The seminar on the topic of "Migration to 2D barcodes and standards in case of product traceability" was held, rousing great interest

On 17 April, GS1 Bulgaria and Barcode Systems Bulgaria held a seminar on the topic of "Migration to 2D barcodes and standards in case of product traceability". Over 70 representatives of the business took part in the event.

First-generation barcodes, which are currently used to mark more than 1 billion products all over the world, contain the unique product identifier (GTIN). 50 years after introducing the linear barcode, GS1 is running a campaign with the support of the industry to move towards two-dimensional (2D) barcodes, in which additional data can be coded to improve traceability and the user experience.

As preparation for GS1 Sunrise 2027, Velin Karchev, Chief Expert at GS1 Bulgaria, presented the logic of the GS1 unique identification and how it integrates into the 2D barcodes to achieve successful traceability, engage users, enhance their safety, improve packaging appearance, improve sustainability and the inventory management.

In order to implement effective systems for traceability, the standards for exchanging master and transaction data (GDSN and EDI) and data for events (EPSIC) also add value to the unique identification and its coding in a barcode via GS1 Digital Link. The structure of the GS1 logistics label was presented in detail.

Barcode Systems Bulgaria, a company, which has been developing and successfully implementing mobile business information systems for managing and tracing the processes in leading manufacturing and distribution companies in this country for over 20 years now, showed practical guidelines for the migration to 2D barcodes and these guidelines were presented by Yuri Dimitrov, Manager, and Bistra Karapancheva, Project Management, presented Good practices for tracing products and raw materials in manufacturing and distribution companies (labelling of products and group packages, WMS systems, deliveries to retail outlets). The seminar clearly outlined the steps which the manufacturers and retailers should have taken by 2027, including investing in barcode scanners capable of advanced programming for the 2D barcodes and adding new features to POS solutions. The company has developed suitable software solutions and in addition, through its partners Zebra, it supplies the Bulgarian market with the necessary hardware components (incl. scanners).