Chapter 3 ITF and Standard Distribution Code
3-2-3 Creation of Standard Distribution Code
The standard distribution code was created to meet the trend of distribution diversification. The standard
distribution code indicates the contents of EAN code of the products contained in the package and the
packaging data (the product quantity in the package). When the standard distribution code is read by the
bar code reader, the item and quantity of the product is known instantly. This allows many things in the
distribution system to be rationalized, such as "picking", "assortment", "checking product", "stock control"
and "stock taking".
3-2-4 Composition of Standard Distribution Code
The standard distribution code consists of the EAN code of the product packaged and the prefixed
distribution identification code.
JAN code Standard distribution code
3
Data composition is as follows:
Country Product item
code code (5 digits)
(2 digits)
Distribution Manufacturer Check digit
identification code (5 digits) (1 digit)
code ( 1 digit)
One Point
It is not necessary to register a new manufacturer code because the EAN manufacturer
code can be used for the standard distribution code.
29
Chapter 5 CODE 128 and EAN-128
5-1 CODE 128
CODE 128 is the bar code developed by Computer Identics Corporation (U.S.A.) in
1981.
CODE 128 bar code can represent all 128 ASCII code characters (numbers, upper
case/lower case of alphabets, symbols and control codes). Since it can represent all
characters (except Japanese kanji, hiragana and katakana) that can be worked with a
computer keyboard, it is a computer friendly bar code.
5-1-1 CODE 128 Composition
The basic composition is as follows:
Start code Check digit (Modulus 103)
Stop code
START CODE C
STOP
FNC1
01
94
90
12
34
56
78
94
31
01
00
03
55
90
• There are 4 types of bar size.
• One character is represented by 3 bars and 3 spaces (total six elements).
• A start character has three types; "CODE-A", "CODE-B" and "CODE-C". The type of start character
determines the character composition of subsequent characters. (See the table of character composition
on page 41. For example, when CODE A is used as a start character, the characters in the CODE-A
column can be represented.)
Start with CODE-C Change to CODE-A
START CODE C
CODE A
5 STOP
FNC1
10
30
22
17
D
1
1
• When CODE-C is used, 2-digits numbers can be represented by one type of bar pattern. This allows the
very high data density.
• When code set characters (CODE-A, CODE-B and CODE-C) are used, the bar code started with the start
character of CODE-A can be changed to use the characters in the CODE-B or CODE-C column in the
middle of bar code processing.
• When "SHIFT" is used, only one character next to the SHIFT can be changed to the character in the next
column (A to B, B to C, C to A). (Similar to the SHIFT key operation of on the computer keyboard)
• "Modulus 103" is used as a check digit.
40
Chapter 2 EAN
2-3 Applications in Other Industries
Source-marked bar codes for books and magazines adopt EAN bar code system, but
have own data composition to meet the individual industry requirement. Information
including prices is included in the bar code.
2-3-1 EAN Code of Books
Books have ISBN (International Standard Book Number) to classify each book.
ISBN 4 - 12345 - 123 - 3
2
Country Publisher Book Check
code code code digit
Bar cord is formed with the classification code (classified by subject for sale, publishing source, content)
and the price code (without tax) being combined with ISBN.
ISBN
A flag (978) to
identify ISBN
A flag (192) to identify Classification Price
the classification code code code
and the price code ISBN
ISBN 4 - 12345 - 123 - 3
C1011 1200E
Classification Price
code code
17
Chapter 2 EAN
2-2 EAN Data Composition
2-2-1 Data Composition
EAN has the following data composition.
2 Country Manufacturer Product Check digit
code code item code
[2 digits] [5 digits] [5 digits]
Standard type [13 digits]
Country code
Represents the country name. (See the table in P.13)
Manufacturer code
Represents the original seller's name.
Manufacturer code shall be applied for registration at the code center of each country in order to obtain it.
EAN code can be used only after the manufacturer code is obtained.
Product item code
Identify the product. The manufacturer who obtained the product item code can make its own setting. The
different product of the same manufacturer has the different product item code.
Bar code for Kokuyo's staple Bar code for Kokuyo's B5 notebook
Manufacturer code
Product item code
12
Chapter 5 CODE 128 and EAN-128
• In order to distinguish EAN-128 from CODE 128, it is required to give [FNC 1](function 1) following the
start code (CODE-A to C).
• Even if the number of digits for the data following the application identifier is a variable-length, [FNC 1] is
given to separate the data.
[FNC 1] to separate the data
[FNC 1] to signal EAN-128
Start code Data 1 Data 2 Data 3 Check Stop
FNC1 A.I. A.I. FNC1 A.I.
C (fixed-length) (variable-length) (variable-length) digit code
• With EAN-128 being added to EAN code and the standard distribution code (ITF), it can be used as the
code to add more data.
EAN 128 is designed to represent the application identifiers and the products relative data or the
transaction data of the companies using CODE 128.
In other words, EAN-128 is the standards for the applications to represent the various data. CODE 128 is
the standards just for the bar code itself. Difference between EAN-128 and CODE 128 is whether it
represents the application or not.
Since EAN-128 uses the bar code composition of CODE 128, any bar cord reader that can read CODE 128
can be used to read the EAN-128 data.
5
45
Chapter 2 EAN
TOPIC EAN manufacturer code will be changed to 7 digits.
Manufacturer code will be changed to 7 digits (9 digits including country code) applicable for new
registration from January, 2001 onwards, in order to meet the increasing applications for manufacturer
code.
One Point For the companies who already obtained the manufacturer code with 5 digits, the
conventional manufacturer code with 5 digits can be used as they are, and no change of
the coding system is required.
The number of total digits (13 digits) remains unchanged.
2
The following shows the composition of the total digits:
Country Manufacturer Product Check digit
code code item code (1 digit)
(2 digits) (7 digits) (3 digits)
The manufacturer codes with 5 digits and 7 digits will be used in parallel from January, 2001 onwards.
However, the following numbers will be assigned, so that the EAN code with the same number will never
appear. (Table below is applicable only in Japan.)
4900000 ~ 4999999
Manufacturer code with 5 digits
4500000 ~ 4599999
Manufacturer code with 7 digits 456000000 ~ 459999999
As can be seen above, the first three digits make it possible to find whether the manufacturer code has 5
digits or 7 digits.
13
Chapter 5 CODE 128 and EAN-128
5-1- 2 CODE 128 Features
• CODE 128 bar code can include all 128 ASCII code characters (including control codes such as [ESC],
[STX], [ETX], [CR] and [LF]).
• When CODE-C is used as the start character, one bar pattern can represent 2-digits numbers. This
allows very efficient bar code composition. If the bar code data has 12 or more digits, CODE 128 provides
smaller size than ITF.
• Since CODE 128 uses 4 types of bar size, printers with high print quality are required. CODE 128 is not
suitable for printing with dot matrix printers and FA ink-jet printers and for flexographic printing on
corrugated cardboards.
5-1- 3 CODE 128 Applications
Use of CODE-C as the start code allows CODE 128 to provide the bar code with very high data density, if
only numbers are handled.
EAN-128 makes use of the characteristics of CODE 128 and is currently used in many industrial
applications. With EAN-128, various data are included in the bar code, such as manufacturing date of the
product, open date, weight, size, lot number, destination, customer's account, etc..
CODE 128 is used in the following industries:
U.S.A. apparel industry
U.S.A. food process industry
U.S.A. drugs and medical equipment industry
Food industries in Australia and New Zealand
European drugs and medical instruments industry
The details of EAN-128 is described in the page 42.
5
41
Basics and applications of
major bar code types
Chapter 1 Basics of Bar Code 3
Chapter 2 EAN 9
Chapter 3 ITF and Standard Distribution Code 23
Chapter 4 CODE 39 and Codabar 33
Chapter 5 CODE 128 and EAN-128 39
Appendix 1 Bar Code Length List 54
Appendix 2 Check Digit Calculation 59
Chapter 1 Basics of Bar Code
1-1 Basics of Bar Code
1-1-1 Structure of Bar Code
1 The following explains a bar code format.
Bar code length
Quiet Quiet
Bar code symbol
zone zone
Bar code height
a a
0 1 2 3
Start character Data (message) Check digit Stop character
Quiet zone (margin)
The right and left ends of the bar code symbol. If the margin is not wide enough, the bar code reader
cannot scan the bar code data.
Both the right and left margins should be at least 10 times as wide as the narrow width (minimum element
width). (See page 4 for narrow bar width.)
One Point
Unless the quiet zones are wide enough, it becomes unstable for the bar code reader to
scan the bar code data.
Start/stop character
Character to indicate start or end of the data.
Start/stop character varies depending on the type of the bar code. CODE 39 uses "*" and CODABAR uses
"a", "b", "c" and "d". (EAN and ITF use, instead of character, a bar pattern which indicates the start/end of
the data.)
Data (message)
Bar patterns of character (numeral, alphabet, etc.) representing the data are arranged from left.
The drawing above shows that the data of "012" is demonstrated, with the bar patterns representing 0, 1,
and 2 being arranged respectively from the left.
Check digit
A numeric value calculated to check for read error. It is appended directly after the bar code data. (See
page 6 for details.)
Bar code length
Bar code length defines the length including the right and left quiet zones. Unless bar code including quiet
zones fits in the scan width, the bar code reader cannot scan the data.
Bar code height
It is recommended to make the bar code as high as the printer permits. If the bar code is not high enough,
the laser may deviate from the bar code, causing unstable readings. The height is recommended to keep
more than 15 % of the bar code length.
4
Chapter 2 EAN
Applications
NS Data composition
(Until March 19, 2000)
001234012340
0,6,7
For source marking NS Manufacturer code Product item code C/D
(same system as for EAN)
(From March 20, 2000 onwards)
101234560121
1,8,9
2
NS Manufacturer code Product C/D
item code
201234812340
For in-store marking
2
(weighing commodities) NS Product item code Price Price C/D
C/D
501234012017
5 For coupons
NS Manufacturer code Family Coupon C/D
code price
C/D = Check digit
One Point
The manufacturer codes applied after March 20, 2000 are changed to 7 digits, the same
as for EAN.
2-5-3 Future of UPC Code
UPC code is planned to fit in EAN code system in the year of 2005. This makes EAN international standards
and allows EAN code to be read in U.S.A. and Canada.
21
翻訳キーワード集
