World's Biggest Barcode Proves New Technology

Thirsk (UK) firm GSM Graphic Arts is hoping that its GBP0.25 million investment will help put it firmly in the record books - for the world's biggest sequentially numbered barcode.

Thirsk (UK) firm GSM Graphic Arts is hoping that its GBP0.25 million investment will help put it firmly in the record books - for the world's biggest sequentially numbered barcode.

GSM manufactures metal and plastic signs, nameplates and labels.

Following investment in new machinery earlier this year, which enabled the firm to launch Primodise, claimed to be the UK's first sub-surface digital printing technology, GSM has invested in a second machine that allows it to print on to anodised aluminium surfaces up to 1.5m x 0.95m.

To demonstrate the new production capabilities, the firm has created what it hopes will be a record breaking sequential numbered barcode.

Printed on to an anodised aluminium surface using the Primodise process, the barcode measures 1.5m by 0.85m.

GSM general manager, Rudy Pearce, explained the technology behind the new print capabilities: "The three-stage Primodise process combines anodising - opening up the pores of an aluminium substrate - with digital print technology.

The pores of the aluminium are opened, digital print is applied in to the surface and the pores are re-sealed." He added: "The end result is a full-colour, photo-quality image sealed in to the aluminium substrate that is scuff, scratch and water resistant.

It will also resist solvents and detergents, making it an ideal anti-graffiti product.

We can print in to curved or rippled surfaces and, because we're printing digitally, we can customise every single job if needs be.

Until now, this has simply not been possible." GSM said it had such an overwhelming response from a range of markets to the initial Primodise launch last May that it decided to invest in a second machine with bigger output capabilities to meet demand.

When the giant barcode was produced to demonstrate those capabilities and the scope for individually customised print jobs, a suggestion was made that it could be a record breaker.

Pearce submitted a Guinness World Record application last week and will now wait up to four weeks to find out if the submission will be accepted as an official record attempt.

If it is, staff will scan the barcode and record the data electronically, as well as recording the attempt on video, unless an official adjudicator's visit is deemed necessary.

He added: "Whilst the record attempt is somewhat light-hearted - we don't get many requests for giant barcodes - it does illustrate the capabilities that this technology affords.

Primodise has the scope to take the business in a new direction and we're discovering scope for its use in an incredibly diverse range of markets." Pearce commented that as an organisation, GSM has always been open to new ways of doing things, but it never adopts new technology for technology's sake.

He continued: "Every investment decision is based on an ability to deliver something genuinely new to the market, or something that is measurably better than the systems and products currently available.

We believe Primodise gives us this capability.".

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