The barcode was invented at Westinghouse in 1930 by John Kermode, Douglas Young and Harry Sparkes.
The first patent for a barcode, US Patent #2,612,994, was issued to inventors Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver on 7 October, 1952. The Woodland and Silver barcode looked a little like the cross section of a tree trunk.
Barcodes began to be used commercially in 1966. But there was no industry standard until 1970, when the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code (UGPIC) was written by Logicon Inc. The first company to produce UGPIC barcode equipment for retail trade use was the American company, Monarch Marking, in 1970. British company, Plessey Telecommunications, produced the first barcode equipment for industrial use, also in 1970.
George J. Laurer is attributed with the invention of the Uniform Product Code, covering all products, in 1973.
The first product to have its Uniform Product Code (UPC) barcode scanned was a 10 pack of Wrigley's gum. It was scanned and purchased at a Marsh Supermarket, Ohio USA, on 30 June 1974. Today, 5 billion barcodes are scanned every day.
Honeywell has launched a microsite and released an infographic to celebrate its 40th anniversary and the ways in which the company has played a role in the evolution of the barcode and scanning technology.
View the history of the barcode infographic here: Honeywell history of barcode infographic
Honeywell's Code 39 is the most widely used barcode today. Honeywell's Aztec barcode is one of the world's smallest and most dependable - approximately 30 times smaller than a Code 39 barcode representing the same data. It is used for airline and railway tickets.
"Locally, the barcode announced its arrival on Australian and New Zealand shores in 1979 at Sims Supermarket in Victoria, which was the first barcode scanning store in the region. This occurred in the same year APNA was formed (now known as GS1 Australia - a local arm of the global not-for-profit organisation that develops and maintains the most widely-used supply chain barcode standards in the world)," said Tony Repaci, Honeywell Scanning and Mobility country manager, ANZ.
"By 1986, 90% of grocery items in Australia and New Zealand had a 13-digit International Article Number (EAN) barcode and 500 grocery stores had scanning technology. From there the barcode was adopted in point of sale (POS) in successive Australian retail operations such as department stores, pharmacy and liquor. The barcode has become so entrenched in our shopping experiences that we now take it for granted that scanning devices will be used at POS for a fast and accurate transaction."
Honeywell wants its customers to remember that the barcode continues to play a critical role in improving efficiencies, increasing productivity and enhancing the overall customer experience across a variety of industries – from providing a speedier check out at the grocery store to scanning at a hospital bedside, to enabling goods to be tracked throughout their lifetime or simply using a phone to board an airplane…
…and that Honeywell Scanning & Mobility contributes a broad portfolio of retail-ready and rugged scanners to capture, process and analyse data on barcodes around the globe.
Here is an overview of some of Honeywell's firsts:
· 1971: First on-demand barcode printer
· 1972: First contact-wand bar code reader patented
· 1974: Invented code-39, still the most widely used barcode in the world
· 1982: First handheld laser scanner with built-in decoder
· 1995: First handheld 2D imager and introduced the Aztec code barcode
· 1996: First omnidirectional handheld laser scanner
· 2007: First near-field/far-field imager
· 2013: First wearable solution to integrate voice and hands-free scanning
