
CONCLUSION
Barcode system is a simple and a cheap investment for quick
administration and management in various application that we
have seen in the above case study and examples .
Bibliography
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode_system
2. http://developer.att.com/developer-
csc/successStories/ROV_Bar/customer_evidence_milehigh_v3.pdf
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcode_reader
4. http://www.slideshare.net/Arnab_Roy_Chowdhury/working-of-barcode-
reader-uwsb


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