barcoding business letter services. introduction barcoding is an important part of australia posts...

BarcodingBusiness Letter Services

Introduction

Barcoding is an important part of Australia Post’s strategy to improve services to customers mailing bulk quantities of letters.

In this module

This module covers the structure, format and printing requirements of 4-state barcodes.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this module, you will be able to:• identify a 4-state barcode• understand the structure of a barcode• understand the format of a barcode• understand the barcode printing requirements

Barcoding at a glanceWhat is a barcode?

A barcode is a machine readable representation of information, usually printed as parallel lines. A barcode can be read by barcode readers or scanners and improves the speed and accuracy of data capture and processing.

When Australia Post embarked on its FuturePost project in the late 1990’s, it introduced new mail sorting equipment. Barcodes were key to the success of this new equipment. The introduction of the barcode speeds up the processing and sorting of mail for delivery within Australia.

The barcode used by Australia Post is called a 4-state barcode.

FuturePost was the name given to the project which involved restructuring Australia Posts mail and delivery networks to incorporate barcoding.

Barcoding at a glance

Benefits of barcoding

Barcoding provides the following benefits:

• Simplified pre-sorting requirements• Enhanced service. Barcodes can be read faster and more accurately than address text. This

improves sorting efficiency• Greater addressing flexibility. Using barcodes, the range of fonts and envelope layouts is

enhanced • Simplified pricing structure. The efficiencies created by barcoding means cost reductions can be

passed on to customers

Barcoding at a glance

Customer responsibilities

To take advantage of barcoding, you need to do the following:

• Review (and modify if necessary) your customer database on a regular basis to accommodate the eight digit Delivery Point Identifier (DPID)

• Validate your customer database against Australia Post’s Postal Address File (PAF), using approved address-matching and correction software (AMAS). This software appends the correct DPID

• Print the barcode using AMAS or alternative barcode printing software

This module provides an overview of barcodes, their structure, formats and printing considerations. Some of the information about barcoding is quite technical, so refer to the Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications booklet for more explanation. This booklet is available from the Australia Post website (auspost.com.au).

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode overview

Introduction

Within a barcode, the bars are separated into fields. Each field contains bar symbols, coded according to an Encoding Table. These symbols represent characters. Characters are a further set of codes which represent Australia Post sorting rules and other information.

Fields have the following characteristics:• each field has a fixed number of bars allocated to it• each field is assigned a particular Encoding Table. The bars within

a field are coded into symbols by the Encoding Table

The exact configuration of the bars in a particular field depends on the barcode’s format. Several set formats are available and are described later in this module. Encoding Tables are also described later.

Fields in the Customer Barcode 3

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode overview

Barcodes and bulk mail services

The table below lists each Bulk Mail Service and whether a barcode is required for discounted postage rates.

Product Barcode required?

PreSort Letters Yes

Charity Mail Yes

Acquisition Mail Yes

Impact Mail No

Clean Mail No

Print Post No

Reply Paid Yes

Unaddressed Mail No

The printing of barcodes on Clean Mail is not required, although if printed the barcode must be correct.

The printing of barcodes on Print Post articles is encouraged. If a correct barcode is printed then customers are not subject to the correct addressing requirements for the Residue and CBD Sort Divisions.

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode overview

Four states

The barcode used by Australia Post is called a 4-state barcode.

This barcode comprises four types of bars (states), each of which is identified by both a name and a value.

The diagram below shows the four states and the value of each of the bars. These states are explained on the next page.

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode overview

Four states

Each bar comprises a ‘tracker’ (middle section), to which an ‘ascender’ (top section) and/or ‘descender’ (bottom section) may be added.

This creates four possible bar states:

• Tracker with ascender and descender

• Tracker with ascender

• Tracker with descender

• Tracker on its own

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode overview

Four states

Each of these states has a name and a corresponding numerical value:

• H - Tracker with ascender and descender

• A - Tracker with ascender

• D - Tracker with descender

• T - Tracker on its own

Advanced: BarcodingBarcode overview

Encoding Tables

The bars in a barcode only make sense when referenced to Encoding Tables. The Encoding Tables assign groups of bars/values to specific characters.

There are two main Encoding Tables:

• N Encoding Table - creates two bar symbols from the numbers 0 - 9• C Encoding Table - creates three bar symbols for combinations of

uppercase and lowercase characters, space and # symbols and numbers 0 - 9

More information about Encoding Tables, bar values and symbols is available in the Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications booklet.

Advanced: BarcodingBarcode structure

Overview

To be eligible for postage discounts, customer barcodes must comply with Australia Post requirements.

Approved 4-state barcodes comprise the following components (fields), with each field using a specific number of bars to represent characters and codes:

Start bars Format Control Code (FCC) DPID Customer information field Reed Solomon error correction Stop bars

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode structure

Start bars

Start bars are the first 2 bars in the barcode. These bars assist the barcode reader to identify the start of the barcode and always contain the bar values of 1 and 3.

The start bars ensure that the beginning of the barcode can never be mistaken, even when the barcode is upside down.

Advanced: BarcodingBarcode structure

Format Control Code (FCC)

The FCC is a two digit number that identifies the type of barcode and always comprises 4 bars. The value of the FCC determines what type of barcode it is. The table opposite shows the current FCCs and the barcode lengths they apply to. Invalid FCCs cause mail articles to be rejected.

FCC Description Barcode Length

00 Null Customer Barcode 37, 52, 67

11 Standard Customer Barcode 37

52 Reply Paid Domestic Barcode 52

59 Customer Barcode 2 52



72 Reply Paid International Barcode 52


Zero (Null) value DPID and Format Control Code (FCC)

Customers can include their own information in order to monitor returns for campaigns and orders. This information can be captured in either a 52 or 67 length 4-state barcode. The format control codes to use are 59 and 62 respectively.On the occasion where a DPID has failed to be assigned, customers can use a zero value format control which essentially assigns zero values to both the format control code and DPID.If the article is returned it can still be scanned and the appended return/order tracking information captured.

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode structure

DPID

The Delivery Point Identifier (DPIP) is an eight digit number that uniquely identifies a physical point to which Australia Post delivers mail. The point can be the letterbox of a house, a PO Box, a Rural Mailbag or other delivery point.

Each delivery point in Australia is allocated a unique DPID. The DPID field comprises 16 bars in the barcode.

Reed Solomon error correction

The Reed Solomon error correction field performs a backup or quality control function for the barcode. The bars enable the barcode to be resistant to errors or erasures caused by faulty printing, too much reflectance on window panels or smudging.

There are always 12 of these bars in the barcode.

For more information about Reed Solomon error correction, refer to Barcode fields in the Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications booklet.

Stop bars

The Stop bars are the last 2 bars in the barcode. These bars assist the barcode reader to identify the end of the barcode and always contain the bar values of 1 and 3.

Like the Start bars, the Stop bars ensure that the bar is read correctly, even when the barcode is upside down.

Customer information field

The Customer information field is a section in the barcode reserved for customers to store their own information. It is only available in the 52 and 67 length barcodes.

These bars can be coded by either of the two Encoding Tables. Alternatively, customers can encode these bars themselves using their own proprietary techniques.

The Customer information field occupies 16 bars in the 52 length barcode, or 31 bars in the 67 length barcode.

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode formats

Introduction

The fields, number of bars and codes used in a particular barcode depend on the barcode’s format. Three barcode formats are available for customer barcoding, with a fourth format for the Reply Paid service.

Note the FFC and number of bars shown in each barcode format in the following diagram. Also note the example barcode below.

FCC Description Barcode Length

00 Null Customer Barcode 37, 52, 67

11 Standard Customer Barcode 37







Example – Standard Customer Barcode (37bars)

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode formats

Standard customer barcode

The Standard Customer Barcode (or 37 length barcode) is the most commonly used 4-state barcode. It contains the minimum information within the barcode for delivery. This barcode has the following format.

Bar position

Field Code No. of bars

1-2 Start bars 1 (A bar)

3 (T bar)

2

3-6 FCC N Table 4

7-22 DPID N Table 16

23 Filler bar 3 (T bar) 1

24-35 Reed Solomon

Bar to Decimal table 12

36-37 Stop bars 1 (A bar)

3 (T bar)

2

Example - Customer Barcode 2 (52 bars)

Advanced: BarcodingBarcode formats

Customer barcode 2

Customer Barcode 2 (or 52 length barcode) is essentially the same as the Standard Customer Barcode. The main difference is that this barcode allows for customer information to be included within the barcode. This barcode has the following format.

Bar position



3 (T bar)

2

3-6 Format Control Code

N Table 4


23-38 Customer Information

Free Format 16

39-50 Reed Solomon Bar to Decimal table

12


3 (T bar)

2

As the Customer Information part of the barcode is for use by the customer, the customer can choose to code the information using their own codes or they can use the N Encoding Table, or the C Encoding Table.

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode formats

Customer barcode 3

Customer Barcode 3 (or 67 length barcode) is essentially the same as Customer Barcode 2. The main difference is this barcode allows for more customer information to be included within the barcode. This barcode has the following format.

Bar position



3 (T bar)

2

3-6 Format Control Code N Table 4


23-53 Customer Information Free Format 31


12


3 (T bar)

2

Example - Customer Barcode 3 (67 bars)

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode formats

Reply Paid barcode

The format of the Reply Paid barcode differs slightly to the other Customer Barcodes. The Reply Paid barcode includes a Response Number that relates to the particular Reply Paid service.

The Reply Paid barcode comes in two lengths:• 52 length barcode• 67 length barcode

The format of each barcode is explained on the following pages.


Reply Paid barcode

52 length Bar position



3 (T bar)

2



23-28 Response Number N Table 6

29-38 Customer Information – 52 length

Free Format 10


12


3 (T bar)

2

Example – Reply Paid Barcode (52 bars)


Reply Paid barcode

67 lengthBar

positionField Code No. of

bars


3 (T bar)

2



23-28 Response Number N Table 6

29-53 Customer Information – 67 length

Free Format 25


12


3 (T bar)

2

Example – Reply Paid Barcode (67 bars)

Advanced: Barcoding

Barcode formats

Summary

To qualify for the Bulk Mail Services discount postage rates, a barcode is printed on the mail article with the address details.

The barcode: is a machine readable representation of information comes in 3 different lengths: 37, 52, 67 is called a 4-state barcode because it contains 4 different types of bars must follow a specific structure set by Australia Post structure for the Reply Paid barcode differs slightly to the Customer Barcode

For more information about barcodes refer to the Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications and the Australia Post website (auspost.com.au).

Advanced: BarcodingPrinting the barcode

Introduction

The 4-state barcode must follow a particular barcode structure and format as specified by Australia Post. It must also follow specific printing requirements as specified by Australia Post.

The specific printing requirements for the 4-state barcode ensure the barcode is of a suitable standard for the Australia Post sorting equipment to read and process the barcoded mail articles efficiently.

Barcodes that don’t follow the specific printing requirements can result in: mail articles being rejected during processing reduced processing speeds because the barcode is more difficult to read the full postage rate being charged rather than the discounted rate

The specific printing requirements of the barcode refer to the: barcode length individual bar dimensions skew reflectance Quiet Zone


Barcode length

When printed, each 4-state barcode has a minimum and maximum size it must comply with to ensure efficient reading of the barcode and processing of the mail article, as outlined below.

Barcode Min Length (mm) Max Length (mm)

37 37.0 42.2

52 52.2 59.5

67 67.5 76.8


Bar dimensions

The individual bars and spaces within the barcode have their own minimum and maximum measurements. These are important because any major variations can cause the sorting equipment to reject the mail article.

Bar type Min (mm) Max (mm)

Bar gap 0.4 0.7

Bar width 0.4 0.6

Each bar has a minimum and maximum height.As well as the height of each the bar, the width and gap also have a minimum and maximum size.


Barcode skew

When a barcode is printed on a mail article, occasionally it may not be printed straight (‘skewed’). This can happen if the mail article was not lined up correctly when moving through the printer or the mail article shifted during the print process.

A certain amount of skew (called ‘tolerance’) is allowed, as the sorting equipment is still able to read slightly skewed barcodes without causing any processing issues.

There are two types of skew: code skew – refers to the skew of the whole barcode in relation to the bottom edge of the mail article. A code skew of +/- 5 degrees is acceptable. bar skew – refers to the skew of individual bars within the barcode. A bar skew of +/- 5 degrees is acceptable.


Reflectance

Given the colour of the envelope, patterns in the envelope and colour of ink used to print the barcode can affect machine reading of the barcode, the reflectance of the barcode needs to be within a specific range.

‘Reflectance’ is the degree to which light reflects from a surface. Barcode reader devices are sensitive to the reflectance of the following:• printed barcode• space around the barcode• window material through which barcodes are scanned, when a window face envelope is used

Barcode reader devices operate within a spectral range.

The material on which the barcode is printed (the ‘substrate’) must be opaque, to prevent unwanted information showing through and obscuring the barcode.

A specific range of wavelengths or light, from a minimum to a maximum, often named after a central value. The value of 633 nanometers is visible light, while 900 nanometers represents infrared light. Within the range 400-650 nanometers, the following measurements must be met:• maximum bar reflectance (Rb) is 25%; and,• minimum space reflectance (Rs) is 50%;

Opaque: not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through. Opacity is the property of a substrate material that minimizes show-through from the back side or the next sheet. This requirement is met if the MRD is at least 50% when the material is backed with a black surface having a reflectance below 5%.


Quiet zone

The Quite Zone refers to the area around the printed barcode. This area needs to be kept clear to ensure that the barcode can be detected by the reader and processed correctly. If there is any ‘noise’, such as other printing, patterns and textures, this may affect the ability of the barcode to be scanned.

There is a minimum requirement of Quiet Zone around the barcode:• 2mm above and below the barcode• 6mm on the left and right of the barcode

Advanced: Barcoding

Printing the barcode

Summary

The 4-state barcode must be printed within certain specifications to ensure that the barcode can be read and processed efficiently by Australia Post’s sorting equipment.

Barcode print requirements refer to the: barcode length individual bar dimensions skew reflectance Quiet Zone

For more information about barcodes refer to the Customer Barcoding Technical Specifications and the Australia Post website (auspost.com.au).

Advanced: BarcodingSummary

You have now completed this module.The key points covered were:

To access some of the Bulk Mail Service discount postage rates, a barcode needs to be printed on the mail article with the address details.

The barcode must follow a specific structure set by Australia Post. The barcode can be printed in 3 different lengths: 37, 52, 67. The 52 and 67 length barcodes allow the customer to include their own

information. The Format Control Code (FCC) used must be valid, as this determines

how the mail article is processed. The 4-state barcode must be printed within the specifications to ensure that

the barcode can be read and processed efficiently by Australia Post’s sorting equipment.

You now need to complete a short assessment to check your understanding of the information covered in this module. This assessment consists of 10 multiple-choice questions and should take you approximately 10 minutes to complete. To pass the assessment, you need to answer at least eight of these questions correctly.Attempt this assessment as many times as you need to. If you do not pass, it is recommended that you review this module again.

Assessment

Assessment

1 For which Bulk Mail Services is the barcode mandatory to qualify for postage discounts?

a. Impact Mail, Clean Mail, Print Postb. PreSort Letters, Charity Mail, Acquisition Mail, Reply Paidc. Charity Mail, Print Postd. Clean Mail, PreSort Letters

Correct answer = BPreSort Letters, Charity Mail, Acquisition Mail and Reply Paid must have a correctly printed barcode to qualify for postage discounts for that service.

Assessment

2 True or false?

Numeric values use the N Encoding Table to translate into the bar values.

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = ANumeric values 0 to 9 use the N Encoding Table, which creates two bars for each value

Assessment

3 True or false?

Alpha numeric values (numbers and characters) use the C Encoding Table.

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = ACombinations of alpha-numeric values (A to Z, a to Z, 0 to 9) use the C Encoding Table, which creates three bars for each value.

Assessment

4 What are the 3 types of barcode lengths?

a. 37, 57, 62b. 37, 52, 67c. 32, 59, 62d. 39, 57, 67

Correct answer = BThe three barcode lengths are 37, 52 and 67.

Assessment

5 The Customer information field is available for use by the customer in the:

a. Standard Customer Barcode (37 length barcode)b. Customer Barcode 2 (52 length barcode)c. Customer Barcode 3 (67 length barcode)d. 52 and 67 length barcodes

Correct answer = DBoth the 52 and 67 length barcodes contain an area that the customer can use to include their own information.

Assessment

6 True or false?

The structure of the Reply Paid barcode is slightly different to the Standard Customer Barcode.

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = AThe structure of the Reply Paid barcode is slightly different to the Standard Customer Barcode because it includes the response number within the barcode.

Assessment

7 True or false?

When producing the barcode, any value can be used for the Format Control Code (FCC).

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = BThe Format Control Code must be one of the valid codes as specified by Australia for that particular barcode type.

Assessment

8 True or false?

When the barcode is printed it can be any size.

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = BThe printed barcode, depending on the number of bars, must be printed within a specific minimum and maximum size.

Assessment

9 True or false?

When the barcode is printed, the individual bars within the barcode must be within certain minimum and maximum values.

a. Trueb. False

Correct answer = AThe individual bars within the barcode must be within a specific minimum and maximum size.

Assessment

10 When printing the barcode, a Quite Zone is required around the barcode:

a. 2mm top and bottom, 6mm left and rightb. 6mm top and bottom, 2mm left and rightc. only 6mm top and bottomd. only 2mm left and right

Correct answer = AA Quiet Zone of 2mm above and below the barcode and 6mm to the left and right of the barcode is required to ensure that the barcode can be read successfully.

barcoding business letter services. introduction barcoding is an important part of australia posts...

Documents

introduction barcoding

barcode readers

barcode printing requirements

advantage of barcoding

australia posts mail

barcodes format

state barcodes

australia post website