75-615: The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company , known as the Wrigley Company , is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island , Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is wholly owned by Mars Inc. , and, along with Mars chocolate bars and other candy products, makes up Mars Wrigley Confectionery . It is the largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum in
150-547: A Marsh Supermarket in Troy , Ohio installed the first bar code scanning equipment. The first product to be scanned using a Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit gum. (This pack of gum is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution 's National Museum of American History .) In 1984, Wrigley introduced a new gum, Extra, which followed the new trend of sugar-free gums in
225-502: A convergent evolution process, as traces of this habit have arisen separately in many early civilizations. Each early precursor to chewing gum was derived from natural growths local to the region and was chewed purely out of the instinctual desire to masticate. Early chewers did not necessarily desire to derive nutritional benefits from their chewable substances but at times sought taste stimuli and teeth cleaning or breath-freshening capabilities. Chewing gum in many forms has existed since
300-440: A UPC-A barcode. There is a one-to-one correspondence between 12-digit number and strip of black bars and white spaces, i.e. there is only one way to represent each 12-digit number visually and there is only one way to represent each strip of black bars and white spaces numerically. The scannable area of every UPC-A barcode follows the pattern S L LLLLLMRRRRR R E, where S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard patterns are represented
375-484: A defined character set with a fixed reference distance that spanned most or preferably all the character. In August 1971, Crouse joined the scanner effort. After several months they had made no progress. They were aware of the RCA bull's eye label that could be scanned with a simple straight line laser scanner, but a readable label was far too large. Although Litton Industries proposed a bull's eye symbol cut in half to reduce
450-555: A demonstration of the label. On 1 December 1972, IBM presented Laurer's proposal to the Super Market Committee in Rochester, Minnesota , the location where IBM would develop the scanner. During the presentation, Crouse gave a lab demonstration where he read UPC-like labels with his ring wand. In addition to reading regular labels, he read the large two-page centerfold label in the proposal booklet. He then turned to
525-454: A digit) are intermixed to help decoding. A UPC (technically, a UPC-A) consists of 12 digits that are uniquely assigned to each trade item. The international GS1 organisation assigns the digits used for both the UPC and the related International Article Number (EAN) barcode. UPC data structures are a component of Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) and follow the global GS1 specification, which
600-415: A label. Together they defined guard bars and a definition of how to detect the label. The guard bars also provided identification for half label discrimination and training bars for the scanner threshold circuits. Laurer had a complete label definition and proceeded to write his proposal. Previously Crouse had an idea for a simple wand worn like a ring and bracelet. He decided to develop that wand to provide
675-765: A landmark on Chicago's Magnificent Mile , was the company's global headquarters until 2011, when it was sold to an investor group that included Zeller Realty Group as well as Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. The company has been headquartered in the GIC since 2012. In 2016, Mars announced that Wrigley would be merged with its chocolate segment to form a new subsidiary, Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The new company would maintain global offices in Chicago, while moving its U.S. offices to Hackettstown and Newark , New Jersey. In 1891, 29-year-old William Wrigley Jr. (1861–1932) came to Chicago from Philadelphia with $ 32 and
750-408: A page showing a photo of labeled items sitting on a table. The labels were small and flawed due to the resolution of the printed photo but the wand read many of them. This demonstration showed the robustness of the pure Delta C code. The proposal was accepted. One month later, 1 January 1973 Crouse transferred back to IBM's Advanced Technology group, and Laurer remained with the full responsibility for
825-522: A patent for automatically cutting wrappers for sticks of chewing gum: US 913,352 "Web-cutting attachment for wrapping-machines" 23 February 1909 from Louisville, Kentucky, inventor James Henry Brady, an employee of the Colgan Gum Company. Modern chewing gum was first developed in the 1860s when chicle was brought from Mexico by the former president, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna , to New York, where he gave it to Thomas Adams for use as
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#1732780958217900-570: A ration and traded it with locals. Synthetic gums were first introduced to the U.S. after chicle no longer satisfied the needs of making good chewing gum. By the 1960s, US manufacturers had switched to butadiene -based synthetic rubber , as it was cheaper to manufacture. In the United States, chewing gum experienced a decline in popularity in the early 21st century, as it lost its association with counterculture and teenage rebelliousness. Others blamed smartphones reducing impulse purchases at
975-554: A reorganization plan. Wrigley helped establish the Wrigley Science Institute (WSI) in 2006 to study the oral health benefits of gum chewing. The WSI investigates the effects of gum chewing on weight management, stress relief, concentration, and oral health. On October 23, 2006, William D. Perez (1948–) succeeded Bill Wrigley as CEO, becoming the first person outside the Wrigley family to head the company. In 2007,
1050-501: A rubber substitute. Chicle did not succeed as a replacement for rubber, but as a gum cut into strips and marketed as Adams New York Chewing Gum in 1871. Black Jack (1884), which is flavored with licorice, Chiclets (1899), and Wrigley's Spearmint Gum were early popular gums that quickly dominated the market and are all still around today. Chewing gum gained worldwide popularity through American GIs in WWII, who were supplied chewing gum as
1125-457: A single pass. This label could be scanned with a simple "X" scanner only slightly more complex than the straight line laser scanner. The next day Baumeister suggested if the label were split into two halves the bar lengths could be cut nearly in half. These two proposals reduced the area from the bull's eye by one third and then one sixth. The image to the right shows the label proposed by Baumeister. He did not specify any specific bar code as that
1200-506: A width of at least 9 times the x-dimension, must be present on each side of the scannable area of the UPC-A barcode. For a GTIN-12 number encoded in a UPC-A barcode, the first and last digits of the human-readable interpretation are always placed outside the symbol in order to indicate the quiet zones that are necessary for UPC barcode scanners to work properly. The UPC-A barcode is visually represented by strips of bars and spaces that encode
1275-435: Is a barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. The chosen symbology has bars (or spaces) of exactly 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide each; each decimal digit to be encoded consists of two bars and two spaces chosen to have a total width of 7 units, in both an "even" and an "odd" parity form, which enables being scanned in either direction. Special "guard patterns" (3 or 5 units wide, not encoding
1350-508: Is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base , sweeteners, softeners/ plasticizers , flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its texture is reminiscent of rubber because of the physical-chemical properties of its polymer, plasticizer, and resin components, which contribute to its elastic-plastic, sticky, chewy characteristics. The cultural tradition of chewing gum seems to have developed through
1425-414: Is a technique used to detect any odd number of bit errors in a bit stream. They decided to use odd on one half and even on the other. This would provide additional indication of which half ticket was being read. This meant that every bar width had to be read accurately to provide a good reading. It also meant every space would also be known. Requiring every bit width to be read precisely basically nullified
1500-503: Is based on international standards. Some retailers, such as clothing and furniture, do not use the GS1 system, instead using other barcode symbologies or article number systems. Some retailers use the EAN/UPC barcode symbology, but do not use a GTIN for products sold only in their own stores. Research indicates that the adoption and diffusion of the UPC stimulated innovation and contributed to
1575-614: Is considered proprietary information known by select individuals within each gum-manufacturing company. Information about the other components of chewing gum are more accessible to the public and they are listed in Table 2 . Table 2: Common ingredients in the formulation of modern chewing gum Artificial Sweeteners: 0.05–0.5% sugar, dextrose, glucose or corn syrup, erythritol, isomalt, xylitol, maltitol, mannitol, sorbitol, lactitol aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharine, sucralose, neohesperidine, dihydrichalcone Peppermint and spearmint are
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#17327809582171650-441: Is determined by multiplying the x-dimension and the module width (1, 2, 3, or 4 units) of each bar (space). Since the guard patterns each include two bars, and each of the 12 digits of the UPC-A barcode consists of two bars and two spaces, all UPC-A barcodes consist of exactly (3 × 2) + (12 × 2) = 30 bars, of which 6 represent guard patterns and 24 represent numerical digits. The x-dimension for
1725-420: Is not required by law to be labeled with an expiration date. If chewing gum remains in a stable environment, over time the gum may become brittle or lose some of its flavor, but it will never be unsafe to eat. If chewing gum is exposed to moisture, over time water migration may occur, making the gum soggy. In lollipops with a gum center, water migration can lead to the end of the product's shelf life, as it causes
1800-512: Is upside-down). After seeing a S (start) or E (end) guard pattern (they are the same, bar-space-bar , whichever direction they are read), the scanner will first see odd parity digits, if scanning left-to-right, or even parity digits, if scanning right-to-left. With the parity/direction information, an upside-down symbol will not confuse the scanner. When confronted with an upside-down symbol, the scanner may simply ignore it (many scanners alternate left-to-right and right-to-left scans, so they will read
1875-522: The First Americans . Around 1850 a gum made from paraffin wax , a petroleum product, was developed and soon exceeded the spruce gum in popularity. To sweeten these early gums, the chewer would often make use of a plate of powdered sugar, which they would repeatedly dip the gum in to maintain sweetness. William F. Semple, a dentist from Mount Vernon, Ohio , filed an early patent on chewing gum, patent number 98,304, on 28 December 1869. Semple's gum
1950-626: The Fischer–Tropsch process ) Petroleum wax Petroleum wax synthetic Polyethylene Polyisobutylene Polyvinyl acetate Jelutong Leche caspi (sorva) Pendare Perillo Leche de vaca Niger gutta Tunu (tuno) Chilte Natural rubber First, gum base is previously prepared through a melting and straining or filtering process. The formulation for gum base is proprietary information known to few individuals within each gum-producing company. Next, other ingredients such as nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners and flavors are added to
2025-936: The LEED Gold Certification through Wrigley's commitment to global sustainability. In the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Wrigley was the Official Confectionery Supplier of the games, in which the company sported Olympic-themed packs and products. Martin Radvan became the president of the Wrigley Company after Petrovich. He is responsible for the company's worldwide strategy, operations, and business performance. United States Canada The Wrigley Company Ltd., Estover, Plymouth, UK Additional products and brands Alpine Gum
2100-569: The Neolithic period. 5,000-year-old chewing gum made from birch bark tar , with tooth imprints, has been found in Kierikki in Finland. The tar from which the gums were made is believed to have antiseptic properties and other medicinal benefits. It is chemically similar to petroleum tar and is in this way different from most other early gum. The Mayans and Aztecs were the first to exploit
2175-670: The Delta C advantage except for the Delta C reference measurement. Only the strange character set and the size of the label remains as a shadow of the Delta C code. The size was still that calculated for pure Delta C. If the label size had been properly recalculated, taking into account the required bar width measurements the label would have been far too large to be acceptable. Mechanical engineering and electronic circuit design commonly require worst case designs using known tolerances. Many engineers working with bar codes had little experience with such things and used somewhat intuitive methods. This
2250-407: The Delta C patent used seven printable increments or units where two bars and two spaces would be printed. This yielded twenty combinations of characters, but there were two pairs that when read by Delta C rules yielded the same code for the pair. Since eighteen characters were not enough Laurer tried adding one unit to the character set. This yielded twenty-six Delta C characters which could provide
2325-425: The S (start) and after the E (end) guard patterns. The UPC-A's left-hand side digits (the digits to the left of the M (middle) guard pattern) have odd parity, which means the total width of the black bars is an odd number of modules. On the contrary, the right-hand side digits have even parity. Consequently, a UPC scanner can determine whether it is scanning a symbol from left-to-right or from right-to-left (the symbol
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2400-432: The S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard patterns. The S (start) and E (end) guard patterns are 3 modules wide and use the pattern bar-space-bar , where each bar and space is one module wide. The M (middle) guard pattern is 5 modules wide and uses the pattern space-bar-space-bar-space , where each bar and space is also one module wide. In addition, a UPC-A symbol requires a quiet zone (extra space of 9 modules wide) before
2475-413: The UPC-A 12-digit number. Each digit is represented by a unique pattern of 2 bars and 2 spaces. The bars and spaces are variable width, i.e. 1, 2, 3, or 4 modules wide. The total width for a digit is always 7 modules; consequently, UPC-A 12-digit number requires a total of 7×12 = 84 modules . A complete UPC-A is 95 modules wide: 84 modules for the digits (L and R sections) combined with 11 modules for
2550-464: The UPC-A at the nominal size is 0.33 mm (0.013"). Nominal symbol height for UPC-A is 25.9 mm (1.02"). The bars forming the S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard patterns, are extended downwards by 5 times x-dimension, with a resulting nominal symbol height of 27.55 mm (1.08"). This also applies to the bars of the first and last numerical digit of UPC-A barcode. UPC-A can be reduced or magnified anywhere from 80% to 200%. A quiet zone, with
2625-491: The US Armed Forces. Wrigley launched the "Remember this Wrapper" ad campaign to keep the Wrigley brands on the minds of the customers during times of wartime rationing. Wrigley's P.K. brand was named after P.K. Wrigley. In 1961, Philip K. Wrigley handed control to his son, William Wrigley III (1933–1999). Wrigley led a strategic global expansion by establishing Wrigley facilities in nine new countries. On June 26, 1974,
2700-666: The US. Wrigley also assumed control of the Chicago Cubs after his father's death in 1977, and sold the team to the Chicago Tribune in 1981. William "Beau" Wrigley IV (1963–), following the death of Wrigley III (his father), led the sugar-free gum campaign across Europe, Australia, Spain, India, and China. In 2005, Kraft Foods sold the Life Savers and Altoids businesses to Wrigley in exchange for $ 1.5 billion as part of
2775-437: The area, it was still too large and presented the same ink smear printing problems as the RCA symbol. The redundancy and checking ability were removed completely. They were also aware of the many proposals from around the world, none of which were feasible. In the spring of 1972, Baumeister announced a breakthrough. He proposed a label with bars that were slightly longer than the distance across all bars that needed to be read in
2850-407: The balsam tree ( Myroxylon ), creating small sticks of flavored chewing gum he named "Taffy Tolu". Colgan also led the way in the manufacturing and packaging of chicle -based chewing gum, derived from Manilkara chicle , a tropical evergreen tree. He licensed a patent for automatically cutting chips of chewing gum from larger sticks: US 966,160 "Chewing Gum Chip Forming Machine" 2 August 1910 and
2925-529: The checkout. Demand for chewing gum also declined during the COVID-19 pandemic , as people were less concerned about bad breath and impulse purchases also declined. U.S. sales of gum fell about 30 percent, and while demand was back up to the pre-pandemic level in 2023 in dollar terms, this was the result of inflation as the average price of a pack increased $ 1.01 from 2018 to $ 2.71 in 2023. Globally, sales were down 10 percent from 2018. Gum base composition
3000-595: The closure of its Santa Cruz, California manufacturing plant in April 1996. The plant had been built in 1955. The 385,000-square-foot manufacturing facility was put on the market in October 1996 for US$ 11.3 million, or about $ 30 a square foot. In 2005, Wrigley purchased Life Savers and Altoids from Kraft Foods for US$ 1.5 billion. On January 23, 2007, Wrigley signed a purchase agreement to acquire an 80% initial interest in A. Korkunov for $ 300 million with
3075-444: The company debuted 5 Gum in the United States. The 5 Gum brand was marketed using cinematic TV commercials portraying "How it feels to chew 5 Gum." Perez led the efforts of improving slimmer packaging (Slim Pack) with flavor improvements across both Extra and Wrigley brands. Dushan Petrovich (1954–) succeeded Perez almost immediately after Mars, Incorporated's 2008 purchase of Wrigley. In 2009, Wrigley's Global Innovation Center received
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3150-594: The consumers' intent to form bubbles or the sugar/sugarless dichotomy. Chewing gum typically comes in three formats: tablets, coated pellets, and sticks/ slabs. Bubble gum typically come in three formats as well: tablets, hollow balls, and cubes or chunks. Stick, slab, and tab gums typically come in packs of about five to 17 sticks or more, and their medium size allows for softer texture. Pellet gums, or dragée gums, are pillow shaped pieces that are almost always coated. Packaging of pellet gums can vary from boxes to bottles to blister packs. The coating of pellet gum allows for
3225-620: The council. The Symbol Selection Committee finally chose to implement the IBM proposal designed by George J. Laurer , but with a slight modification to the font in the human readable area. The first UPC-marked item ever to be scanned at a retail checkout was a 10-pack (50 sticks) of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum, purchased at the Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio , at 8:01 a.m. on 26 June 1974. The NCR cash register rang up 67 cents. The shopping cart also contained other barcoded items but
3300-407: The exterior hard candy shell to soften and the interior gum center to harden. The physical and chemical properties of chewing gum impact all aspects of this product, from manufacturing to sensory perception during mastication. The polymers that make up the main component of chewing gum base are hydrophobic. This property is essential because it allows for retention of physical properties throughout
3375-441: The extruder using a vertical cutter. Sheeting is a technique often used for stick, slab and tab gums. Next, gum is either conditioned by being sprinkled with a powdered polyol or coated via the application of subsequent layers of coating using temperature controlled coating basins before it is sent to packaging. Chewing gum can come in a variety of formats ranging from 1.4 to 6.9 grams per piece, and products can be differentiated by
3450-518: The growth of international retail supply chains. Wallace Flint proposed an automated checkout system in 1932 using punched cards . Bernard Silver and Norman Joseph Woodland , a graduate student from Drexel Institute of Technology , developed a bull's-eye-style code and applied for the patent in 1949. In the 1960s and early 1970s, railroads in North America experimented with multicolor bar codes for tracking railcars , but this system
3525-461: The gum base until the warm mixture thickens like dough. The gum base mixture is heated during this mixing process to increase the entropy of the polymers to achieve a more uniform dispersion of ingredients. Then, extrusion technology is implemented to smooth, form, and shape the gum. Next, the gum goes through a shaping process that is determined by gum type and consumer demand. For example, cut and wrap (chunk or cube) pieces are severed straight out of
3600-626: The gum was the first one picked up at the checkout. A facsimile of the gum packet went on display at the Smithsonian Institution 's American history museum in Washington, D.C. Murray Eden was a consultant on the team that created the Universal Product Code barcode. As Chairman of a committee of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , he helped "select a symbol that would endure
3675-433: The idea to start a business selling Wrigley's Scouring Soap. Wrigley offered premiums as an incentive to buy his soap, such as baking powder. Later in his career, he switched to the baking powder business, in which he began offering two packages of chewing gum for each purchase of a can of baking powder. The popular premium, chewing gum, began to seem more promising, prompting another switch in product focus. Wrigley also became
3750-683: The inevitable rush of technology that lay ahead." He chose the font, and he came up with the idea to add numbers to the bottom, which is a fail-safe system, in case the barcode reader is not working correctly. Around late 1969, IBM at Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina assigned George Laurer to determine how to make a supermarket scanner and label. In late 1970, Heard Baumeister provided equations to calculate characters-per-inch achievable by two IBM bar codes, Delta A and Delta B. In February 1971, Baumeister joined Laurer. Delta B compared bar widths to space width to code bits. This
3825-459: The label. Dymo Industries , makers of handheld printing devices insisted that the code be character independent, so that handheld printing devices could produce the bar code in store if the items were not bar-coded by the manufacturers. Dymo's proposal was accepted by IBM and incorporated in IBM's latest proposal. It was decided that the two halves of the label should have a different set of numeric characters. The character set Laurer derived from
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#17327809582173900-475: The majority owner of the Chicago Cubs in 1921. After William Wrigley Jr. died, his son Philip K. Wrigley (1894–1977) assumed his father's position as CEO of the Wrigley Company. Wrigley is most well known for his unusual move to support US troops and protect the reputation of the Wrigley brand during World War II, in which he dedicated the entire output of Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, and Juicy Fruit to
3975-574: The mastication process. Because the polymers of gum repel water, the water-based saliva system in a consumer's mouth will dissolve the sugars and flavorings in chewing gum, but not the gum base itself. This allows for gum to be chewed for a long time without breaking down in the mouth like conventional foods. Chewing gum can be classified as a product containing a liquid phase and a crystalline phase, providing gum with its characteristic balance of plastic and elastic properties. Universal Product Code The Universal Product Code ( UPC or UPC code )
4050-456: The modernization and commercialization of this product mainly took place in the United States. The American Indians chewed resin made from the sap of spruce trees. The New England settlers picked up this practice, and in 1848, John B. Curtis developed and sold the first commercial chewing gum called The State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum. In this way, the industrializing West, having forgotten about tree gums, rediscovered chewing gum through
4125-420: The most popular flavors. Food acids are implemented to provide a sour flavor (i.e. citric, tartaric, malic, lactic, adipic, and fumaric acids). Maltitol/Isomalt Mannitol Starch Gum base is made of polymers, plasticizers, and resins. Polymers , including elastomers, are responsible for the stretchy and sticky nature of chewing gum. Plasticizers improve flexibility and reduce brittleness, contributing to
4200-455: The natural and synthetic gum base components approved for use in the United States, demonstrating some examples of key gum base components. Table 3: Gum base ingredients approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2016) Chicle Chiquibul Crown gum Gutta hang kang Massaranduba balata Massaranduba chocolate Nispero Rosidinha Venezuelan chicle Isobutylene-isoprene copolymer ( butyl rubber ) Paraffin (via
4275-659: The opportunity for multiple flavor sensations, since coating is done in a layering process and different flavor attributes can be added to various layers. Cube or chunk gums, which are typically intended for bubble blowing, are called cut and wrap gums as they are typically severed from continuous strands of extruded gum and packaged directly. Chewing gum is rather shelf stable because of its non-reactive nature and low moisture content. The water activity of chewing gum ranges from 0.40 to 0.65. The moisture content of chewing gum ranges from three to six percent. In fact, chewing gum retains its quality for so long that, in most countries, it
4350-494: The pairs he would measure one bar width in each of the pairs to distinguish them from each other. For each pair those bars would be one or two units wide. Laurer did not apply Baumeister's equations to this set. He felt just one bar width measurement would not be too serious. As it turned out it would have required over fifty percent increase in width and height for an area increase of more than double. Laurer later admitted these four characters in each set were responsible for most of
4425-400: The plastic and elastic nature of gum. The interactions of plasticizers within gum base are governed by solubility parameters, molecular weight, and chemical structure. Resins compose the hydrophobic portion of the gum base, responsible for its chewiness. Although the exact ingredients and proportions used in each brand's gum base are trade secrets within the gum industry, Table 3 lists all of
4500-691: The positive properties of gum; they used chicle , a natural tree gum , as a base for making a gum-like substance and to stick objects together in everyday use. Forms of chewing gum were also chewed in Ancient Greece . The Ancient Greeks chewed mastic gum , made from the resin of the mastic tree . Mastic gum, like birch bark tar, has antiseptic properties and is believed to have been used to maintain oral health. Both chicle and mastic are tree resins. Many other cultures have chewed gum-like substances made from plants, grasses, and resins . Although chewing gum can be traced back to civilizations worldwide,
4575-437: The remaining 20% to be acquired over time. On April 28, 2008, Mars, Incorporated announced that it would acquire Wrigley for approximately $ 23 billion. Financing for the transaction was provided by Berkshire Hathaway , Goldman Sachs , and JPMorgan ; Berkshire Hathaway held a minority equity investment in Wrigley until October 2016, when Mars took full control over the company. The Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue ,
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#17327809582174650-451: The same way on every UPC-A barcode and the L (left) and R (right) sections collectively represent the 12 numerical digits that make each UPC-A unique. The first digit L indicates a particular number system to be used by the following digits. The last digit R is an error detecting check digit , that allows some errors to be detected in scanning or manual entry. The guard patterns separate the two groups of six numerical digits and establish
4725-412: The scanner read errors. David Savir, a mathematician, was given the task of proving the symbol could be printed and would meet the reliability requirements, and was most likely unaware of Baumeister's equations. He and Laurer added two more digits to the ten for error detection and correction . Then they decided to add odd/even parity to the number of units filled with bars in each side. Odd/even parity
4800-426: The standards used to create them. Below is a description of all possible number systems with the corresponding 12-digit UPC-A numbering scheme L LLLLLRRRRR R , where L denotes the numbering system digit and R the check digit. The UPC includes a check digit to detect common data entry errors. For example, UPC-A codes choose the check digit x 12 {\displaystyle x_{12}} to satisfy
4875-486: The symbol on a subsequent pass) or recognize the digits and put them in the right order. There is another property in the digit encoding. The right-hand side digits are the optical inverse of the left-hand side digits, i.e. black bars are turned into white spaces and vice versa. For example, the left-hand side "4" is space×1 - bar×1 - space×3 - bar×2 , meanwhile the right-hand side "4" is bar×1 - space×1 - bar×3 - space×2 . The number of UPC-A and UPC-E barcodes are limited by
4950-405: The timing. UPC-A 042100005264 is equivalent to UPC-E 425261 with the "EOEEOO" parity pattern, which is defined by UPC-A number system 0 and UPC-A check digit 4. UPC-A barcodes can be printed at various densities to accommodate a variety of printing and scanning processes. The significant dimensional parameter is called x-dimension (width of single module element). The width of each bar (space)
5025-468: The two sets of decimal characters but it also added fourteen percent to the width of the label and thereby the height. This would be a thirty percent increase in area or a label of 1.7 in × 1.03 in (43 mm × 26 mm). Laurer felt this was not acceptable. Laurer returned to the original character set with twenty characters but four of those were two pairs with the same Delta C reading. He decided to use them all. To distinguish between
5100-622: The world. The company currently sells its products in over 180 countries and districts, operates in over 50 countries, and has 21 production facilities in 14 countries. The company was founded on April 1, 1891, in Chicago, Illinois by William Wrigley Jr. Wrigley's gum was traditionally made out of chicle , sourced largely from Central America. In 1952, in response to Decree 900 , land reforms attempting to end feudal working conditions for peasant farmers in Guatemala , Wrigley's discontinued purchasing chicle from that country. Wrigley's announced
5175-533: Was a gum made by Wrigley's , and was only sold in Canada. It is an alternative to cough syrup . It cools the throat and relieves sore throat pain. Alpine was discontinued in 2005. In 2013, Wrigley temporarily halted production and sales of its new Alert energy gum after the US Food and Drug Administration said it would investigate the safety of added caffeine in food products. Chewing gum Chewing gum
5250-409: Was about six inches by three inches which was too large. Crouse suggested that Laurer use his Delta C bar code and provided a copy of his patent that had a sample alphanumeric character set and rules to generate other size alphabets. This reduced the label size to about 1.5 in × 0.9 in (38 mm × 23 mm). Later Laurer asked Crouse for assistance in how the scanner could detect
5325-786: Was eventually abandoned and replaced with a radio-based system called Automatic Equipment Identification (AEI) . In 1973, a group of trade associations from the grocery industry formed the Uniform Product Code Council (UPCC) which, with the help of consultants Larry Russell and Tom Wilson of McKinsey & Company , defined the numerical format that formed the basis of the Uniform Product Code. Technology firms including Charegon, IBM , Litton-Zellweger, Pitney Bowes-Alpex, Plessey-Anker, RCA , Scanner Inc., Singer, and Dymo Industries /Data General, put forward alternative proposals for symbol representations to
5400-477: Was extremely sensitive to ink spread, where improper levels of ink or pressure would cause both edges of a bar to spread outward or shrink in. In mid 1971, William "Bill" Crouse invented a new bar code called Delta C. It achieved four times the characters per inch as Delta B. Delta C achieved its higher performance by only using leading to leading or trailing to trailing edges which was unaffected by uniform ink spread. The code provided best performance when it had
5475-431: Was intended to clean the teeth and strengthen the chewer's jaw. It was not a sweet treat; ingredients included chalk and powdered licorice root. Charcoal was also suggested as a "suitable" ingredient in the patent. The first flavored chewing gum was created in the 1860s by John Colgan , a Louisville, Kentucky, pharmacist. Colgan mixed with powdered sugar the aromatic flavoring tolu , a powder obtained from an extract of
5550-487: Was the cause of the poor performance of the Delta B code and quite likely the failure of RCA's bull's eye scanner. The following table shows the workable labels, available in the early 1970s, with their sizes. This is assuming a bull's eye with the same information and reliable readability. Each UPC-A barcode consists of a scannable strip of black bars and white spaces above a sequence of 12 numerical digits. No letters , characters or other content of any kind may appear on
5625-419: Was well understood. Except for the bar coding and ten digits the UPC label today is his proposal. Shortly after that Baumeister transferred to another area of RTP. Laurer proceeded to define the details of the label and write a proposal. N.J. Woodland was assigned as planner for the project and aided Laurer with writing his proposal. Laurer's first attempt with a bar code used Delta B. The resulting label size
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