Universal Product Code

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.

History[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

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.

Variations[edit | edit source]

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.

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

Universal Product Code Resources
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