Universal Product Code

The Universal Product Code, usually called the UPC, is a barcode symbology used worldwide to track trade items in shops. A standard UPC-A code carries twelve digits that identify one product, and the numbers are issued through the international GS1 organisation, which also manages the closely related EAN barcode. Each digit is drawn as two bars and two spaces totalling seven units of width, with guard patterns between groups, so that a scanner can read the code in either direction. A grocery industry council defined the numerical format in 1973, and the symbol it chose to adopt was an IBM proposal designed by George J. Laurer. The first retail item ever scanned, a pack of chewing gum, went through a checkout in Troy, Ohio on 26 June 1974. Research cited on the article indicates that adoption of the code stimulated innovation and contributed to the growth of international retail supply chains.