2D Barcodes and Their Advantages

Due to several traceability initiatives, product coding is experiencing rapid changes. Customers expect more information about the products they’re buying. Governments are beginning to impose regulations that demand better product tracking. The result? More data must be included in product codes, in particular, dynamic data such as expiration dates and serial numbers. The 1D barcodes we’re used to seeing on every packaged product does not provide the needed functionality any longer and technologies such as printers and scanners must adapt.

To help navigate these challenges, we talked to Raymond J. Fortuna, Brady’s Global Product Manager: Microfluidic Solutions. We asked about GS1 and how Sunrise 2027, Digital Product Passports and the Food Safety Modernization Act affect the future of product traceability.

Think about buying lettuce at your local supermarket. Now that you are your own cashier, you locate then scan the barcode, a price pops up and you pay. That 1D barcode did its job and you have your lettuce.

But there’s much more information that could be reported for that single head of lettuce. With a 2D code, that scan could reveal which farm grew the lettuce, where the lettuce was packaged, and distribution facilities that handled the produce because KDEs were automatically collected at each step, called Critical Tracking Events (CTEs). After checkout, there would also be a record of sale assigned to the store (the “final” CTE).

In the event of a product recall, FSMA 204 requires that all KDEs for the affected products be supplied to the FDA within 24 hours of request. Because of data rich 2D codes, the entire list of KDEs at CTEs have been logged and reporting to the FDA is as simple as forwarding a spreadsheet. For the store manager, instead of destroying all inventory that might have been affected, a store could scan their inventory with precision and identify which specific heads were contaminated.

This also improves recalls for consumers. When notified of the recall, consumers can scan the bag of lettuce with a smartphone and know for certain if they were affected by the recall. If affected, disposal instructions would be communicated and a digitized code could be generated for a free product replacement.

How can Brady help companies adapt to this changing landscape?

Dynamic product data shifts how we buy, ship, use and dispose of all manufactured products, and many facilities will need substantial upgrades in printing and scanning equipment. Software solutions logging traceability data need to be thorough and nimble enough to meet these new industry demands.

With Brady’s product portfolio, we are positioned to enable our customers to take advantage of the benefits of data rich 2D codes. By leveraging our expertise in many of these categories, we can offer integrated solutions that solve customer pain points, not just sell a product.