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Self-Assessment: 12 Points to Check on Your Coding Line

Codification ID.S. / October 16, 2026 (modified on 10/16/2026)

The checklist our technicians use on the factory floor. Ten minutes on your production line, and you'll know exactly where your risks of downtime, unreadable codes, and non-compliance lie.
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The checklist our technicians use when they walk into a plant. Ten minutes, a pencil, and you know where your risks are.

Download the checklist

The essentials in 30 seconds

  • We almost always get called too late: the line is down, the shift is lost, and the problem had been visible for weeks.
  • The three causes we see most often require no new equipment: ink that doesn't match the substrate, a maintenance routine that exists nowhere on paper, a critical part never put in stock.
  • The checklist has 12 points in three sections: real code quality, reliability and maintenance, compliance and traceability.
  • Every unchecked box is an identified risk — and a fixable one. Most are solved in an afternoon.
  • The document is free, with no form to fill out. If you check 12 out of 12, you don't need us.

1. Why a checklist instead of a brochure

An unreadable code doesn't cost two minutes. It costs a production shift redone, a retail customer refusing a pallet, a lot you can no longer trace in a recall — and a technician you're waiting for.

What we see most often on the plant floor is a well-chosen printer that's poorly maintained, ink that doesn't suit the surface, operators who were shown the machine once, and critical parts everyone assumed were in stock. None of these problems appear on a spec sheet. All of them appear on a checklist, provided you fill it out honestly, standing next to the line.

2. Section A — Are your codes really readable?

Not in the shop, at the end of the line — and after handling.

1. The code is still sharp at the end of the line. Check a product after conveying, sealing and stacking, not just under the printhead.

2. The ink matches the substrate. Wet, cold, greasy, porous or recycled surfaces each require a different formulation.

3. Printhead-to-product distance is stable. Two millimetres too far and the dot scatters. The product must not vibrate as it passes.

4. Your barcodes pass the scanner test. Scan them yourself, with the type of reader your customer uses. Not by eye.

Technician's tip: photograph a code at the start and end of the shift, every day, for a week. Drift always shows up before failure.

3. Section B — How long before the next stoppage?

Preventive maintenance is the most profitable variable on your entire line.

5. A written weekly routine exists. Printhead cleaning, fluid levels and dates, filters, jet quality — and a signed log.

6. Extended shutdowns include a flush. A clean shutdown before a weekend or holiday prevents most clogged nozzles.

7. Critical parts are identified and available. Do you know which three parts would stop your line, and whether your supplier has them in stock here?

8. Your operators were trained, not just shown. The right wiping motion, capping, the startup purge: three habits that extend printhead life.

Technician's tip: fifteen minutes of maintenance per week costs less than a single hour of line downtime. The math is rarely close.

4. Section C — Will you be ready when asked?

Your retail customers' traceability requirements are tightening, and the GS1 2027 deadline is approaching.

9. Your variable data comes from a reliable source. Lot, date and serial numbers entered by hand are the leading cause of labelling errors.

10. Your equipment can print a readable 2D code. Validate actual resolution on your substrate, not the spec sheet. For the full requirements, see our GS1 Sunrise 2027 guide.

11. Someone verifies code quality. Inline verification or a documented check per lot. Otherwise, nobody is checking.

12. You could trace a lot within an hour. In a recall, the delay determines the scope — and the bill.

Technician's tip: if a single point in this section is unchecked, start there. It's the one with the largest potential financial impact.

5. The three points almost nobody checks

Since we started sharing this checklist, three points come back unchecked almost every time:

  • Point 5. Everyone maintains "regularly." Almost nobody has a signed log. Without a log, you never see the drift before the failure.
  • Point 7. The question "which three parts would stop your line?" is usually met with silence.
  • Point 10. The spec sheet says yes. The customer's scanner sometimes says no.

The first two are fixed in an afternoon. The third takes ten minutes to verify with a sample — we do it free of charge, at our shop or at PACKEX Montréal on November 11–12, booth 1601.

6. What's next?

How many boxes did you check? If it's 12, good. If it's 7, we can look at the other 5 together.

Our technicians walk your line, test your codes on your own products and hand you a written assessment — no obligation, and no attempt to sell you a machine you don't need.

Download the checklist

We come to your plant. A technician marks your own parts, on your own surfaces. 30 minutes · No charge · No obligation. 514-331-2211

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