What Industries Buy Barcodes
By Erik Quisling
The invention and implementation of barcodes allowed many industries to undergo positive changes such as reduced costs, increased efficiency, and enhanced inventory management. Although barcodes are used in many industries-- healthcare, retail, transportation and logistics are the main ones.
In the healthcare industry, barcodes are very important because they help with the patient admittance process, keep track of medication, and even identify patients throughout their hospital stays. With barcode technology, physicians are able to see medical information through a unique barcode tied to each patient. This improves workflow changes in hospitals and other medical facilities, and it allows doctors and nurses to work efficiently with their patients. In addition, as more practices convert to electronic medical records, barcode solutions will allow those records to be more easily accessible and will ultimately reduce the potential for human error.
In retail, barcodes are used everywhere-- from clothing items, groceries, furniture, you name it. The two most common types of barcodes used in retail are UPC and a Code 128 barcode. UPC barcodes are used as pricing tags, and they can track an item within a store and can give information about the item’s price, where it was made, and what batch it came from. Code 128 barcodes are typically used to manage large amounts of boxes which contain individual items.
In the logistics and transportation industry, barcode technology can be applied to every aspect of product production, sales, transportation, warehousing and other links to facilitate timely management. Barcode technology is widely used in logistics and is mainly reflected within production management, sales information systems, warehouse management, and inventory management. By using barcodes, businesses can know when shipments are due, where they are coming from, and where the shipments are delivered. This allows businesses to make plans for their operations and sales functions, leading to optimal planning and efficiency.


