First used commercially at a Marsh's grocery store in Troy, OH in the early '70's, bar codes are now being adopted throughout industry. The technology has two primary benefits for capturing data: 1) SPEED and 2) ACCURACY. Applications include inventory control, WIP, asset management, and tool tracking.
There are two distinct types of bar codes, one being a linear bar code. This is essentially a license plate number that refers to a larger data base. The most commonly used linear code in industry is Code 39. Click on the image below to learn more about this symbology....
The second type of machine readable code is Two-dimensional. This image, which looks like a scrambled checkerboard, is a portable database that can store 25 to 100 times more information than a conventional linear bar code. Click on the image below to learn more about this particular 2D code....
Bars are also good for other things besides tracking parts...like enjoying a cold beverage. Below are a few of the bars in Ann Arbor along with my "coding" of them (5 beers being the best, 1 the worst....)
