Bar Coding Best Practice Guidelines
12th July 2005
JIG Best Practice Guidelines for Bar Coding & Issue Numbering of Magazines, Partworks & Collectibles and Promotional Vouchers.
The all-new edition of the Bar Coding Best Practice Guidelines has now been launched on the PPA, ANMW and JIG websites. An email campaign and a series of presentations to key users and ‘owners’ are also under way.
Produced under the ‘JIG’ banner, this new edition contains important contributions from a large group of UK retailers, wholesalers, publishers and their associations, all of whom have given it their endorsement.
The bar code number is a means of uniquely identifying every issue of a magazine, partwork, or other ‘collectible’ in a common and standard way. This unique identification is of utmost importance when data is electronically captured and transferred between computer systems of trading partners, such as Publishers, Distributors, Wholesalers and Retailers. Promotional vouchers issued in magazines also use a similar style of bar coding.
The new Guidelines are targeted particularly (but not solely) to:
- Publishing staff who are responsible for issuing and using bar codes
- Production department staff, printers, designers and reprographic houses
- Retailer and wholesaler account managers/buyers
The Guidelines contain a wealth of technical information on bar coding for magazines, partworks & collectibles, newspapers and promotional vouchers. They cover a full range of topics from ‘components of the bar code’ to ‘how to achieve a smaller symbol that scans accurately’. Also new for this edition is a large ‘What If …’ section that aims to answer a range of frequently asked questions.
Appendices contain a range of useful contacts and other ‘deep tech’ information.
Commenting on the launch, Bill Gower, chair of the PPA Technical Services Panel and the Guidelines working group said:
“We’ve tried to make this new edition as accessible as possible for all users, technical, operational, and people who want somewhere to turn to solve day to day ‘what if’ problems. Hopefully there’s something for everybody.
“Ultimately we want these Guidelines to provide recommendations that will improve bar code quality and set out a standardised approach endorsed by retailers and wholesalers.”
Representing the ANMW, Howard Birch commented:
“The barcodes printed on all news product must scan first time every time.
Only with this consistency will the news trade supply chain gain from the benefits of fast, accurate data capture. By following the guidance provided within this document we are confident that all “news” barcodes will meet our requirements.”
Thanks are due to ISSN UK Centre for their help & support in compiling this document.
Acknowledgement is given to GS1 UK for allowing its copyright material to be used throughout.
