Bar code technology from the first day of its birth and logistics formed an indissoluble bond, the role of bar code in the logistics information system, bar code technology like a link, the product life of the various stages of the information together. Bar code technology is a high-tech in the field of electronics and information science, involving a wide range of technical fields, is the product of the combination of a number of technologies, after years of long-term research and practical application, has now developed into a more mature practical technology.

Bar code as a timely, accurate, reliable and economical means of data input has been adopted by the logistics information system. It has been widely used in industrialized countries and has become a universal "identity card" unique to commodities ". Barcode technology has been widely used in Europe, America, Japan and other countries, and it is rapidly popularizing all over the world, and its application field is still expanding. Due to the adoption of bar codes, consumers have a sense of security about the quality of goods psychologically, and bar codes can also play an important role in identifying fake and shoddy products and preventing counterfeiting.

Because bar code technology has the characteristics of advanced, applicable, easy to master and quick results, it has its advantages in information (data) collection. No matter in the process of warehousing, warehousing, shelving or settlement with customers, it has to face the problem of how to input the information of commodities with huge data volume (whether it is the whole package or the single retail after unpacking) into the computer. If the bar code symbol is printed on the packaging of a single commodity and the bar code reader is used, the variety (number), quantity, unit price, manufacturer, factory date and other information of the commodity can be grasped in a high-speed, accurate and timely manner.

This not only improves efficiency, but also attracts more customers, reducing or eliminating the phenomenon of crowded queues when customers settle and pay after purchase. Bar code technology in China will be used as the main automatic identification technology, widely used in industrial automation control and various types of management information systems, and will penetrate into the multi-technology and high-tech products.

Bar code technology is used in the logistics information system to complete the information collection and input of the computer. This will greatly improve the utility of many computer management systems. The application and promotion of bar code first comes from the modernization of commodity management, that is, the application of POS system. For example, there are about 220000 kinds of commodities in supermarkets in the United States, about 10,000 kinds of new commodities enter the market every year, 10,000 kinds of old commodities are removed, and the proportion of introducing new commodities and removing old commodities reaches 50%. Such a heavy workload is difficult to cope with without bar codes and POS system applications. Today, Japan is at the forefront of the world in the application of POS systems. At present, about 0.1 billion kinds of commodity items from 48,000 manufacturers in Japan have adopted EAN code identification. A considerable number of merchants use POS systems. POS systems are not limited to groceries. Some specialized stores (such as medicine, cosmetics, alcohol and tobacco, etc.) have also established POS systems. At present, not only POS systems are widely used, but many countries have also established market data exchange centers to communicate information between production, supply and marketing, establish trade data exchange institutions, collect and summarize sales information of various stores and commodities in a timely manner and feed them back to manufacturers. In this way, manufacturers can timely and accurately understand the sales, purchase and price of goods, analyze the psychology of consumers, and predict the market to organize the supply of goods in a timely manner. Retailers can adjust their sales plans and purchases in a timely manner according to the situation.

Bar code technology has been indissoluble with logistics since the first day of its birth. Bar code technology is like a link that connects the information that occurs at each stage of the product's life, and can track the entire process of the product from production to sales. The application of bar code in logistics system is mainly in the following aspects:

(1) Automatic control system of production line

Modern large-scale production is increasingly computerized and information-based, the level of automation continues to improve, the production line automatic control system to normal operation, the application of bar code technology has become indispensable. Because the performance of modern products is increasingly advanced, the structure is increasingly complex, and the number and variety of parts are numerous, traditional manual operation is neither economical nor possible. For example, a car is assembled from thousands of parts. Different models and styles require different types and quantities of parts. Moreover, cars of different models and styles often need to be assembled on the same production line. If bar code technology is used to control each part online, errors can be avoided, efficiency can be improved, and production can be ensured smoothly. The cost of using bar code technology is low. It is only necessary to assign codes to the items entering the production line first, and obtain logistics information through the bar code reading equipment installed in the production line during the production process, so as to track the situation of each logistics on the production line at any time and form a high degree of automation. Electronic workshop.

(2) Information system (POS system)

At present, the most widely used field of bar code technology is commercial automation management, that is, the establishment of a commercial POS(point of sale) system, the use of cash registers as terminals to connect with the main computer, with the help of reading equipment for the computer to enter the bar code symbols on commodities, the computer automatically looks up the corresponding commodity information from the database, displays the commodity name, price, quantity and total amount, and feeds them back to the cash registers for receipt, the settlement process can be completed quickly and accurately, thus saving customers' purchase settlement time. More importantly, it has greatly changed the retail mode of commodities, from traditional closed counter sales to open-shelf optional sales, which greatly facilitates customers' purchase of commodities. At the same time, the computer can also process the quantity and inventory of various commodities on the shelf according to the purchase and sale situation, and timely put forward the information of purchase, sale, storage and return, for businesses to keep abreast of the purchase and sale market and market dynamics, improve competitiveness and increase economic benefits; for commodity manufacturers, they can keep abreast of product sales, adjust production plans in time, and produce marketable goods.

(3) Warehouse management system

Warehouse management is an important link in industry, commerce, or logistics and distribution industry. The number, type and frequency of products to be faced by modern warehouse management have greatly increased. Continuing the original manual management is not only expensive, but also unsustainable. Especially for the inventory management of some products with shelf life control, the inventory period cannot exceed the shelf life, and must be sold or processed within the shelf life, otherwise it may suffer losses due to its deterioration. Manual management is often difficult to really do according to the warehouse batch in the shelf life of the first-in-first-out. Using bar code technology, this difficult problem can be solved easily. It is only necessary to assign codes to raw materials, semi-finished products and finished products before entering and leaving the warehouse, and read the bar code information on the articles when entering and leaving the warehouse, thus establishing a warehouse management database and providing early warning query of shelf life, so that managers can grasp the situation of entering and leaving the warehouse and inventory of various products at any time, and provide a powerful reference for decision-making departments in a timely and accurate manner.

(4) Automatic sorting system

In modern society, there are many kinds of goods, huge logistics and heavy sorting tasks, such as post and telecommunications industry, wholesale industry and logistics distribution industry. Manual operation can not adapt to the increase of sorting tasks. The use of bar code technology to implement automatic management has become the requirement of the times. Using bar code technology to encode mail, parcels, wholesale and distribution items, and establishing an automatic sorting system through bar code automatic identification technology can greatly improve work efficiency and reduce costs. For example, the Postal Transportation Bureau is one of the earliest units equipped with an automatic sorting system in China. The process of the system is: input the information of various packages into the computer at the delivery window, and the bar code printer automatically prints bar code labels according to the instructions of the computer, pastes them on the packages, and then collects them on the automatic sorting machine through the conveyor line. The automatic sorting machine reads and identifies the packages through all-round bar code scanners and sorts to sort them to the corresponding export chutes, this can greatly improve work efficiency, reduce costs and reduce errors. In the distribution mode and warehouse shipment, the use of sorting, picking, the need to quickly deal with a large number of goods, the use of bar code technology can automatically carry out sorting, and to achieve the relevant management. The process is as follows: the center receives a number of distribution order requirements, summarizes a number of orders, summarizes each variety into a batch, and sends out the picking label of the bar code according to the batch. The picking personnel will paste the label on each commodity in the warehouse and sort it automatically. The scanner at the beginning of the distribution machine scans the goods on the distribution machine in a moving state. On the one hand, it is to confirm whether the goods picked are correct. On the other hand, it is to read the user mark on the bar code and instruct the goods to be distributed at the determined branch to reach the distribution location of each user and complete the distribution and sorting operation.

(5) After-sales service system

Generally speaking, the after-sales service of large goods or some durable consumer goods often determines their market sales and market share. Therefore, for the producers of such commodities, it is particularly important to do a good job in customer management and after-sales service. The use of bar codes for customer management and after-sales service management is not only simple and easy, but also low in cost. Manufacturers only need to assign codes before the products leave the factory. Agents and distributors read the bar codes on the products when selling, timely feedback product circulation information and customer information to manufacturers, establish customer management and after-sales service management systems, and keep abreast of product sales status and market information, to provide a reliable market basis for manufacturers to carry out timely technological innovation and update varieties of colors and produce marketable goods. It can be seen that the automatic identification technology based on the standard identification "language" of bar code has greatly improved the accuracy and speed of data collection and identification, and can realize the computational significance in the process and realize the efficient operation of logistics.