Norman Joseph Woodland

Woodland's idea of encoding data as printed lines that a machine can read is the basis of every scan in a modern warehouse. Working with Bernard Silver at Drexel, he adapted Morse code into wide and narrow bands and patented a bull's-eye version in 1952, but the scanners of the time were impractical. Later at IBM, his work fed into the Universal Product Code adopted in the 1970s. Receiving, picking, packing, and shipping all depend on barcode scans to confirm the right item and quantity, which is why inventory accuracy today is far higher than in the era of handwritten records.

• Universal Product CodeUPC12-digit retail barcode used in North America
• RF ScannerWireless barcode scanner used in a warehouse
• Inventory AccuracyHow well system counts match the shelf

• Bernard Silver1924–1963 · Co-inventor of the barcode
• George Laurer1925–2019 · IBM engineer who designed the UPC
• Masahiro Harab. 1957 · Inventor of the QR code

• Barcode Patent1952 · Woodland and Silver patent a code of printed lines
• First UPC Scan1974 · A pack of gum is the first UPC scanned at checkout

1. Norman Joseph Woodland (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
2. Barcode 60th Anniversary (Drexel University) drexel.edu