On Thu, Nov 27, 2008 at 9:28 PM, Alexandre Benson Smith
<iblist@...> wrote:

>
> No, but I buy a lot on super-markets :) And I pay attention how the
> thing works...
>
> There are 2 distinct cases:
>
> 1.) A pack of 12 cans of beer the pack it-self has a distinct barcode
> from the one printed on the beer can, let's supose
>
> ProductID ProductCode Description Price BarCode
> 1 001.001 Beer 350ml 2,00 1234567890
> 2 001.005 Pack of 12 Beer 350ml 24,00 1234567888
>
> 2) The pack itself has not a distinct barcode, example milk
> ProductID ProductCode Description Price BarCode
> 3 001.010 Milk 1 liter 1,50 9876543210
> (note that there is not a product for a pack of 12 liters of milk)
>
> In the case (1) if the check-out person scans the beer sold alone, he
> must supplies how much cans of beer I am buying, or scan it can
> individually, if she scans the barcode on the pack it's treated as a
> distinct product with a distinct code/price.
>
> In the case (2) the chek-out person MUST provide the quantity on the
> package and scan the barcode that is linked to a single box of milk, if
> she forget to supply the quantity I will be billed as I had purchased
> just 1 liter and not a box with 12 liters packet together, believe me
> it's not a trivial thing but I had told the check-out girl a bunch of
> times that I was buying a box of 12 liters and not a single liter alone.
>
> If you have products packet togheter and the package has a distinct
> barcode the person should be trained to read the package barcode and not
> the the barcode of the individual item, if it's not the case, the person
> should scan the individual item and supply the quantity on the package.
> Yes, it's error prone ! This is how it works here in Brazil.
>
> You could have another approach:
> Every package SHOULD have a barcode that indicates a package of
> something that could be sold individually, if the supplier does not
> provide that code on the package you could put a label for yourself,
> thereafter you will always have two distinct barcodes, one for the
> package and one for the individual item, the check-out person would be
> trainned to do the following:
> If the product is not package, scans the barcode on the product, if the
> product is package, scans the barcode on the package, I think it's much
> more safe than the approach used on the super-markets here in Brazil,
> but I think because of the volume would be impractical to label every
> box of 12 milks with a distinct barcode, perhaps the mistake rate don't
> justify the cost (and labor) to label each package.

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your time. I found a mid-term with my client. I just scared
him with the cost it was going to take to implement what he wanted, so
he doesn't want anything complicated any more. We are going to
generate barcodes for boxes and insert quantity + barcode for
individual sales.

All the best,

Fidel.