Compliance labeling gets easier

Suppliers now can print up-to-date labels instantly using a Web browser.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 2/1/2001

Compliance labeling is now easier, thanks to the Web.

Unibar has introduced e-BARCODE 2000, a system that lets suppliers print compliance labels from a customer's Web site. No special software or hardware is needed in most cases.

e-BARCODE 2000 also lets the customer post any labeling changes to the Web as soon as they're made, so suppliers can access the new version right away. And according to Unibar president Ted Kruse, suppliers can "be signed up and running within hours, without involving IT services."

Ingersoll-Rand has been testing e-BARCODE 2000 and was about to go live with it at this writing. The company is using e-BARCODE 2000 in conjunction with a self-service Web portal and an Oracle database. Suppliers go to the Web portal and select what they are shipping and where. The system then generates a bar-code shipping label that displays in the Web browser and can easily be printed from there. (Ingersoll-Rand has set up the portal so that it generates an advance shipping notice as well.)

"This will eliminate the technical barriers that most suppliers face when doing bar codes," says Ingersoll-Rand's David Bell. He also notes that suppliers don't have to spend time figuring out what hardware or paper stock to use. They can purchase the appropriate paper and printers, if necessary, through Unibar. (Since e-BARCODE 2000 works with any computer that has a Windows printer driver, it's likely the supplier can just use its existing printers.)

e-BARCODE 2000 is designed to operate with most UNIX, Linux, and Windows NT applications. It supports regular and 2-D bar codes and the Automotive Industry Action Group's B-10/B-14 specification. A software demo is available at www.unibar.com .
For more information, visit the site or call Unibar at 800-731-6044.