20 Years of Bar Code Data
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We were formed twenty years ago in late January 1990 by Ian Fearns and Paul Ralph. Ian and Paul worked together at one of the UKs founding barcode companies, Numeric Arts ltd, based in Maidenhead, which was owned by the infamous Robert Maxwell. Ian and Paul were born and bred in Manchester and both recognised the opportunity to set up Bar Code Data in the Northwest to capitalise on the huge demand for the use of barcodes. Initially they worked from a converted barn in Ian’s house in Mossley with one additional employee Iain Young. Coincidently Iain is still with the company and is now a director. |
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Paul states, “The last 20 years have seen a huge uptake in the use of barcodes, and they have become part of everyday life. From our humble beginnings we have grown to supply barcodes and systems into many different industries including: education, retail; healthcare; manufacturing; field-force such as parking attendants and warehouse and logistics. We currently employ specialised staff and we can safely say we are one of the country’s leading barcode companies.”
After only 6 months since the company’s inception Bar Code Data started printing barcode labels on Zebra barcode printers and established a long standing relationship with one of the World’s largest barcode printer manufacturer.
At around 14 years ago Ian converted his garage so the company could buy a state of the art printing press and offer their customers a barcode label bureau service.
In 1996 it became apparent that Bar Code Data needed larger premises as the company grew and they relocated to a detached office in Guide Bridge within the Brother site in Tameside. At this time a former employee, Charles Hopkins, who currently works for Brother, championed the idea of setting up a website. This was launched in 1997 and therefore became one of the very first companies to have a commercial website with the use of email for commerce purposes.
During this period the company grew steadily and ventured into new areas and started to manufacture their own barcode labels and blank labels.
After a further 8 years of growth Bar Code Data outgrew their offices and undertook a relocation within Tameside. This was achieved in April 2004 with the purchase of Ashton House a large modern building situated in Ashton-under-Lyne. This allowed the company to increase their production capacity and set up a warehouse giving them a state of the art facility which included modern meeting rooms.
Ian Fearns states ”People often ask what the next big thing will be, in barcode technology, personally as barcodes are low cost I can’t see them being totally replaced. However emerging technologies such as RFID (radio frequency identification) are already being used with many sectors including healthcare, retail and logistics. Also new types of codes known as 2D barcodes are being widely adopted as they can contain significant amounts of data within a very small space.”
Iain Young adds “We are proud to be a successful Northwest Company and look forward to the future with the addition of our 2nd printing press, in 2010 which has improved our lead times making our service faster, more efficient, greener and with quicker set ups.”
Last comment from Ian “We would like to take this opportunity to thank past, present and future customers.”
Bar Code Data Company Information
Established in 1990, Bar Code Data are a leading UK provider of specialist barcode and RFID solutions covering a range of products and services from all major Auto ID manufacturers that include Zebra, Motorola, Datalogic, Psion and HHP.
Bar Code Data’s technical expertise includes in-house design, label manufacture and bureau printing services backed by a commitment to providing outstanding value, quality and customer service to offer a one stop shop solution for all your automatic identification and data capture needs.
