When did barcode scanners become common?

History of Barcodes

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While it seems like barcodes have been around forever, their real impact began in the 1970s. The first barcode scanner was introduced in 1974 and used to scan the first barcoded product, Wrigley's Gum.

The concept of barcoding had been around much earlier. In 1932, Wallace Flint proposed an automated retail checkout system, although it was not initially practical. Flint, later the vice-president of the association of food chains, played a crucial role in developing the UPC (Universal Product Code).

Throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s, several code formats like the bull’s-eye code and numeral codes were developed. Retail applications primarily drove early barcoding technologies, but industrial uses soon followed.

Initial Uses of Barcodes

In 1948, a food chain store owner in Philadelphia approached Drexel Institute of Technology to research a method for automatically reading product information at checkout. Graduate students Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland took on the challenge.

Woodland first suggested using ultraviolet-sensitive ink, but it proved unstable and costly. On October 20, 1949, they built a working prototype using identifying patterns, leading to their 1952 patent for "Classifying Apparatus and Method."

First Commercial Use

Commercial use of barcodes started in 1966. By 1970, Logicon Inc. developed the UGPIC (Universal Grocery Products Identification Code). Monarch Marking and Plessey Telecommunications were pioneers in producing barcode equipment for retail and industrial use in the early 1970s.

In 1972, a Kroger store in Cincinnati used a bull’s-eye code. Around the same time, a grocery industry committee formed to select a standard code. IBM's design based on UGPIC was chosen, leading to the modern UPC symbol adopted on April 3, 1973. George J. Laurer is credited as the inventor of the UPC.

First UPC Scanner

By June 1974, the first UPC scanner was installed at Marsh’s supermarket in Troy, Ohio. Wrigley’s Gum was the first product to have a barcode scanned, marking a significant milestone in retail history.

Bars & Stripes First Introduced

In 1991, Tippecanoe Systems, Inc. released Bars & Stripes, one of the most popular barcode software applications, making it easier for small businesses to implement barcoding.

When did barcode scanners become common?

Barcode technology saw widespread adoption in the 1980s when mass merchandisers like Kmart and Walmart began to utilize it for tracking large inventories efficiently. The practicality of Inventory Scanners Handheld became apparent, aiding in the rapid spread of barcode systems in various industries. By 2004, Fortune magazine stated that 80 to 90 percent of the top 500 companies in the U.S. used barcodes.

Beyond retail, barcodes have revolutionized market research and product management by providing precise sales data. The once-dreaded "death ray" laser now appears in convenient handheld scanners, instantly logging products from hospital drugs to newborn babies.

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