When you’re investigating ways to track your assets, you’ll read a lot about QR Code and Barcode tracking options. When it comes to QR codes vs Barcodes, what are the differences? And which is right for you?
Spoiler alert: whether you use QR Codes or Barcodes, you’ll still be able to track and manage your assets, but QR Codes have some critical advantages over Barcodes in terms of their capabilities.
History and Development
Barcodes
The barcode journey began in the 1950s when two American inventors, Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver, devised the first barcode system. Inspired by Morse code, they devised a way of encoding data in a series of parallel lines of varying widths. In 1974, for the first time, a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum was swiped with a barcode at a supermarket in Ohio, thus beginning across-the-board retail adoption.
It was only a short period before barcodes became integral to many industries due to the ease of inventory, sales monitoring, and logistics. Since it was easy to use and offered excellent service, the most common type, the Universal Product Code, became standard in retail. Later, innovations like the Code 39 and Code 128 formats increased its data storage capacity and versatility, which continued to entrench barcodes as one of the foundations of contemporary business operations.
QR Codes
QR codes, or Quick Response codes, were invented in 1994 by Denso Wave, part of the Toyota Group, for the purpose of enriching its manufacturing process. The difference between a barcode and a QR code is that it is a two-dimensional counterpart of the standard barcode that can encode much more information within tiny spaces. Initial applications included encoding information for automotive parts during the assembly process; however, it found other applications.
The wide diffusion of smartphones contributed to the popularization of QR codes since consumers were given the ability to scan them with their phones, get information, access websites, and use services with ease. This makes QR codes a versatile tool in marketing, for the tracing of products, and in delivering information. QR codes are able to store alphanumeric characters, URLs, and other kinds of data, thus being a solid solution for modern digital interactions.
From advances in security features and error correction to customization, it is in the process of evolution to this very day - the guarantee that the QR code will stay relevant in a fast-advancing digital world.
What Is A Barcode?
A barcode is a one-dimensional (1D) machine-readable code which is made up of a pattern of lines of varying widths. Commonly, barcodes are accompanied by numbers too. This means that should a barcode not be readable, the code can be manually entered instead.
Barcodes are ubiquitous. They’re the most common auto-identification technology used for stock control and to store basic information about products. Historically, a barcode scanner has usually been required to read the information in the barcode, but nowadays, even your smartphone can interpret this data. With technology evolution, business often uses barcode gps tracking for asset management.
What Are The Benefits of Using Barcodes?
Features of barcode asset tracking are famous for their simplicity and user-friendliness. Creating and implementing them is easy and they don't need much technological infrastructure. This feature allows businesses of any size to easily access them. Furthermore, barcodes are budget-friendly, with inexpensive printing costs and easily accessible scanners. When it comes to speed and accuracy, the barcode scanner vs QR code scanner - the first outshines by allowing fast scanning and minimizing human errors related to manual input. Their ability to be used in a range of industries like retail, healthcare, logistics, and manufacturing supports various functions such as tracking inventory and processing point-of-sale transactions.
What Are The Downsides Of Barcodes?
When it comes to asset tracking, barcodes have some limitations where QR Codes do not. Firstly, due to the one-dimensional nature of the barcode, there is a limit to the amount of data it can store.
In addition, the way barcodes are used means that, in practice, they are usually not unique. Famously, barcodes are used to identify item type rather than individual items.
If you’re using a self-checkout machine, for example, and you have three packs of microwave rice to scan through, if each one is the same then you can scan one of the packet’s barcodes three times, rather than each individually.
As a result, if you are attempting to track more than one of the same asset using barcodes, you will need to make sure your barcodes have unique tags on them, rather than just using those they have already. Thus, if we look at the QR code vs barcode for inventory management - the first is usually a better choice.
