Want to effortlessly scan and manage HIBC barcodes? With the Barcode Scan App from BarcodeScan.nl, you get a powerful, user-friendly tool specifically designed for the medical and pharmaceutical sector. This app supports HIBC barcodes -- offering significant advantages for traceability, safety and efficiency.
What are HIBC barcodes?
HIBC stands for Health Industry Barcode. It is an international barcode standard developed for the healthcare industry. HIBC barcodes combine important data such as the product number, batch number and expiry date in a single compact code. These codes can appear in both linear (1D) and two-dimensional (2D, such as Data Matrix) formats. Another commonly used standard is the GS1 barcode.
UDI support -- ready for regulations
The Barcode Scan App also supports barcodes that comply with the UDI system (Unique Device Identification). This system is legally required for medical devices and ensures worldwide identification and registration of each individual medical product. The app recognises both HIBC and GS1-based UDI structures, ensuring full compliance with requirements such as the EU MDR and FDA UDI regulations. This makes it straightforward to meet compliance requirements, audits and traceability standards.
Why use HIBC barcodes?
✅ Fast and error-free identification of medical products
✅ Automatic processing of batch numbers and expiry dates
✅ International standard, suitable for export and hospital logistics
✅ Improved traceability and patient safety
Benefits of the Barcode Scan App
The Barcode Scan App from BarcodeScan.nl is fully optimised for scanning HIBC barcodes, both on labels and packaging. You benefit from:
- Instant recognition of HIBC codes, including serial number, lot/batch number and expiry date
- Real-time data connection with Exact Online -- inventory is updated directly in Exact Online
- Compatibility with 1D and 2D barcodes, including Data Matrix and QR codes
- Easy to use on smartphones and tablets, without additional hardware
Whether you work in a hospital, pharmacy, laboratory or medical wholesale: the Barcode Scan App helps you digitalise processes, minimise errors and save time.
HIBC UDI barcode example
Below is an example of an HIBC barcode that is widely used for medical instruments.
This barcode consists of a number of elements that are added to a scannable barcode in a fixed format:
- Start character: All HIBC barcodes begin with a +
- UDI-PI: E226049988R01 refers to a specific product.
- The first 4 characters (E226) refer to the manufacturer, also known as the Labeler Identification Code (LIC).
- This is followed by (049988R0) as a variable-length product code or Product or Catalog Number (PCN).
- The last character is the Unit of Measure ID and indicates the packaging form.
- The / character is the separator used to separate fields from each other
- In the next section, various data fields can be included such as batch number / lot number / serial number, quantity and expiry date or production date.
- In this case a lot number: LOT 00169235
- The / character separates the fields in the barcode
- The last section is in this case the expiry date (2025-09-30)
The Barcode Scan App can use the HIBC code to identify items in a single scan. At the same time, additional fields such as the serial/batch or LOT number are stored. The expiry date is also transferred directly to Exact Online. This saves manual entry and significantly reduces the chance of errors.
Using HIBC UDI barcodes in Exact Online
To use an HIBC UDI code, enter the full product identification code. This is the Labeler Identification Code (LIC) combined with the Product or Catalog Number (PCN) and the Unit of Measure ID. Without the + character and without separators.
For the product in the example above, this would be the code E226049988R01. Enter this in the master data in Exact Online for the relevant item in the “Extra Description” field:
Shorter codes of up to 13 characters can also be entered in the Search Code field. However, this field only allows a maximum of 13 characters.
Once you have made the changes, go to the Barcode Scan App and synchronise the cache by pressing load changes in the app settings:
This ensures that the item data changes are immediately applied in the Barcode Scan App, so you do not have to wait for the automatic background synchronisation.
Then go to the settings and under the Barcode tab, enable the Use HIBC barcodes option and save:
The app will now attempt to decode scanned barcodes as HIBC barcodes.
When you now scan an HIBC barcode, the app will recognise the scanned item:
The batch number and end date are also entered automatically when this information is available in the barcode:
