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'''Universal Product Code''' ('''UPC''') is a barcode symbology that is widely used in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries for tracking trade items in stores. Its most common form, the UPC-A, consists of 12 numerical digits, which are uniquely assigned to each trade item. Along with the related EAN barcode, the UPC is the barcode mainly used for scanning of trade items at the point of sale, per GS1 specifications.
== Universal Product Code ==
 
The '''Universal Product Code''' ('''UPC''') is a barcode symbology that is widely used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries for tracking trade items in stores. The UPC is a 12-digit code that is unique to each product and is used to identify the manufacturer and the specific item.


== History ==
== History ==
The UPC was invented in 1971 by George J. Laurer, an engineer at IBM. The first product to have a UPC bar code on its packaging was a packet of Wrigley's Gum. The first company to produce bar code equipment for retail trade (using UPC) was the American company Monarch Marking (now Avery Dennison), and for industrial use, the British company Plessey Telecommunications were pioneers.


== Design ==
The UPC was first developed in the early 1970s by IBM engineer George Laurer. The first UPC-marked item ever scanned was a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum at the Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, on June 26, 1974. The adoption of the UPC system revolutionized the retail industry by streamlining the checkout process and improving inventory management.
The UPC symbol has a left-hand guard bar, and a right-hand guard bar, which are both longer than the other bars in the symbol. Each digit is represented by a unique pattern of 2 bars and 2 spaces. The digits and their corresponding patterns are described in the table below.
 
== Structure ==
 
A standard UPC-A code consists of 12 numerical digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. The first six digits are the manufacturer identification number, the next five digits are the item number, and the final digit is a check digit used to verify that the code has been scanned correctly.
 
=== UPC-A ===


== Variations ==
The UPC-A is the most common form of the UPC code. It consists of a series of black bars and white spaces of varying widths. The UPC-A code is divided into three sections: the left guard, the center guard, and the right guard, which help the scanner to read the code correctly.
There are several variations of the UPC, each designed for a specific use. These include the UPC-A, UPC-E, UPC 2 Digit Supplement, and UPC 5 Digit Supplement.
 
=== UPC-E ===
 
The UPC-E is a compressed version of the UPC-A code that is used for smaller packages where a full UPC-A code would not fit. It is a 6-digit code that can be expanded back to a full 12-digit UPC-A code by adding zeroes.
 
== Applications ==
 
The UPC is used primarily in retail settings to facilitate the checkout process. It is also used in inventory management, allowing retailers to track sales and stock levels. The UPC is scanned at the point of sale, and the information is used to update inventory records and generate sales data.
 
== Related pages ==


== See also ==
* [[Barcode]]
* [[Barcode]]
* [[EAN-8]]
* [[EAN-13]]
* [[EAN-13]]
* [[GS1-128]]
* [[International Article Number]]
* [[QR code]]
* [[QR code]]


== References ==
== References ==
<references />


== External links ==
{{Reflist}}
* [http://www.gs1us.org/ GS1 US]
 
* [http://www.gs1.org/ GS1 Global]
== Gallery ==
 
<gallery>
File:UPC-A-036000291452.svg|Example of a UPC-A barcode
File:UPC_HKB.png|UPC barcode on a product
File:UPC-A.png|Standard UPC-A barcode
File:UPC-E.png|Example of a UPC-E barcode
File:UPC-A_Q.svg|UPC-A barcode with quiet zone
File:UPC-A_S.svg|UPC-A barcode with start and stop patterns
File:UPC-A_L0.svg|UPC-A barcode with left guard pattern
File:UPC-A_L1.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 1
File:UPC-A_L2.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 2
File:UPC-A_L3.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 3
File:UPC-A_L4.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 4
File:UPC-A_L5.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 5
File:UPC-A_L6.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 6
File:UPC-A_L7.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 7
File:UPC-A_L8.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 8
File:UPC-A_L9.svg|UPC-A barcode with left digit 9
File:UPC-A_M.svg|UPC-A barcode with middle guard pattern
File:UPC-A_R0.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 0
File:UPC-A_R1.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 1
File:UPC-A_R2.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 2
File:UPC-A_R3.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 3
File:UPC-A_R4.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 4
File:UPC-A_R5.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 5
File:UPC-A_R6.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 6
File:UPC-A_R7.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 7
File:UPC-A_R8.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 8
File:UPC-A_R9.svg|UPC-A barcode with right digit 9
File:UPC-E_S.svg|UPC-E barcode with start pattern
File:UPC-E_0ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with zero digit
File:UPC-E_1ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with one digit
File:UPC-E_2ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with two digit
File:UPC-E_3ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with three digit
File:UPC-E_4ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with four digit
File:UPC-E_5ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with five digit
File:UPC-E_6ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with six digit
File:UPC-E_7ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with seven digit
File:UPC-E_8ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with eight digit
File:UPC-E_9ow.svg|UPC-E barcode with nine digit
File:UPC-E_0ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with zero end digit
File:UPC-E_1ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with one end digit
File:UPC-E_2ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with two end digit
File:UPC-E_3ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with three end digit
File:UPC-E_4ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with four end digit
File:UPC-E_5ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with five end digit
File:UPC-E_6ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with six end digit
File:UPC-E_7ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with seven end digit
File:UPC-E_8ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with eight end digit
File:UPC-E_9ew.svg|UPC-E barcode with nine end digit
File:UPC-E_E.svg|UPC-E barcode with end pattern
File:UPC-E-654321.png|UPC-E barcode example
</gallery>


[[Category:Barcodes]]
[[Category:Barcodes]]
[[Category:American inventions]]
[[Category:1974 introductions]]
[[Category:Automatic identification and data capture]]
[[Category:Identifiers]]
[[Category:Check digit algorithms]]
{{stub}}

Revision as of 01:17, 10 February 2025

Universal Product Code

The Universal Product Code (UPC) is a barcode symbology that is widely used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries for tracking trade items in stores. The UPC is a 12-digit code that is unique to each product and is used to identify the manufacturer and the specific item.

History

The UPC was first developed in the early 1970s by IBM engineer George Laurer. The first UPC-marked item ever scanned was a pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum at the Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, on June 26, 1974. The adoption of the UPC system revolutionized the retail industry by streamlining the checkout process and improving inventory management.

Structure

A standard UPC-A code consists of 12 numerical digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. The first six digits are the manufacturer identification number, the next five digits are the item number, and the final digit is a check digit used to verify that the code has been scanned correctly.

UPC-A

The UPC-A is the most common form of the UPC code. It consists of a series of black bars and white spaces of varying widths. The UPC-A code is divided into three sections: the left guard, the center guard, and the right guard, which help the scanner to read the code correctly.

UPC-E

The UPC-E is a compressed version of the UPC-A code that is used for smaller packages where a full UPC-A code would not fit. It is a 6-digit code that can be expanded back to a full 12-digit UPC-A code by adding zeroes.

Applications

The UPC is used primarily in retail settings to facilitate the checkout process. It is also used in inventory management, allowing retailers to track sales and stock levels. The UPC is scanned at the point of sale, and the information is used to update inventory records and generate sales data.

Related pages

References

<references group="" responsive="1"></references>


Gallery

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