Even with the holidays behind us (the seasonal peak in consumer retail/on-line spending, logistics and transport, manufacturing, and distribution), there are still more than 5 billion barcodes are scanned every day. Considering that the first barcode was scanned in the 70s on a packet of chewing gum, it’s clearly a formidable method of providing machine-readable UPC (Universal Product Code) that has evolved relatively little since. The systems that identify and decode barcodes on the other hand have come a long way and continue to advance to offer faster, smaller, cheaper and more robust readers.