How Do You Decipher The Bar Code System?
A bar code is a device for identifying products with a sequence of bars and spaces, which in specific combinations represent specific numbers. This system originally was designed for use in grocery stores, where an enormous variety of different products must be quickly identified and priced at checkout. Since then, the “Universal Product Code” or UPC system has spread to almost all products sold at retail, nearly everywhere in the world. All UPCs have 12 digits. The first six digits identify the manufacturer. These six-digit numbers are assigned by the Uniform Code Council, which controls the use of the UPC system. The next five UPC digits, created by the manufacturer, identify the unique product. The last digit is a check digit used to verify that the UPC has been correctly scanned. To arrive at this number, the UPC system first adds up all of the digits in the odd positions (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11); multiplies the sum by three; then adds the digits in even positions (2, 4, 6, 8, and 1
