Achieving a successful barcode implementation depends on the ability to capture barcodes quickly and accurately. Projects that measure return on investment will study the impact of non-reads and mis-decodes on the business. In many cases, poor quality barcodes can limit the ability to read codes, which leads to a higher rate of keypad entry, lower productivity, and a higher error frequency.
Ideally, every symbol in circulation would be printed in adherence to the barcode encoding rules. Unfortunately, these efforts are thwarted when a third party is feeding imperfect symbols into your environment, or when a printer is out of adjustment. Common problems include low contrast printing, bar growth, insufficient quiet zone (blank area around the barcode), or printing on challenging surfaces which may be curved, textured or glossy. Moreover, packages come in a variety of shapes and sizes, suppliers don’t always verify the barcodes they print for compliance, and symbols can be damaged during shipping and handling. In these situations, many printed barcodes can be seemingly unusable.This application note will review several types of poor barcode conditions that can occur, including:I. Damage or DistortionII. Poor ContrastIII. Challenging Package Shapes and MaterialsHoneywell SwiftDecoder™ Barcode Decoding Software’s robust algorithms find and decode barcodes under many adverse conditions to successfully deliver return on investment in real-world situations. All of the barcodes in this application note have been successfully tested by Honeywell.
I. DAMAGE OR DISTORTION
As barcodes can be exposed to many types of environmental conditions, they naturally degrade over time. Damage to barcodes may occur during their movement through the operations process and distortion may occur due to production area temperature changes. Any kind of damage to a barcode, such as scuffs, marks, scratches, stains, blotches, or poor ink distribution (often a common printing defect) affects readability and can result in a non-read, or worse, a mis-decode, all impacting profitability.
Honeywell Solution
For more than 25 years, companies have been using Honeywell solutions in their mission-critical scanning applications. They have pushed us to solve their toughest barcode reading challenges. In many cases, our customers do not print their barcodes, and they cannot control the condition of the barcode throughout its journey to the point of reading. They have come to rely on Honeywell’s robust algorithms to find and decode damaged and distorted barcodes.
II. POOR CONTRAST
Barcode reading technology is fundamentally based upon the ability to detect both light and dark barcode elements. If dark barcodes are printed on a dark substrate or light barcodes are printed on a light substrate, the scanner has difficulty discerning the barcode from the background, which typically results in a non-read. Readability is also affected if the barcode is placed onto a busy background, or if lighting conditions cause a reflective or shadowed condition.
Honeywell Solution
SwiftDecoder™ Barcode Decoding was designed and built from the ground up to work much the way the human eye is able to detect small changes in light, and to tolerate bright reflections. SwiftDecoder reads low contrast barcodes with enhanced speed and better accuracy than most other solutions.
III. CHALLENGING PACKAGE SHAPES AND MATERIALS
Barcodes are typically easy to read if they are on paper or are perfectly presented to the imager. However, most barcodes are placed onto packages that come in many shapes and sizes, or are made of many different types of materials, which can often make readability difficult or impossible for typical barcode readers.
Honeywell Solution
Whether it is a barcode symbol that wraps around a curved object, or a 2D barcode on a driver’s license that has become warped over time, SwiftDecoder’s algorithms are more tolerant of curvature and other distortions.
For no-cost evaluation SDKs for all of these SwiftDecoder solutions, application assistance, current specifications, pricing, contact us today.
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