Barcoding and Global GS1 Standardization
World business communications count a hundred thousand different companies and organizations. Doing common worldwide business demands general rules and directives that help many companies reduce inter-industry problems. Global standards provide common language of information exchange, identification and business rules. Due to this, companies can cooperate in some vital points that bring worldwide business processes to defined, commonly understood standards.
The history of a barcode began in 1974 – the first barcode had been placed on a chewing gum, and was scanned. It was a start for a global barcoding concept.
Today barcodes are used by manufacturers, suppliers and retailers in many industries – retail, healthcare, grocery, banking, transport, logistics etc. This usage shows an example how standardization reduces costs, raises efficiency and positively influences the development of a business process.
GS1 is a common global platform for business. Its goal is to create and support standards for sharing information electronically. It covers over 100 countries with companies-members who stick to supply chain standards and make their business more effective.