We all know and love barcodes they have been with us seemingly forever, well in fact they really first saw the light of day in the late 1960 on the American Railroad system, the barcode as we know it came about in 1974 on a packet of Wrigley’s Chewing gum! What then about the new kid on the block the QR code, which came about in 1994 and is similar in many ways to the barcode, but also very different.
Barcodes are in everyday use today, we see them on just about every label in a supermarket and elsewhere. The barcode works in a different way to the QR code, the barcode is a one dimension code that holds a series of numbers and of course is fantastic at the point of sale, or in the warehouse or stocktaking. This little series of stripes has revolutionised the checkout process and helps in stock management and in asset management.
On the other hand the QR code can hold a tremendous amount of information in the small square which it occupies. They are two dimensional and hold more information; in fact they can hold about one hundred times as much as the humble barcode, they also occupy a much smaller space on the label. Another advantage can be that at almost any angle they are readable.
QR codes really took off with the growth of the smartphone and it is perhaps this that has driven the use of QR codes more than the benefits they impart. So is it a barcode, or do you want to think about using QR codes on your product? Call us and we will be happy to discuss your options.