Q.   Is QBS Barcoder exclusive to Sybiz Vision?

A.   Yes.    Version 5.1 has been designed to work with all versions of Vision, and from May, 2008 has been upgraded to accommodate BOTH Australian and New Zealand taxation environments.

Q. Is it multi-Company?

A.  Yes.   The programme caters for the Vision Demonstration Company, plus any other Companies created within Sybiz Vision.  New Companies are automatically added, but the user is able to de-select Companies for which barcoding is not required.     Companies can be either GS1-registered Members or not.    However, the programme carries only one GS1-registered member prefix, and one (randomly generated) non-member prefix. 

Q.   Is Serial Numbering of Products available?

A.   Yes, if required, as an added feature.   Some customisation is required to the user's requirements.   Serial Number barcodes are created in Code128 barcode format, which is alphanumeric.   These barcode fonts are supplied as part of the QBS Barcoder software package. 

Q.   Can Prices be suppressed on the labels?

A.    Yes.     For all labels carrying prices, or in specific instances.

Q.    How can products be selected?

A.    By Product Name, Product Code, or by scanning from a product's Barcode.    Also, by selecting one or more Purchase Orders or Invoices, labels for the products in those documents can be printed.   Invoice/Order product quantities can be edited before printing labels.     This feature can be turned off if not required.

Q.   How does it give barcode numbers to the products?

A.   One-by-one, or all without numbers, at the click of a button.    When the programme starts up, it examines and identifies each product barcode as to its "type".     It stores this barcode type and creates barcode font-readable string values, ready for label-creation when required.     If the number is not an identifiable UCC/EAN barcode number, it will be overwritten with a valid EAN13 number during the numbering process.     For Vision versions earlier than Version 2.40, any "formulas" stored in the stock file's "REMARKS" field (which was, then, where the barcode number was stored) are preserved.

Q.   If some of my products already have barcodes, how should I approach the task of barcode numbering?

A.   It is better to store these barcodes first.   Some product suppliers will provide a spreadsheet file of their products, complete with barcode numbers.   Importing these could save a great deal of time.    The QBS Barcoder programme will validate all of these, and will only apply new numbers where no number, or an invalid number exists.

Q.   The barcode field in Vision is indexed.    What are the implications of this for barcode numbering?

A.   It is essential that Vision's Inventory Ledger be re-indexed from within Vision, following the fresh allocation of numbers.   QBS Barcoder cannot do this, and indexing should not be made automatic.   There are warnings to operators about this prior to allocating barcode numbers.

About Barcode Standards

Q.   What is GS1 Australia (or EAN Australia, as it used to be called)?

A.   It is the Australian member of the European Article Numbering Association, which maintains standards of product and package numbering throughout the international supply chain.   Its American counterpart, UCC, is in the process of joining GS1 International, which will then complete the universality of this numbering system.     Gs1 numbering is regarded as essential for suppliers to any large retail chain, eg Coles-Myer, Harvey Norman, and any of their suppliers, to guarantee the uniqueness of their product barcodes must become members of GS1 Australia.     They receive a unique GS1 barcode prefix, plus a lot of help to implement the numbering system.     QBS Barcoder will only allocate barcode numbers according to the rules specified by GS1 Australia.

Q.   Must I join GS1 Australia to use GS1 numbers on my products?

A.   Not if you are numbering products "in-house" to sell directly to retail customers.   If you manufacture or import, then sell to retail stores, you MUST join GS1 Australia and use your registered Company prefix in each product number.    "In-house" numbers must be prefixed by "20", "21", "23", "25", "26" or "27".   GS1-registered numbers within Australia have a "93" prefix, which stands for Australia.    This prefix, plus the Company's registration number, makes the resultant EAN13 barcode unique throughout the world.

Why not visit the web-site for EAN Australia for further information, at < www.gs1au.org >. 

Q.   What if I have more questions?   Will you reply?

A.   Of course!   Please let's have your questions, so the answers can be posted here, to assist others.   Return to the "Contact Us" page to send your e-mail.