Frequently Asked Questions  (FAQ's) Regarding Our Vendor Compliance Services     Is the BCG UCC-128 Testing Program solely geared for retailers? Our company currently approves vendors by evaluating labels in-house. What are the benefits of outsourcing this service? Do vendors actually need to supply a label sample, or can they just fax a copy of their UCC-128 labels? Since our company instructs our vendor base to follow the Uniform Code Council's guideline regarding UCC-128 labels, is testing necessary? How do we get started?  Is the BCG UCC-128 Testing Program solely geared for retailers? Absolutely not! Trading partner relationships exist throughout the supply chain, and do not only include retailers.  Our services can facilitate efficiency in any relationship where suppliers are required to comply with bar code labeling requirements.   Our company currently approves vendors by evaluating labels in-house. What are the benefits of outsourcing this service? The two primary reasons for utilizing Bar Code Graphics to evaluate vendor supplied bar code shipping labels are based on our expertise and cost.     Expertise - Our staff has specialized experience working with bar code compliance issues in both label evaluation and creation. The BCG Testing Center is equipped with an array of testing devises, which are calibrated and maintained to strict ISO 9002 guidelines. More importantly, the support communication we provide can not be matched.  Our customer support personnel have experience working with various labeling software programs and operating thermal transfer and laser printers.  If (when) a company submits a problem label, we can easily explain what is incorrect and how it can be rectified.   Cost - The BCG UCC-128 Testing Program is offered at no cost to retailers. Many companies are astonished at real costs of maintaining an in-house testing staff.     Do vendors actually need to supply a label sample, or can they just fax a copy of their UCC-128 labels? Approving vendors for UCC-128 shipping label preparedness from a fax copy is a prescription for a problem.  The only potential benefit for this form of evaluation is label format checking.  However, distortions in a fax might prohibit proper evaluation.   From our testing experience, there are a good number of vendors who do not/can not create the proper symbology and data encodation required.  In addition, many retailers follow the UCC guidelines for bar code print quality (many actually refer to them in their requirements), and it is only reasonable that retailers use that identical grading structure on label samples during testing.  Since the success of supply chain efficiency is based on communication, it is imperative that vendors understand what is to be expected.  If a retailer accepts a vendor's fax copy of a shipping label for testing, which actually had symbols with an ANSI grade of "D", should that vendor be fined when his/her labels get rejected from a distribution center.     Since our company instructs our vendor base to follow the Uniform Code Council's guideline regarding UCC-128 labels, is testing necessary? If your company is relying on UCC-128 labels to capture supply chain data, then there is a high necessity for those symbols to scan properly and contain the correct data.  The UCC guidelines provide the general framework for shipping label components, but there are many elements of those guidelines which are company specific.  In order to satisfy compliance guidelines, most companies like to see an easy to understand picture breakdown indicating exactly what is required.  The UCC Shipping Label guidelines provide valuable detailed information, which is often technically worded above the level of many vendors just getting into compliance situations.   How do we get started?  This happens to be our favorite question.  Please contact us at (800) 662-0701 or email sales@barcode-us.com , so we can provide you further information on our implementation procedures.