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Inventor of Bar Code Dies at 94

VOA News

   George Laurer, who invented the universal product code, has died at his
   home in North Carolina. He was 94.

   The UPC or bar codeis the unique marking -- made up of black stripes of
   varying thicknesses and a 12-digit number -- allotted to products sold
   worldwide. It allows retailers to identify each product and its price
   by using a scanner.

   Laurer, who died Dec. 5,was working as an electrical engineer at IBM
   when he was assigned to the project, an idea pioneered by colleague
   Norman Woodland, who died in 2012.

   Laurer brought Woodland's idea to fruition in the 1970s with the help
   of lasers and computers.

   Laurer said retailers spent millions in time and labor putting price
   tags on every item. The bar code allowed them to reduce pricing errors
   and keep an accurate count ofinventory.

   The first product scanned, in June 1974, was a packof Wrigley's chewing
   gum. It is now on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of
   American History in Washington.

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