Domino Printing supports growth of two-dimensional bar codes
The growth of two-dimensional bar codes offers manufacturers the chance to carry more data with their products and in some cases unique information on each pack, says Domino Printing.
The Bar Hill company is optimising its coding and marking capabilities to meet the demand for 2D codes, which have already been used to good effect by the pharma market.
Traditional one-dimensional bar codes are linear, with black and white stripes resembling zebra stripes, and stored information horizontally.
2D codes are graphical images that carry data both vertically and horizontally. QR (quick response) codes are a familiar type of 2D code which, when scanned with a smartphone, send the consumer to a website, but there are many other types.
Domino says 2D codes enable data exchange for traceability, supply chain visibility, authentication and consumer safety purposes, as well as promotional and marketing activities.
Lee Metters, group business development director at Domino, said: “Society has woken up to the use of 2D codes on a global level and we have already seen them used, with great success, in the pharma market, with legislation including the EU’s Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD).”
The FMD requires all medicines to feature a unique code that can be tracked, verified and decommissioned when dispensed to a patient.
“This success can now be replicated in other industries to bring a greater wealth of product data to consumers, retailers, and everyone involved within global supply chains, without slower line speeds or production waste due to unreadable codes,” added Lee.
“As a world-leading coding and marking provider, with expertise helping brands to fulfil regulatory serialisation requirements via 2D codes, and long-standing partnerships with key industry associations, Domino is well-placed to help manufacturers prepare for this new dimension in barcodes.”
Domino has printers and coders capable of handling variable data and the high-speed printing of high-quality, compliant, 2D codes on a range of packaging types and materials.
It has developed verification systems and solutions to check code accuracy and enable data sharing up and down supply chains.
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