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SKU, UPC, Code 39, Code 128, I2of5, alphanumeric, 2D, etc.
Everybody knows what barcodes are, but what are all these acronyms and codes all about?
The good news is that ASAP Systems Passport works with all of these barcodes and more. You can continue
to use the barcodes that you have in place now, as well as use the barcodes that are already on the inventory,
assets, and items that you receive on a daily basis.
Here's some of the common terms and more importantly how they affect you:
- 1D Barcodes: the vast majority of barcodes are 1 Dimensional, that just means they have the vertical
bars and spaces you're used to seeing. Groceries at the grocery store, products at the hardware store,
serial number barcodes on your PC.
- 2D Barcodes: for packing more information into a small space there are 2 Dimensional barcodes.
Specialized applications and some governmental requirements call for this advanced barcode technique.
- SKU: Stock Keeping Unit is one term for the common identifier for inventoried products. A SKU is really
the same as Stock #, Item #, Part #, UPC Code, etc.
- Code 39: probably the most common 1D barcode symbology, it allows alpha-numeric characters and it is
easily scanned by a barcode scanner.
- Code 128: this is another common 1D barcode symbology, it allows for more varied characters as Code
39 does such as slashes, decimals, and parenthesis.
Scanning a barcode: What happens?
Fortunately modern-day barcode scanners do all the work for us. A barcode scanner reads a barcode's lines
and spaces and translates that into a string of digits. So on a typical barcode label the barcode scanner
simply tells us what the string of digits are underneath the barcode itself. This is very useful because otherwise
when you're at the grocery store the checkout person would have to type in all 12 digits, or more, on each
and every item you are buying.
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