GS1 DataBar
What will happen in 2014?
When GS1 DataBar becomes an open, global standard in 2014 manufacturers will be free to choose which of the available GS1 Barcodes they wish to use on their Point-of-Sale products, thus retailers and points of scanning that will scan these types of products need to ready themselves.
If you have GS1 DataBar compatible scanners then you will just need to make sure the option is switched on and working. Your scanning equipment supplier will be able to tell you how to do this. Then you will scan the GS1 DataBar Symbols in exactly the same way as you do with current barcodes.
If your equipment is not compatible then you will not be able to scan any products with GS1 DataBar Symbols and will therefore have to key in the number that appears with the barcode.
As there are GS1 DataBar Symbols that support additional information such as batch, expiry date, serial number etc. such information could be included in addition to the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) from 2014. If so, a retailer or scanning point does not necessarily need to process this additional information. However, it is highly recommended that upgrades to systems consider the benefits of capturing this information for future use to support traceability, returns, warranty etc processes.
For retailers that scan random weight fresh food products it will be a future requirement to process additional data, and this will have a significant impact on your database and Point-of-Sale systems. Currently a global Fresh Foods working group is developing standards for random weight products which include GTIN identification and attribute data such as weight and/or price (but not limited to this data). Implementation guides will be developed to assist in meeting these future requirements.
