The code makers

But like so many things that are part of the wallpaper, there is a fascinating story of their development, and how they have refined and changed to meet new demands.

An old farm at Weston on the Green is home to Axicon, one of the world’s leading companies in barcode technology.

Managing director Peter Hicks said: “We got into the business by accident in the late 70s. A friend in the USA asked me what I knew about barcodes, which was nothing.”

With the help of some documents from his friend, Mr Hicks and his wife Jenny did some research. Finding there was no book on the subject, he decided to write one, along with his eldest son.

“If you write a book, you’re instantly a guru, so that was the basis of the business.”

Barcodes first emerged in the 1930s, starting as punch cards. One early trial of a barcode was to log the locations of American rolling stock. A large label called a decal was placed on the side of each vehicle and lineside-mounted readers scanned the data. Poor lasers and dirt on the decals meant it was not a success.

The growth of supermarkets in the USA in the 1960s brought a technology push. Stock needed to be tracked along the supply chain and to give correct price and data at the checkout. IBM engineer George Laurer invented the industry standard, the Universal Product Code, although in fact the UPC applies only in America.

A Dutch supermarket entrepreneur saw the system and led its introduction into Europe.

“The great thing was that each country developed its own barcode number bank, driven and paid for by industry and meeting their requirements,” said Mr Hicks.

“Now there’s a bank in each country, independent organisations that support themselves on the income from selling new barcodes. The standards organisations like ISO weren’t involved. Recently they have been, and it’s become stifling bureaucracy and not good news.”

Barcodes can be short, containing something like a price, or much longer. For a perishable product, size, weight and use-by dates must be incorporated. Typically, a code will identify country of origin and manufacturer, then give all the other data. The most common barcode is the European Article Number or EAN, but there is a whole raft of codes, some industry specific.

The size of a label will depend on how it is read and the material on which it is printed. If sharp printing on say, plastic, is difficult, the label will be larger so that slightly fuzzy edges do not cause problems.

Existing barcodes are stretched to their limit and can be counterfeited. Some ten years ago came the 2D or matrix barcode, which can take much more data and can be designed to give an individual number for each item.

Airline boarding passes use 2D codes. Where counterfeit products are a problem, such as the pharmaceutical industry, 2D is an enormous help.

Technology advances in other fields have been a godsend to barcodes. Cheap lasers developed for CD players dramatically cheapened counter-top readers and the charge-coupled device used to capture the picture in digital cameras did the same for hand-held devices.

Axicon began as a bureau, importing barcodes on film from the USA, then the only source. As the demand for turnround times shortened from days to hours, the company needed to print its own films. This required a plotter and software and the USA companies refused to sell to Axicon.

So the company built its own and wrote its own software, which it sells around the globe. It offers a bureau service for films and digital images to companies who want to outsource barcode production, also a rapid turnround printing service for barcode labels ranging from thumbnail size to 6-8in across.

The company name derives from the Russian-invented Axicon lens, with which Mr Hicks and his team tried — and failed — to design a cheaper barcode reader.

The upside was that they used the experience to develop barcode verifiers. These machines check printed barcodes for accuracy.

“People like Tesco won’t take goods without a barcode. If your barcodes are faulty, you get a thumping fine. So verifiers save a fortune and make us a good income. And Tesco send all its suppliers to us to check things and resolve problems.”

Axicon dominates the verifier and barcode quality assurance market everywhere, except Germany and the USA.

Their South African arm has a thriving business in radio frequency identification. Mines excavate prodigious amounts of ore and soil. Good batches for extraction are identified using ruggedised RFID chips that ‘float’ on top of the ore and are scanned by overhead readers. This saves huge sums in processing.

“I think God intended us to have barcodes,” remarked Mr Hicks with a twinkle in his eye. “Whenever we’ve needed new and cheaper technology, it’s always magically appeared.”