Verify and ANSI Grade Barcodes as they are Printed
Who needs verified labels?
All US Government suppliers are required to verify and grade their printed barcodes. The same is required from most automotive manufacturers, the transportation and logistics industry, large wholesalers and retailers, and medical and pharmacy manufacturers. When will this transformation take place?
The simple answer is over the next few years and likely in 2027. Research conducted by GS1, released in February 2020, shows the retail sector at large does not currently have the equipment to implement this next-generation of product identification. GS1 US will be a driving force behind this change. In May of 2020, GS1 began the Sunrise initiative to support the adoption of 2D barcodes at Point-of-Sale.
Research of Brand owners and Retailers shows that they have begun phasing out linear scanners and installing new 2D optical scanners that can read dynamic data and fixed data. Retail upgrades look to continue up to 2027.
How to verify and grade barcode labels and tags
Verifying that your barcodes and ANSI grading them has traditionally been a manual process, requiring sampling of codes, or manually scanning all codes using hand-held verifiers. Newer methods have verifiers that mount directly to an industrial thermal printer or are built-in internally.
Obviously, there is an advantage of printing and verifying all barcodes as they are printed. Speed and productivity are increased, and the new printers can take a print job and provide reports required by the receiver of goods, proving that all codes have been checked and graded. These printers can meet military specs among other standards to verify and grade barcodes, and this can be accomplished in real-time.
Should a barcode be graded below your assigned standard, the printer can be programmed to stop, correct, and/or send alerts and messages directly from the printer to any person or department.
“Print thermal labels and verify as they are being printed”
Honeywell's PX940V Printer/Verifier
One example of a printer with a built-in verifier and ANSI grader is the Honeywell PX940V industrial printer with integrated label verification technology that provides error-free printing. The fully integrated verifier allows for quick setup even when printing and verifying different labels. With pass/fail and ANSI grades from 1 to 4, bad labels that do not meet an established threshold are voided and a new label is reprinted. This printer has print registration of up to +/- 0.3 mm (0.012 in). The PX940 will also print accurately on small labels, edge to edge with little error tolerance. This printer can verify and grade 1D and 2D codes. The cost of the entire system is 1/4th the cost of a stand-alone 2D verifier!
The PX940V printer is suited for transportation and logistics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, shipping and distribution centers, industrial manufacturing, automotive parts suppliers, and applications that are regulated and require error-free printing.
With a Honeywell firmware platform that supports multiple print languages, the PX940V printer is an easy replacement for competitive printers. A rugged all-metal print mechanism, an easy printhead, and tool-free platen roller replacement help minimize downtime and maintenance needs. The PX940V printer can support a wide range of media – including ink-in and ink-out ribbons with one-inch core size – enabling maximum time between media resupply. Fast time-to-label and print speeds of up to 350 mm/s (14 ips) ensure that the PX940V printer can scale with the changing needs of dynamic operations.
Printronix T6000 to T8000 Printer/Verifier
Another manufacturer that offers a full print and verify/ANSI grade solution is Printronix. The industrial line of Printronix printers is made to the most rugged of standards with leading capabilities to print Postscript PDF files in sub-zero temperatures while remotely managing your environment with PrintEnterprise.
The barcode verifier on this printer is attached to the exterior and scans labels as they are being printed., It is, however, fully integrated with the printer and software. Like the Honeywell PX940, it validates, grades, reports, and overstrike barcodes support 1D Barcodes (Picket Fence) barcodes up to 10 per label.
