HISTORY151 - Barcodes

The other day, Pat and I were sitting in an examining room at my doctor’s office, with the door closed, awaiting my doctor.  On the back of the door were several offers of medical information and/or services - each with its corresponding modern barcode type, called a QR code.  Barcodes have been around almost as long as we have, but it seems that lately, the advertising world has been saturated with them.  Since familiarity isn’t necessarily the same as knowledge, and I found myself pretty ignorant of the development and multiple uses of barcode, it looked like another good learning subject for a blog.

So, this blog will cover the history of barcodes.  Following an introduction to the two principal types of barcodes, linear and matrix codes, I will discuss the history of each, how they work, how they’re used, a snapshot of the future of barcodes, and end with some interesting tidbits about barcodes. 

 

As usual, I will list my principal sources at the end.

 

Introduction

A barcode is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable symbolic form.  Initially (1970s), barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings, and sizes of parallel lines.  These barcodes, commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D), can be scanned by optical scanners known as barcode readers.  A linear barcode contains information specific to the labeled item.

Typical linear barcode.

 

Typical uses for linear barcodes today include:

Grocery and Retail Checkout: Scanning linear barcodes at cash registers to look up product prices and names.

Inventory Control: Tracking stock levels, shipments, and warehouse items.

Shipping and Logistics: Labeling cartons, pallets, and freight packages for route sorting and tracking.

Healthcare: Identifying patient wristbands, tracking medication doses, and managing lab specimens.

Identification Cards: Storing user ID numbers on library cards, employee badges, and event passes.

In the 1990s, greater data-storage capacity two-dimensional (2D) matrix codes were developed, using rectangles, dots, hexagons and other patterns.  (Despite being included in the barcode category, matrix codes do not use bars as linear barcodes do.)  Matrix codes can be read using purpose-built 2D optical scanners.  A QR (quick-response) code is a type of two-dimensional matrix barcode that stores digital information. The required data is then extracted from patterns that are present in both the horizontal and the vertical components of the QR image.  (Note:  The rest of this discussion on matrix barcodes will concentrate on QR codes.)

Typical QR code.

 

Typical uses for QR codes today include:

Marketing and Business:

·        Web traffic: Directing users from flyers, posters, print ads, and TV screens straight to online stores or web pages that open immediately, letting you share info and videos without needing your own full website.

·        Digital business cards: Allowing people to scan a code to instantly save phone numbers, emails, and social links.

·        Product packaging: Linking buyers to user manuals, assembly instructions, ingredient lists, or warranty registration.

Hospitality and Services:

·        Menus and ordering: Displaying touch-free restaurant menus and digital ordering platforms on the OpenTable app.

·        Wi-Fi sharing: Letting guests connect to a local wireless network instantly without typing a long password.

·        Travel and transit: Serving as digital boarding passes, event tickets, or bike-share and scooter rentals.

Operations and Security:

·        Authentication: Speeding up login confirmations, user verification, and two-factor security steps.

·        Tracking and inventory: Monitoring items moving through a supply chain or tracing products. 

Both linear and matrix codes can also be read by a digital camera connected to a computer.  After a photograph of the barcode is taken, software is used to analyze the image to deconstruct and decode the code.  A mobile device with a built-in camera, such as a smartphone, can function as this type of barcode reader using specialized application software.

 

Linear Barcodes

In 1948, Bernard Silver, a graduate student at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, overheard the president of the local food chain, Food Fair, asking one of the deans to research a system to automatically read product information during checkout at grocery stores.  Silver and a graduate student friend Norman Joseph Woodland started working on a variety of patterned barcode systems, including one dimensional linear and circular “bull’s eye” barcodes.

Circular “bullseye” barcode.

On 20 October 1949, Woodland and Silver filed a patent application for "Classifying Apparatus and Method," in which they described both linear and bull's eye printing patterns, as well as the equipment needed to read the code.  The patent was issued on 7 October 1952.  They subsequently built a massive reader using a 500-watt incandescent bulb and a photomultiplier tube, but early technology made it too hot and expensive.

In 1951, Woodland moved to IBM and continually tried to interest IBM in developing a barcode system. The company concluded that it was both feasible and interesting, but that the near term available mechanical and electronic systems needed to read and interpret the code efficiently were not yet available.

Meanwhile, in the late 1960s, American engineer David J. Collins, at GTE Sylvania, pioneered the first large-scale, commercial automatic identification system for the railroad industry, known as KarTrak.  Collins recognized that railroads desperately needed an automated way to track the millions of freight cars traveling across the national rail network.

Kar Trak involved placing colored stripes in various combinations on steel plates affixed to the sides of railroad rolling stock. Two plates were used per car, one on each side, with the arrangement of the colored stripes encoding information such as ownership, type of equipment, and identification number.  The plates were read by a trackside scanner located, for instance, at the entrance to a classification yard, while the car was moving past. 

Collins’ solution pushed optical scanning forward and became the direct operational predecessor to the modern retail barcode.   However, the economic downturn and rash of bankruptcies in the industry in the early 1970s greatly slowed the rollout, and it was not until 1974 that 95% of the fleet was labeled.  To add to its woes, the system was found to be easily fooled by dirt in certain applications, which greatly affected accuracy. The Association of American Railroads abandoned the system in the late 1970s.

In the mid-1970s. the National Association of Food Chains established the Ad-Hoc Committee for U.S. Supermarkets on a Uniform Grocery-Product Code to set guidelines for barcode development.  In addition, it created a symbol-selection subcommittee to help standardize the approach.  In cooperation with consulting firm, McKinsey & Co., they developed a standardized 12-digit code for identifying products. The committee then sent out a contract tender to develop a barcode system to print and read the code.

IBM was the winner of the competition.  In 1973, American engineer George Lauer created a linear Universal Product Code (UPC) using vertical lines. (The bullseye shape smeared too easily on high-speed printing presses.)  The linear UPC is a 1-dimensional (1D) barcode that uses a series of parallel black vertical lines and white spaces of varying widths. 

IBM engineer George Lauer created a standard linear UPC code in 1973.

 

The UPC linear barcode typically contains 12 numeric digits printed underneath the lines.  Scanners read these patterns to identify retail items and prices.  The first 6 to 10 digits identify the company that makes or sells the item. The next set of digits identifies the specific product.  The final digit is a math check number to make sure the code scans correctly.

On June 26, 1974, a 10-pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum became the first retail item scanned with a UPC code at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio.

Linear barcodes became commercially successful after they were adopted to automate supermarket checkout systems, a task for which they have become almost universal.

In 1981 the United States Department of Defense adopted the use of Code 39 (a popular linear barcode type that can encode uppercase letters, numbers, and a few special characters) for marking all products sold to the United States military. This system, Logistics Applications of Automated Marking and Reading Symbols, is still used by DoD and is widely viewed as the catalyst for widespread adoption of barcoding in industrial uses.

In 1991, linear barcode GS1-128 was adopted as a global standard to encode complex logistics data (detailed product and shipping data like batch numbers, expiration dates, and quantities).

Linear barcodes have remained foundational in retail and logistics, even as 2D formats like QR codes emerged in the 1990 (see below).

In the 2000s, laser scanners shifted toward camera-based linear imagers that read damaged, poorly printed, or curved linear barcodes much faster.

Linear codes kept their absolute dominance at high-speed grocery checkout counters because they remain cheaper, simpler, and deeply embedded in point-of-sale infrastructure.

 

 

QR Codes

QR codes were invented in 1994 by Masahiro Hara and his team at the Japanese company Denso Wave to track automobile parts efficiently during manufacturing.  Traditional one dimensional linear UPC barcodes held only 12 characters and required slow, line-by-line scanning.  Hara’s application needed a two dimensional grid that could store thousands of characters, link directly to websites, and be scanned quickly. 

The QR code was designed as a square pattern of black and white blocks.  A QR code can store web addresses, text, phone numbers, and thousands of alphanumeric characters.  Locator areas (finder patterns) on QR codes use three large squares in the corners to let a scanner instantly find, orient, and read the code from any angle.

 

Japanese engineer Masahiro Hara invented the QR code in 1994.

Denso Wave company chose not to exercise its patent rights, making the technology free for anyone to use worldwide.

The International Organization for Standardization approved QR codes internationally in 2000.

Sharp introduced the first mobile phone with a built-in QR scanner in Japan in 2002, bridging the physical and digital worlds.  Smartphones added native camera scanning in the late 2010s. 

QR codes rose in popularity in the second decade of the 2000s due to the growth in smartphone ownership.  QR codes act as live digital links. A single scan lets shoppers view videos, sustainability data, or recall updates right from their phones.

QR codes also feature built-in error correction. They still scan properly even if part of the code is scratched, dirty, or torn.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive surge in contactless menus, payments, and digital check-ins.  Today, there are a wide range of QR code varieties to meet specific needs.

Driven by GS1 US, the retail industry began transitioning toward accepting omnidirectional 2D data-rich barcodes at the point of sale, though linear UPC barcodes continue to serve as the baseline fallback.

GS1 is a global, not-for-profit standards organization that designs and maintains the most widely used business communication standards in the world, most notably the barcode.  Headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, GS1 operates through over 110 local member organizations (such as GS1 US) across 120 countries, serving more than two million companies globally.  GS1 standards establish a common digital language that ensures product data is uniquely identified, accurately captured, and seamlessly shared across supply chains.

 

Future of Barcodes

Traditional one-dimensional black-and-white line barcodes are transitioning to web-connected two-dimensional QR codes by 2027, under the global G1 Sunrise 2027 initiative.

The future of barcodes.

  

The Shift to 2D and GS1 Digital Links:

·         Web connectivity: New 2D codes use the GS1 Digital Link standard to act as live web addresses rather than static numbers.

·         Rich data: A single code holds product identifiers, batch numbers, expiration dates, safety recalls, and recycling instructions.

·         Consumer access: Shoppers can scan codes with smartphones to view ingredients, origin stories, or digital product passports.

Retail and Supply Chain Impacts:

·         Checkout upgrades: Retail point-of-sale systems must support scanning both traditional UPC lines and 2D formats by the end of 2027.

·         Inventory precision: Warehouses use advanced 2D data-matrix codes and AI-driven scanners to track items dynamically through the supply chain.

·         Waste reduction: Grocery and retail systems can automatically block the sale of expired items at the register.

Artificial Intelligence (AI):

As AI technology continues to evolve, barcode scanning will become even more efficient and accurate.  We can expect to see more businesses adopting AI-powered barcode scanning to streamline their processes and gain a competitive advantage. 

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID):

Traditional barcodes and RFID will coexist in a hybrid model where   RFID handles high-speed, automated bulk tracking while barcodes serve as a cost-effective, line-of-sight visual backup and point-of-sale standard.

·         RFID as the Backend Sensory Layer: RFID handles heavy-duty, high-speed tracking in supply chains, smart factories, and automated warehouses without needing a line of sight.  As costs drop, RFID acts as the core IoT data collector for inventory visibility and organized retail crime prevention.

IoT is a network of physical objects embedded with sensors, software, and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over networks.

·         QR Codes as the Consumer Interface: QR codes remain the champion for low-cost, easy human interaction, letting everyday smartphone users access promotions, manuals, or recycling data instantly.

 

 Interesting Barcode Tidbits

Fascinating Barcode History:

·         Inspired by Morse code: Inventors Bernard Silver and Norman Woodland originally designed an early bullseye-shaped barcode in 1949 by drawing dots and dashes in the sand inspired by Morse code.

·         Washing-machine sized: Early commercial barcode scanners used in testing phases were massive, often the size of a household washing machine.

Surprising Uses and Facts:

·         Tracking bees: Scientists use tiny, specialized QR-like tags called BEEtags glued onto the backs of honeybees to monitor their behavior and interactions.

·         Graveyard links: In places like Seattle, QR codes are sometimes engraved on gravestones to link visitors directly to online memorial pages and the life history of the deceased.

·         Edible barcodes: Companies have developed microscopic edible barcodes made of safe silica materials that can be placed directly onto individual food products for advanced supply chain tracking.

 

 

Sources

My principal sources include: ‘Barcode” and “QR Code,” Wikipedia.com; “History of QR Code,” qrcode.com; “Traditional barcodes to be replaced with QR-style 2D codes by 2027,” reddit.com; “The Future of Barcodes: Understanding the 2017 Digital Transformation,” proax.ca; plus, numerous other online sources, including answers to many queries using Google in AI-Mode.