Bar Code History: The People Behind Its Success - UPDATED
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - AIM Connections

Bert Moore

Editor

 

The much publicized 35th "birthday" of the U.P.C. bar code is certainly a noteworthy milestone.  By now, most people have seen dozens of articles about the technology's creation and growth. And most have seen the names Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver as the "fathers" of bar codes. And some may even know the name George J. Laurer as the leader of the IBM team that developed the symbology that became the U.P.C. symbol in use so widely today. But bar code technology also owes its success to a handful of visionary individuals and companies that looked beyond U.P.C. and created the technology as we know it today.

 

 [Editor's note: Since the publication of this article in the July 2009 issue of "AIM Connections", a number of individuals who were involved in the early development of bar codes have provided corrections, additions and personal recollections. Corrections and some additions have been included in this version. The personal recollections are in a separate file, linked at the bottom of the page.]

 

This will be an imperfect list because many individuals worked behind the scenes and aren't given the credit they deserve. And there's no way to acknowledge everyone's contribution. However, some individuals and companies do stand out. Individuals mentioned are cited with their original companies (many company names have changed in recent years). For those I've overlooked, I apologize in advance and welcome updates and additions which I will include in future editions of "AIM Connections".

 

Symbologies

 

Ben Nelson's excellent book "Punched Cards to Bar Codes" (now sadly out of print) lists hundreds of bar code symbologies that have been invented over the years but only a handful came into more than limited use and only a few of those remain today. Many of those symbologies pre-dated U.P.C. and a few are even in limited use today. It also points out that bar codes evolved from different technological advances over the past few hundred years. However, just dealing with the use of dark and light bars to represent data is daunting enough

All bar code symbologies in the early days were patented by the originators in hopes of reaping the rewards of equipment sales.  Instead, this restricted the growth of bar codes and led to a number of variants of popular symbologies that skirted the patents and avoided licensing fees.

 

Plessey is a prime example of this.  Plessey was an early symbology that gained wide use in the U.K. in libraries. Plessey produced a variant for a client called Anker. Unlike today's symbologies that are fully documented and vetted by a number of specialists, specifications were originally sparse and tightly held. However, the symbology could be reverse-engineered to determine its basic structure and a variant, MSI Code, emerged that had subtle differences in the start/stop patterns and check character(s).

 

Interleaved 2-of-5

Another example is what we now know as Interleaved 2-of-5 (also known as ITF and I-2/5). This symbology started out as Straight 2-of-5 -- that is, only the dark bars were variable width; the light spaces were a single width. There were two variants: Identicon 2-of-5 and Computer Identics 2-of-5.  Dr. David Allais used the basic encoding pattern of Straight 2-of-5 served as the basis for Interleaved 2-of-5 where the widths of two digits were "interleaved" -- the first digit is encoded in the dark bars, the second digit is encoded in the light bars (spaces).  The start/stop patterns were also reduced in size. This produced a more condensed symbol.

 

The opposite idea was embodied by IBM's Delta Distance Code which used fixed-width bars and varying spaces.

 

The first successful alphanumeric symbology, Code 39 (also known as Code 3-of-9 or 3-of-9 Code) was invented by Dr. David Allais of Intermec. This symbology, for the first time, allowed companies to use their legacy item codes. Upper case alphabetic characters, digits and a few special characters could be encoded. However, Code 39 could be implemented with or without a check character and there was no way to tell whether it was in use or not. Nonetheless, this symbology was adopted early on by the automotive industry and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

 

Code 128

Ted Williams of Computer Identics pushed the technology further by producing Code 128 to encode the entire 128-character ASCII set. This had a mandatory check character which eliminated any doubt about whether or not to calculate the check in decoding. A variant, with a non-ASCII Function 1 character at the beginning that could be recognized by readers but not be transmitted, became UCC/EAN-128 and is still in wide use today as is standard Code 128.

 

Code 49

Code 128 pushed standard linear symbologies about as far as they could go at the time and symbologies such as Code 49(Allais), Code 16K(Williams) and CodaBlock (Heinrich Oehlmann) were developed to "stack" sections of a longer symbol to accommodate longer data strings. None of these gained the same level of adoption of Code 39 or Code 128.

 

PDF 417 was the first stacked bar code to receive wide implementation (1991) because it included, for the first time, an error detection and erasure correction algorithm (Reed-Solomon) that could compensate for damage to the symbol. Ynjiun Wang at Symbol Technologies re-thought the entire concept of stacked symbols and distributed data throughout the symbol in a non-linear manner. This symbology is also widely used by the DoD, package delivery companies and various industries because it can pack more data into a smaller area than conventional linear symbologies.

 

However, even stacked symbols have their limitations and the advent of two-dimensional (2D) matrix symbols significantly changed the face of "bar codes". Whereas both linear and stacked bar codes depend on accurate printing and measurement of the relative widths of dark and light bars, matrix symbols employ a single size element arranged in a grid. Rather than depending on varying widths to decode a symbol, matrix symbology readers only have to find the center of each element (whether dark or light) to assign it a place in the grid.

 

Code One

The first matrix symbology to make a splash (Vericode) was proprietary. In response to this, Ted Williams developed Code One as the first public domain matrix symbology. Code One was not widely implemented but it pushed open the door for the next public domain symbology, Data Matrix, attributed to Dennis Priddy.

Data Matrix

 

Since that time, there have been other public domain matrix symbologies that have gained acceptance: QR Code (Denso, Japan), MaxiCode (United Parcel Service), and Aztec Code(Andy Longacre, Welch Allyn).

 

Today, most symbologies are created by teams because they have become far more complex and not the work of individuals toiling away to come up with the next great advance.

 

Aztec Code

Equipment

 

There are a few companies that stand out as true innovators and visionaries in the field of bar code printing and reading.

 

For printing, Plessey in the U.K. and Intermec (drum printers), Printronix (matrix impact) and Zebra (thermal/thermal transfer) in the U.S. were among the pioneers.

Computer Identics introduced the first laser scanner (fixed location).  

 

Point-of-sale (POS) scanners from NCR (which had its own type of bar code for cash registers early on) and IBM were first on the scene.

Scanning (wands) from Hewlett-Packard and Welch Allyn (now Honeywell) were also on the scene early. The big breakthroughs in hand-held scanning came when Symbol Technologies (now Motorola) introduced the first hand-held laser scanner (HeNe). Opticon introduced the first laser LED.

 

Linear and 2D imagers came next and seemed to appear in a cluster so it is difficult to identify the true pioneers although some sources suggest that Norand introduced the first linear CCD. 

Industry Actions

 

Without doubt, industry-wide standards were key to the growth of the use of bar codes. Industry associations provided not only guidance and standards but also the base of users necessary to make systems economically viable.

 

AAR Railcar Label

Perhaps the earliest attempt at industry-wide use of bar codes was initiated in the late 1960s by the American Association of Railroads (AAR) to track railroad cars. It used a multi-colored bar code pattern and a xenon arc lamp white light scanner to read the symbols. Dave Collins led the project for Sylvania, ably supported by Chris Kapsambelis and Chuck Mara and, according to them, it worked well -- until the symbols got dirty or damaged and were not maintained by the railroads.

 

And the formation of the Uniform Product Code Council (UPCC) certainly proved that an industry (grocery) could adopt and benefit from the use of a single standard even if the change was somewhat disruptive in the beginning.  [UPCC became the Uniform Code Council (UCC) then merged with the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) as EAN/UCC and is now GS1.]

 

However, the Interleaved 2-of-5 (ITF) "case code" did not come about as a result of UPCC action. Rather, it was a collection of suppliers and customers who needed a symbol that could be printed on corrugated packaging material. The Distribution Symbol Study Group (DSCC) created the ITF symbol we still see today.

 

Another significant move came when the Distribution Codes Institute (DCI), a manufacturing-based organization under the direction of George Wright Sr. (who later founded PIPS, Inc.) agreed to merge its 10-digit coding structure into the UPCC's 11-digit code. Wright was also instrumental in developing magazine coding with U.P.C. and an add-on.

 

In the U.K., Paul Chartier was instrumental in convincing EAN to assign 978 as the "country code" for books ("EAN Bookland") which allowed publishers to use their International Standard Book Number (ISBN) within an EAN-13 symbol.

 

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), the Health Industry Business Communications Council (HIBCC) and the U.S. DoD all adopted Code 39 for use on shipping labels and items.  The AIAG, however, created the first standard for a multi-symbol label and also created data identifiers (DIs) -- a means of identifying the data content by using specific alphabetic (or numeric and alpha) characters at the beginning of the data. Marilyn Sherry (then of IBM later with AIAG), Jack Loeffler (Ford), and a host of other individuals from OEMs and their suppliers collaborated on this effort.

The obvious benefit of the AIAG label led many other industry organizations to mimic (but not exactly copy) the AIAG model. The Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX); the Industry Bar Code Alliance (IBCA) representing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration; the Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA), the Telecommunications Industry Forum (TCIF), the furniture industry and others all jumped on the data identifier bandwagon. And created mass confusion because each industry group chose its own identifiers -- often assigning a different data type to the same identifier used by another industry group.

 

ANSI MH10 subcommittee 8 (MH10.8) played (and continues to play) an important role in advancing application and print quality (with X3A1) standards that actually enabled the non-retail industry to embrace the technology and move forward. The EIA and TCIF standards evolved from the MH10.8 efforts on a cross-industry scale and not simply from AIAG.

 

Eventually, AIAG spearheaded the formation of the Federation of Automatic Coding Technologies (FACT) within AIM. This group developed a comprehensive set of identifiers that extended the existing, conflicting, standards to include a wide range of useful data sets that could be uniquely identified. Although FACT eventually disbanded, the DIs are now part of ANSI MH10.8.2 (which is a reference document for ISO/IEC 15418). The standard is still administered by AIM. FACT was originally led by Bob McQuade (Bellcore) and later by Craig Harmon (Q.E.D. Systems).

EAN/UCC also copied the idea of identifiers for use in stand-alone or concatenated data in UCC/EAN-128 symbols and created a series of all-numeric Application Identifiers (AIs).  These identifiers are now also referenced in ISO/IEC 15418.

 

A few individual's names stand out: Robert Hankin (HIBCC), Hal Juckett (UPCC), Stuart Crouse and Mike Noll (DoD/LOGMARS).

 

And, of course, the entire AIM membership and leaders (too many to name).

 

Standards

 

As might be evident from the references to the various industry associations as well as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and ISO/IEC (International Organization for Standardization and International Electro-technical Commission), bar code standards are no longer the work of a single individual.

 

It is not possible to list all the individuals who contributed to the development of industry and governmental standards. However, some of the more outstanding individuals have been recognized by AIM with the Don Percival award (for end-user individuals and organizations) and Dick Dillingaward (for AIDC professionals) awards. A more extensive list of those who have contributed significantly to the growth of the AIDC industry in general -- through technical, education or standards activities -- can be found in the list of AIDC 100 members.

 

However, one group of individuals stands out and deserves special recognition.

 

Bar code symbologies (aside from those controlled by GS1) are vetted by AIM's Technical Symbology Committee (TSC). This group of  symbology experts carefully reviews and recommends revisions to candidate standards.  Its first task, in the early 1980s, was to revise and improve existing Uniform Symbology Descriptions (USDs) that had been published by AIM simply to provide a single source of technical documents for those developing printers, readers and software. These documents became Uniform Symbology Specifications (USSs). Eventually, many of these became ANSI and later ISO/IEC standards. All new symbologies accepted by the TSC for review are typically submitted to ISO/IEC as draft international standards.

 

These individuals (and their companies) have devoted countless hours to ensuring that AIM standard bar code symbologies meet the highest technical standards for quality. Among the early and most active members of the committee were: Roger Palmer (Intermec), Andy Longacre (Welch Allyn), and Ted Williams (CI then Laserlight Systems), Rich Bravman (Symbol Technologies). Sprague Ackley (Intermec), Rick Schuessler (Symbol/Motorola), and Clive Hohberger (Zebra) are among those who have also made significant contributions over the years.

 

Many of these individuals have also worked with industry associations, GS1, and have served on ANSI, ISO and ISO/IEC committees over the years.

 

Conclusion

 

To give a complete history of bar codes and give due credit to all of its innovators would require a book.  Hopefully, some day Ben Nelson's "Punched Cards to Bar Codes" mentioned at the beginning of this column will be updated and republished.

 

From its birth through its adolescence, bar code technology has benefitted from the flashes of brilliance, hard work and vision of a handful of dedicated individuals. Today, bar codes are mature but still growing under the guidance of a few veterans and many relative newcomers.  Bar code technology development has now become a team effort -- so it's entirely fitting to remember those pioneers who single-handedly (or nearly so), created an industry from which we all benefit today.

 

More: Personal recollections of some of the pioneers (including their comments and corrections to the original column).

 

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Comments on this column? E-mail me: Bert Moore, Editor(Additions to the list of innovators are welcome!)

 

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Additional source material:

ARA Rail Tagging: http://www.aeitag.com/aeirailhis.html

Bar code history: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blbar_code.htm

Bar code symbologies: http://www.adams1.com/spec.html

Industry innovators: http://www.aidc100.org

A historical perspective on the math that helped bar codes succeed: http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/edward_tenner/2009/06/stars_who_invented_the_stripes.php

 

 

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