The Bar-code section focuses on two bar-code examples of over 40 types of bar-code in use today. They are UPC Bar-code for (A) Point-of-sale applications and (B) the Bar-code Interleave Code 2 of 5 for package tracking applications. See Figure #16 below.
Point-of-Sale
A
B
Bar Code Diagram
Section 4
Figure 16
Company A Company B Product Company A's Shipping Agent Company B's Shipping Agent Product ProductBar-code is used extensively in point-of-sale and shipping applications.
This section is a restatement of information found in Data Communication for the Office, edited by Rik Drummond and to be published by Bantam Professional Books in 1993.
This section is composed of the following divisions that focus on UCC bar-code standards:
• Definitions • Introduction
• Company-specific Bar-code Applications • Industry-wide Bar-code Applications
Introduction
Bar-codes are irrevocably tied to many EDI implementations. The Uniform Code Council (UCC) was created to administer common bar-code methodologies for the grocery and warehousing industries. Two years after the group was formed, it expanded its charter to include EDI because of the high degree of synergy in the two technologies for reducing paper usage and reducing administrative overhead.
Bar-coding is a cost-effective means for putting the status of physical objects into computer information systems. It ties the physical object to its detailed computerized description data. Bar-code scanners read the bar-code on products or shipping containers and convert the bar-code symbols into an identifying numeric or an alphanumeric sequence. These sequences are keys that represent the object or a class of objects in the computer databases.
EDI transactions between companies often refer to these identifying alphanumeric sequences in Purchase Orders and Advanced shipping notices.
Bar-coding is used by manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, blood banks, libraries, photo labs, grocery stores, and retail industries. There are two general applications for bar-coding (1) Company-specific and (2) Industry-wide.
56
Definitions
Bar-code
A Bar-code is a means for representing symbols (character sets) which are easily read by scanning devices. A number of bar-code symbologies represent letters, numerals, and special characters. Others represent only the numerals 0 through 9 and a few special characters.
Symbology
Each bar-code symbology has a character set it can represent in bar-code symbols. A certain sequence of bars and spaces represent an "A", while a different sequence represents a "B".
Character Set
A Character Set is a group of symbols. Some bar-codes are able to represent only numerals and a few special characters, such as the UPC bar-code. Others such as the Code 128 Bar-code are able to represent a character set of A,B,C through Z, a,b,c through z, 0,1,2 through 9, and several additional special characters.
Company-specific Bar-code Applications
Many companies use bar-coding internally to trace the progress of goods though the manufacturing, inventory, and loading process. Others use bar-code symbols to identify employees to automated data collection and time recording systems. These applications often use company-unique alphanumeric codes to represent the objects. The scanning of a bar-code might generate the employee number sequence "ABC1". The symbol has meaning within the organization, but has no meaning to other organizations. This is an example of a company-specific bar-code application.
Industry-wide Bar-code Applications
Introduction
Industry-wide naming standards are needed to identify an object in a unique manner for multiple companies and organizations in order to facilitate inventory control during transporting, warehousing, and point-of-sale activities.
Several industry organizations define and maintain these object identification methods and bar-coding standards. One of the most visible is the Uniform Code Council (UCC) which is responsible for bar-code and EDI standards in the retail, mass merchandising, grocery, and warehousing industries. The familiar bar-code used at grocery checkout counters, UPC, is administered by the UCC.
Industry Use Overview
The following is an overview of two of over 40 bar-code symbologies in use today. The symbologies covered are:
• UPC-A
• Interleaved Code 2 of 5
Each of these bar-codes uses a different method of interpreting the bars and spaces to represent characters in the character set.
An example character set would be the upper a n d lower case English alphabet, A through Z, a through z, the numerals 0 through 9 and the special c h a r a c t e r s !,@,#,$,%,^,&,*,(,), and +. Another character set m i g h t be composed of only the characters 0 through 9.
58
Bar-code Symbols
In some bar-code methodologies, the position and number of bars represent characters. Spaces have no meaning. In others, the width of the bars and the width of the spaces have meaning; both are used to represent characters in the character set. Because of the coding of the bars and spaces, some bar-codes are more sensitive to the type of material on which they are printed and work better for some applications than others. Some bar-codes require more space to represent information than other bar-codes.
Universal Product Code - UPC
One of the most common and most visible bar-codes is the Universal Product Code (UPC) used in the retail, grocery and the mass merchandising markets. A large number of grocery chains, warehouses, and suppliers in the early 1970s formed the Uniform Code Council (UCC) to administer and promote the use of a common bar-coding methodology throughout the grocery industry. The Universal Product Code Bar- code (UPC), which is visible on most consumer products today, was first introduced by the UCC in 1973. Its numbering system uniquely identifies each product in the grocery industry. It has been expanded since then to encompass the retail and mass merchandising industries.
UPC-A Bar-code
The UPC-A (Universal Product Code - Version A) is the primary way to identify consumer products to point-of-sale bar-code scanners in the United States.
The UPC-A is a bar-code symbology composed of three groups of numbers: a single digit, followed by five digits, ending with five digits. A single digit checksum follows the first 11 digits. The checksum is used to identify errors in the first 11 digits.
A bar-code represents symbols (character sets) w h i c h are easily read by scanning devices. Each b a r - c o d e symbology has a character set it represents in b a r - code symbols. A number of bar-code s y m b o l o g i e s represent letters, numerals and special c h a r a c t e r s . Others represent only the numerals 0 through 9 and a few special characters.
UPC Bar-code Example
0 12345 67890 5
Checksum Item Number
Manufacturer ID Number (Includes Numbering System) Numbering System
Start Character
Stop Character
Figure 17
In the example above, the single digit "0" is a number representing the number system used for the next five-digit field, contents "12345". When the first digit is 0, the next five digits are interpreted as the unique "UCC Manufacturer ID Number" assigned by the UCC to each registered product manufacturer. The next field, "67890", is used by the registered manufacturer to identify each of its products. The last number is the checksum.
The first digit position on the left, "0", in this case, tells what "numbering system" will be used to interpret the next five digits.
All bar-codes have a start character and a s t o p character so that they may be scanned in e i t h e r direction without losing the start of the string.
60 The Numbering Systems values are:
Value Description .
0 assigned to all items except as follows: 2 assigned to items sold by unit of measure
3 assigned to companies which have a national Drug Code Number as their UPC Manufacturing ID Number
4 assigned for retailers' use only (closed systems) 5 assigned to coupons
6 assigned to retail products 7 assigned to retail products
In Figure #17, "67890" might represent a pair of black pants, size 38 long, type full cut, manufactured by company "12345" under numbering system 0.
Bar-code Interleave 2 of 5
In the retail, grocery, and mass merchandising environments, Bar-code Interleave 2 of 5 is frequently used to mark shipping containers using one of two UPC Shipping Container Codes. One is used for packaged contents and one is used for products sold by unit-of-measure such as kilos or square yards. The example below is the former. Interleave 2 of 5 is used in shipping container applications because, unlike many bar-code symbologies, it is relatively insensitive to scan errors when printed on corrugated boxes.
Note how the same numbering system and Manufacturer ID Number are used as in the UPC Bar-code.
Interleave 2 of 5 Shipping Carton Example
1 06 00001 00002 2 Package Indicator Numbering System Manufacturer ID Number Item # Figure 18
ASC X12 Organization Structure
X12 Chair X12 Membership Steering Committee Version / Release Conference & Exhibits Planning Operations & Procedures X12/EDIFACT AlignmentProcedures Review Board
Pan American EDIFACT Board
DISA Secretariat
Subcommittees
X12C - Communications & Control X12D - Education & Implementation X12E - Product Data
X12F - Finance X12G - Government X12H - Materials Management X12I - Transportation X12J - Technical Assessment X12K - Purchasing
X12L - Industry Standards Transition X12M - Distribution & Warehousing X12N - Insurance
Legal
Figure 19
The X12 Accredited Standards Committee is under the auspices of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a Federal Government organization.
2
ASC X12 Secretariat 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 355
use in December 1991.
CODE TRANSACTION SET NAME .
104 AIR SHIPMENT INFORMATION
110 AIR FREIGHT DETAILS AND INVOICE 114 AIR SHIPMENT STATUS MESSAGE 170 REVENUE RECEIPTS STATEMENT
204 MOTOR CARRIER SHIPMENT INFORMATION
210 MOTOR CARRIER FREIGHT DETAILS AND INVOICE 213 MOTOR CARRIER SHIPMENT STATUS INQUIRY 214 MOTOR CARRIER SHIPMENT STATUS MESSAGE 217 MOTOR CARRIER LOADING AND ROUTE GUIDE 218 MOTOR CARRIER TARIFF INFORMATION
300 RESERVATION (BOOKING REQUEST) (OCEAN) 301 CONFIRMATION (OCEAN)
303 BOOKING CANCELLATION (OCEAN) 304 SHIPPING INSTRUCTIONS (OCEAN) 309 U.S. CUSTOMS MANIFEST (OCEAN)
310 FREIGHT DETAILS AND INVOICE (OCEAN) 312 ARRIVAL NOTICE (OCEAN)
313 SHIPMENT STATUS INQUIRY (OCEAN) 315 STATUS DETAILS (OCEAN)
322 TERMINAL OPERATIONS ACTIVITY (OCEAN) 323 VESSEL SCHEDULE AND ITINERARY (OCEAN) 324 VESSEL STOW PLAN (OCEAN)
350 U.S. CUSTOMS RELEASE INFORMATION (OCEAN) 353 U.S. CUSTOMS MASTER IN-BOND ARRIVAL (OCEANS)
4 426 RAIL REVENUE WAYBILL
429 RAILROAD RETIREMENT ACTIVITY 431 RAILROAD STATION MASTER FILE 466 RATE REQUEST
468 RATE DOCKET JOURNAL LOG 485 RATEMAKING ACTIONS
490 RATE GROUP DEFINITION 492 MISCELLANEOUS RATES 494 SCALE RATE TABLE 810 INVOICE
811 CONSOLIDATED SERVICE INVOICE/STATEMENT 812 CREDIT/DEBIT ADJUSTMENT
815 SECURITY STRUCTURE
819 OPERATING EXPENSE STATEMENT
820 PAYMENT ORDER/REMITTANCE ADVICE 821 FINANCIAL TRANSACTION REPORT 822 CUSTOMER ACCOUNT ANALYSIS 823 LOCKBOX
824 APPLICATION ADVICE
826 TAX INFORMATION REPORTING 827 FINANCIAL RETURN NOTICE
829 PAYMENT CANCELLATION REQUEST
830 PLANNING SCHEDULE WITH RELEASE CAPABILITY 832 PRICE/SALES CATALOG
835 HEALTH CARE CLAIM PAYMENT/ADVICE 836 CONTRACT AWARD
838 TRADING PARTNER PROFILE 840 REQUEST FOR QUOTATION
841 SPECIFICATION/TECHNICAL INFORMATION 842 NON CONFORMANCE INFORMATION
843 RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR QUOTATION 844 PRODUCT TRANSFER ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT
849 RESPONSE TO PRODUCT TRANSFER ACCOUNT ADJUSTMENT 850 PURCHASE ORDER
851 LEASE SCHEDULE
852 PRODUCT ACTIVITY DATA
855 PURCHASE ORDER ACKNOWLEDGMENT 856 SHIP NOTICE/MANIFEST
857 SHIPMENT AND BILLING NOTICE 858 SHIPMENT INFORMATION
859 FREIGHT INVOICE
860 PURCHASE ORDER CHANGE - BUYER INITIATED 861 RECEIVING ADVICE/ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE 862 SHIPPING SCHEDULE
863 REPORT OF TEST RESULTS 864 TEST DOCUMENT
865 PO CHANGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT 866 PRODUCT SEQUENCE
867 PRODUCT TRANSFER AND RESALE REPORT 868 ELECTRONIC FORM STRUCTURE
869 ORDER STATUS INQUIRY 870 ORDER STATUS REPORT
872 RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE INSURANCE APPLICATION 878 PRODUCT AUTHORIZATION/DE AUTHORIZATION 879 PRICE CHANGE
888 ITEM MAINTENANCE
889 PROMOTION ANNOUNCEMENT 894 DELIVERY/RETURN BASE RECORD
895 DELIVERY/RETURN ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND/OR ADJUSTMENT 896 PRODUCT DIMENSION MAINTENANCE
6 996 FILE TRANSFER
AT&T AT&T Easylink Services Interpace Parkway Parsippany, NJ 07054 British Telecom EDI*Net
2560 North First Street P.O. 49019
San Jose, CA 95161-9019 General Electric GE Information Services
Washington Street Rockville, MD 20850 Harbinger Harbinger
Century Place Atlanta, GA 30345 IBM IBM Corporation
Box 30021 Tampa, FL 33630 Kleinschmidt, Inc Kleinschmidt
Lake Cook Road Deerfield, IL 60015 MCI International MCI International
19th Street, N.W.
Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 MEMA/Transnet MEMA/Transnet
Box 1638
8
Sprint International Sprint International Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 22096 Sterling Software Ordernet Services
Box 7160
Lake Hurst Court Dublin, OH 43017 Telecom Canada Telecom Canada
Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ont. K1G 3J4 Transettlements Transettlements
Phoenix Blvd. Atlanta, GA 30349
ACH Automated Clearing House
ASC X12 Accredited Standards Committee for inter-industry electronic data interchange standards
AIA Aerospace Industries Association
AIAG Automotive Industry Action Group
AIM Automated Identification Manufactures
AISI American Iron And Steel Institute
ANA Article Number Association
ANS American National Standards
ANSI American National Standards Institute
APA American Payroll Association
API American Petroleum Institute
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Seven
bit standard encoding scheme for most computers. The letter 'A' equals 0101 0001 while a lower case 'a' would equal 0111 0001 in binary.
ASN Advanced Shipping Notice
Asynchronous Transmission of data where each character is self-contained with its own start and stop bits. The common method of transmitting data at lower speeds between a computer and a modem. It is also known as Asynch.
ATA American Transport Association
10
before and after data transmission. Also known as Bisync.
BPS Bit Per Second
BSC Binary Synchronous Communications
BSC 3270 Interactive Binary Synchronous Communications
BYTE Eight (8) bits. A single character and a byte are often synonymous.
CALS Computer-Aided Acquisitions and Logistics Support
CCD Cash Concentration And Disbursement. An EFT format, with
very limited remittance data
CCD+ Cash Concentration and Disbursement Plus. An EFT format,
with limited remittance data.
CCITT Comite Consultatif International Telephonique Et Telegraphique (International Telephone and Telegraph Consultative
Committee). The international standards board for telecommunications hardware and protocols.
CEC Commission for the European Community
CEF Commission For The European Chemical Manufactures
Association
CEFIC European Chemical Industry
CIDX Chemical Industry Data Exchange.
CISCO Corporate Information Standard Coordinating Committee - GM
EDI
CODABAR A variable length bar-code symbology which can represent 10 numerals and 6 special characters
CODE Alpha-numeric or numeric only characters representing a
specific standard text.
CODE 39 A bar-code which can represent 43 different characters, 0 through 9, a through z, and seven special characters. CODE 128 A bar-code, variable in length, which can represent all 128
ASCII characters.
COMM ID The participant EDI identification sold by the UCC Communication
Protocols
Standard rules for how to encode information for transmission between locations.
CTX Corporate Trade Exchange - An EFT ANSI X12 format. Data Element The smallest named unit of information in the X12 standard. Data Element Attribute A defined characteristic of a data element.
Data Element Dictionary
The document that specifies the numbers, names, and definitions of data elements.
Data Element Name A unique name of the data element. Data Element
Representation
The format of a data item, including characteristics: numeric, alphabetic variable or fixed length.
Data Element Separator A special character, used for no other reason in the X12 exchange, which designates the beginning of the next data element.
Data Element Tag A unique identification frame for a data element.
Data Item Content of a data element.
Data Segment X12 segment composed of an ordered sequence of data elements. The segment contains application data. Data Segment
Dictionary
The document that specifies the codes, names, and definitions of data segments.
DEA Drug Enforcement Agency
DES Data Encryption Standard
DEX/UCS Form of direct store delivery. Exchange between route drivers and back door receivers. Administered by UCC.
DISA Data Interchange Standards Association. The secretariat for the Accredited Standards Committee X12.
12
EANCOM European Article Numbering Committee.
EBCDIC Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code. Eight bit coding standard used by IBM mainframe and compatible systems. Similar to the ASCII standard.
EBDI Electronic Business Data Interchange is a term for EDI
EDGAR Electronic Data Gathering Analysis & Retrieval
EDI Electronic Data Interchange
EDIA (TDCC) Electronic Data Interchange Association
EDICC Electronic Data Interchange Council Of Canada
EDIFACT EDI For Administrative, Commerce, And Trade
EDIFICE EDI For Companies Interested In Computing And Electronics
EDN Enterprise Defined Network
EDX Electronic Data Interchange For The Electrical Industry
EFT Electronic Funds Transfer
EIA Electronic Industry Association
EIAJ Electronics Industry Association Of Japan
EIDX Electronics Industry Data Exchange. The Communication
Standard subset for ASC X12.
ERS Evaluated Receipts Settlement. This concept replaces the
invoice in a transaction by using the electronic advance shipping notice.
FACT Federation Of Automated Coding Technologies
FIPS Federal Information Processing Standards
Functional Group An ANSII ASC X12 and EDIFACT standards term used to identify one or more messages of the same type headed by a functional group header and ended with a functional group trailer. A functional group begins with a GS group header segment and ends with a GE trailer segment.
GMAIC General Merchandise And Apparel Implementation Committee -
Workshops for the implementers of Open Systems Interconnections.
Guideline Recommended set of procedures used within EDI.
HIBCC Health Industry Business Communications Council -EDI
Technical Committee.
Interleave 2 Of 5 Bar-code standard used to mark the outer shipping cases in many industries.
ISO International Standards Organization. Based in Geneva,
Switzerland, and comprised of national standards bodies from more than 75 countries, the ISO has defined a number of important standards, including OSI.
Item Code Number The third field in the UPC. A five digit code assigned to the product by the member company.
IVAN International Value Added Network
JIT Just-In-Time
LIC Label Identification Codes are an HIBC standard administered
by the HIBC council.
LOGMARS An Acronym for The DOD Project on Logistics Applications of Automated Marking and Reading Symbols.
MAC Message Authentication Code
Mail Bag Ta3 A New X12 Standard for Exchanging EDI Packets Between Parties
Mailbox Storage area in a VAN holding transmissions for users. Transmissions may be retrieved by the user.
Manufacturer ID Number
The second field in the UPC. A unique 6 digit number assigned by the UCC for each member of the Uniform Code Council.
14
ODETTE Organization Of Data Exchange By Tele-Transmission In
Europe. The European AIAG.
ORDERNET/NWDA Standard For The Pharmaceutical Industry
OSI Open System Interconnect. Defined by the ISO, OSI describes
a seven layer model for network communications. The top layer consists of end-user applications. The bottom layer is the physical connection (or wire) between network nodes.
PADIS Passenger and Airport Data Interchange Standards board is
responsible for the development and maintenance of all passenger and airport services' EDIFACT messages.
PIDX Petroleum Industry Data Exchange
PKCS Public Key Cryptosystem
POS Point-Of-Sale
Quick Response Retail industry EDI endeavor focusing on responding very quickly to customer needs in sizes, colors, products and styles.
RFI Request For Information
RFP Request For Proposal
RFQ Request For Quote
RJE Remote Job Entry
RS232 A recommended standard for serial communications. It is an OSI data link layer standard.
S.W.I.F.T. International Banking Network. Originated In Europe.
SDLC Synchronous Data Link Control
Segment A group of logically related and sequentially positioned data elements, starting with a segment code and ending with a segment terminator.
Segment Directory The document describing all the attributes of all data elements. Segment Identifier A unique X12 two or three character identifier for the segment.
The identifier is the label identifying the start of the segment in a transaction.
Segment Name The name or tag identifying a segment.
Segment Terminator A special character, used for no other reason in the X12 exchange, which designates the end of a segment.
SNA System Network Architecture. A networking protocol developed by IBM in 1974. Originally a strictly hierarchical control structure, it is now being expanded to a peer-to-peer control structure with appc
SNA 3270 SNA Interactive Communications
SNADS SNA Distribution Services
SWIFT International Banking Network. Originated In Europe.
Syntax Rules Standards language. The rules that govern the structure of user data and associated data in message interchanging.
TALC Textile And Apparel Linkage Council
TCIF Telecommunications Industry Forum. The communication
standard subset for ASC X12.
TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The U.S. Government Standard for Wide-Area Networking, TCP/IP is used to connect Government Agencies and Universities. It makes possible the Interconnection of a variety of hardware platforms. TCP/IP may eventually be replaced by OSI. TDCC (EDIA) Transportation Data Coordinating Committee. Name Changed