How to Identify the Manufacturer from a UPC Number

Almost every product sold has a UPC to identify the product and manufacturer.

Most products sold today have a bar code, known as a Universal Product Code (UPC). The UPC identifies the product, which helps retailers facilitate transactions and maintain inventory control. The UPC is a 12-digit or 14-digit number made up of four sections, each identifying something about the product, including the manufacturer. The UPC appears as a bar code that a scanner can read, along with corresponding numbers that a human can read. You can enter the numbers into a bar code lookup service on the Internet to identify the product and manufacturer.

Instructions

1. Read the 12 or 14 digits of the UPC. Often the bar code will have 10 numbers in the middle and a number before and a number after the bar code, slightly to the side. Read all the numbers from left to right, disregarding any spaces.

2. Navigate to one of the UPC decoder sites listed in the Resources. Some UPC decoder sites do not provide the manufacturer's name when decoding the UPC; the ones in the Resources provide the product and the manufacturer or distribution company.

3. Enter the product's UPC and click the "Lookup" or "Search" button. The search engine will compare the number to more than a million UPCs and display product information.

4. Repeat the search on another site if the first site doesn't produce results. Each site has a slightly different database and might be able to identify a product the other can't.

References

• Item Lookup
• UPC Data
• GS1 US: Barcodes

Resources

• Item Lookup
• UPC Data