“Help – My Barcodes Won’t Scan” – all you need to know about Barcode Verifiers

Barcode verifiers are the undisputed way to ensure your barcode labels are up to standard.  Read on to learn what everyone needs to know about them.

Thermal label printers are widely agreed to be the best way of printing barcodes.  However, they wear through their printheads and eventually white lines can appear in barcodes.  These white lines can prevent barcodes from scanning.  

Sometimes the first you know that your codes won’t scan is when your customers phone to say they’re rejecting your last consignment of product.  If it’s fresh product, you are likely to end up scrapping your entire shipment.  Just to rub salt into your already tender wounds, larger retailers will actually fine you for non compliance.

Even on a personal level, you’ll have experienced poor quality barcodes yourself if you use self scanning checkouts at the supermarket and a product just won’t scan!  It’s frustrating and time consuming.  

What should you do to prevent that from happening?  

Barcode verification is the jargon phrase for “barcode quality” checking. Barcode verification grades seven barcode qualities to make sure it is of a high enough quality for scanning purposes.  A barcode verifier is the ‘instrument’ used to grade the barcode and can identify if there are any issues within.  

A verifier will grade the colour contrast, the ratio of thick and thin bars – all that sort of stuff you’d rather not have to worry about.  If there is an issue with even just one of the grades, the verifier can tell you and then you can fix the problem – without needing to get a call from an angry customer.

What do I need to know about barcode verifiers?

First of all – barcode verifiers aren’t just barcode readers.  They are highly tuned instruments for measuring barcodes.  A verifier can give you a report that you can use in court and is a key part of any company’s quality assurance programme.  Not only do you need a key quality tool, but you need staff trained to interpret and act on the results.  We can help in this area also.

Smaller barcode verifiers start from around £1,650.  These will read narrower barcodes – typically up to 68mm wide.  If you need a larger verifier (for reading pallet barcodes up to 195mm) you can expect to pay in excess of £3,000.

Portable units are available, as are verifiers for 2D barcodes.    

If you think this is expensive then you probably haven’t experienced a product recall because of substandard barcodes.

If you can’t commit the budget to a barcode verifier, just having a basic barcode reader to sample barcodes for readability could warn you if your barcodes need investigation.  Contact us for suitable low cost scanners.

If you feel your business could benefit from a barcode verifier, please contact us on 01359 271 111 of click the chat button below.

Updated: 22 Jan 2021