Barcodes on packaging to play ‘even more critical role’
The company, which has its headquarters in Montreal, Canada, inspects artwork or texts on food and beverage packaging for differences.
Smartphones
Reuben Malz, President, Global Vision, told FoodProductionDaily, with the advent of smartphone applications and technology a shopper in the future will use their phone as a scanner – scanning each item and adding it to their cart, then checking out and having the application automatically charge their account.
“Barcodes that cannot be read by these applications will result in the retailer sending back the product to the manufacturer,” he said.
The company released a cloud-based packaging inspection suite called Proofware this year.
The technology gives any CPG company access to everyone involved in the security of their brand copy and artwork. It can verify text, artwork, proofs, barcodes or Braille.
As part of the inspection suit it has added BarProof, a barcode verification tool which automatically locates and verifies all barcodes on a label, carton or press sheet and grades according to CEN/ANSI/ISO standards.
Label quality
“With new food regulations taking hold in Europe and being introduced in North America, the need for technology like Proofware to ensure labelling quality control is paramount,” added Malz.
“Any company working in multiple regions that are or will be affected by food regulations, need to ensure the accuracy of their labels from the content through to the barcode.
“We created the suite because we work very closely with our customers and with the advent of labelling regulations, they expressed the need for tools that would provide enterprise-wide access to packaging QC tools.
According to Malz the main challenge for the food and beverage industry is expansion into emerging markets.
“We see labelling regulations being an important factor for all markets exporting,” he said.
“Europe is leading the way with regulations on the food and beverage labels. North America is now following this with regulations that will come into effect over the next few years.
“Label regulations based upon geographic regions will challenge companies looking to export their products, as labels will need to change based upon their requirements.”
