Bigger Bar Code Inches Up on Retailers Starting Jan. 1, 2005, retailers in the United States and Canada
will face a deadline that promises technological challenges akin to the Year 2000 computer problem. The 12-digit bar codes
retailers use will go to 13 digits. The additional number (and associated bars and spaces) is enough to make checkout scanners
seize up and make computers crash, perhaps disrupting entire supply chains. But many retailers have yet to focus on a problem
that will require significant investments in time and capital.
2nd. Day
