Barcode and Universal Product Code
Código de barras y UPC
- Date
- 1952-1974 · confidence high
- Place
- Drexel Institute, Philadelphia (patent); first scan in Troy, Ohio, United States (1974)
- Credited to
- Norman Woodland and Bernard Silver (patent, 1952); George Laurer (IBM, UPC, 1973)
- People
- 👤 Bernard Silver1924–1963👤 George Laurer1925–2019👤 Norman Joseph Woodland1921–2012
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
What it is
A laser-readable bar symbol that identifies each product with a unique number. The first item scanned was a pack of chewing gum in an Ohio supermarket.
What it led to
- Automated inventory management and global supply chains
- Large retailers (Walmart) and just-in-time logistics
- The QR code and the tracking of every object
Built on
Made possible
- QR code1994
- E-commerce (Amazon, eBay)1994-1995
- just-in-time logistics