Bar coding stirs greater interest.

The concept of bar coding, though hardly new, is enjoying its biggest push yet in the woodworking industry.

At last month's Woodworking, Machinery & Furniture Supply Fair in Anaheim, no fewer than a half-dozen major panel processing machinery suppliers demonstrated how individual bar code labels can be generated at the panel saw and affixed to each fleshly cut-to-size part to communicate specific manufacturing instructions downstream to edgebanders, machining centers and other machining operations. Using bar code technology with flexible production cells has also been the subject of several recent workshops and Wood & Wood Products' Digital Woodworking columns including the June 1997 issue (page 43) and this issue (page 45).

The logic behind using bar codes is to eliminate human error and increase production flexibility in the manufacturing process. The bar codes can also help track work in progress, monitor inventory and capture historical production data that can be analyzed to help establish prices or control costs. The instructions printed on the self-adhesive bar code label, which look 'much like the Universal Product Codes used at supermarkets, can summarize all of the part's vital information such as color, thickness and profile of the edgeband, and drilling, routing and grooving instructions.

Instead of inputting a program manually from a piece of paper attached to the part, the operator scans the bar code with an infrared wand and the required setup of the machine is automatically called up. As a visual aide for the operator, the bar code label can include a diagram of the part, complete with dimensions, boring pattern and other pertinent information.

Bar Coding in the Real World

Woodworking consultant Gunter Geiger likes to refer to bar code technology as the "information glue that holds all elements of a factory information system together." In essence, bar codes become the vital communications link between all of the computers that are used in the office and in the plant. The bar codes can carry information beginning with order entry and product design through machining, finishing, assembly and shipping.

To get the biggest bang out of bar coding requires using software and CNC machines that are flexible and compatible. Fortunately, a leading trend in industry is "open architecture," meaning that machines have the ability to run off of a variety of software, as well as for machines - even those manufactured by different companies - to be able to communicate with each other. This trend, plus the greater affordability of CNC equipment, is giving rise for woodworking companies both large and small to look at the potential of bar coding to reduce mistakes and increase productivity.

Bar coding has especially drawn interest with manufacturers who use particleboard and medium density fiberboard in their products. The uniform characteristics of composite panels lend themselves well to bar code technology. This is not meant to imply that bar codes do not have an application in solid wood manufacturing. Readers may recall, for example, the June 1996 article describing American Drew's use of bar codes to monitor inventories in its lumberyard.

Bar coding may not be a new technology, but it is still relatively new to woodworking and the fullest of its potential is yet to be tapped. W&WP readers can expect to see more articles on this topic in future issues.