Barcodes under 80%

[WI-Flexo]

I would like to know how some other flexo printers handle customer requests for a barcode under 80%. We guarantee that barcodes 80% and over will scan on our printed products. We do this by replacing all barcodes with our own. Doing verification in prepress and at press during the press run. Where we struggle is the smaller barcodes, specifically in the 55% and smaller zone. If these codes will scan or not depends on many variables like material, press, impression, direction on the web etc. The main area we run into trouble is with the variables as we can't definitively say this code will fail at press or this code will pass at press. Even with appropriate bar width reduction for the small codes, they have an incredibly small margin of error. And one operator or press run to the next could produce different results. What do you state to your customers in situations like this?

 

[M@CK]

Why not suggest your customer use a zero suppressed upc code instead ?

 

[WI-Flexo]

M@CK
Thats a great suggestion! I should have mentioned we have done this in the past. Sometimes though they do not understand the conversion, refuse to let us change it for any number of reasons or the end customer is many people removed (sales guy, broker, art house). So assuming thats not an option my real question is what to state to a customer about pass fail.

 

[M@CK]

I had this issue in the pass, get them to sign a waiver so you can't take responsibility. It's the only logical course of action at that point.
A customer who does not want to respect the minimum reproduction capability of the process employed is just asking for trouble.