GHBS-13 as an enhanced EAN-13 barcode module for monitoring processed consumable products in Ghana

When it comes to tracking goods from manufacturers to consumers, barcodes are useful instruments for monitoring and certifying their legitimacy. Because of its capacity to self-validate all generated codes, the EAN-13 is the most exten-sively used barcode for processed consumable products. Further investigations into the construction of the EAN-13 barcode revealed that several additional components were required to make the EAN-13 more credible for consumer use. Country code, production code, product code, and check digit make up the present EAN-13 format. Meanwhile, the type of product and the number of times it has been manufactured are key components that must be included in the EAN-13 barcode structure for barcode analysts to interpret. The study presented the GHBS-13, an upgraded barcode structure that captured the two new components, namely, the product type and production count. The paper proposed a universal method called Tabiri Check Digit as a mathematical means of easily computing the check digit of the two barcodes. The formula was vali-dated using EAN-13 and GHBS-13 barcodes, and the results were correct. The study also established a central point platform for customers to use to validate processed consumable products they buy in Ghana.


Background
Money, food, clothing, good health, shelter, and other factors all play a role in human survival. 1 As a result, product manufacturers have been given the responsibility of ensuring suitable quality assurance measures in their sector of businesses. Raw materials acquired from farmers are treated in processed consumable manufacturing enterprises, utilizing high-level technology and other biochemical equipment to ensure that the finished products are safe to use. These additional chemicals are capable of retaining processed items for a longer duration before they approach their cutoff limits, which is referred to as the expiry date or period. Products from producers are delivered to retailers, who then pass them on to consumers, as part of the supply chain process flow. Consumers these days pay close attention to the expiry dates on processed edible products due to the actions of some shops, who offer expired products to consumers knowingly or unknowingly. 2 Consumers who acquire and use expired products without understanding the health related issues should be a matter of concern, because, consumers who are able to identify the product's shelf-life early, are able to return it to the shop, thereby securing themselves from any future health related problems.
Barcode plays a major role in the production chain. Barcodes are used to monitor and track finished products from the manufacturers down to the consumers. In some retailing shops, barcodes are used to itemize inventory and sales making it more convenient, accurate, and efficient in the shop management. 3,4 In Ghana, there are several organizations that generate barcodes for manufacturing companies such as Barcode Solution Ghana, Gtin Barcode Ghana (L.W.K), Barcodes Ghana, GS -Ghana and so forth.
Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) is an agency under Ghana government that has the legal mandate to ensure that the national standards on goods and services are properly adhered to in any respective areas of applications. 5 However, since barcode technology is a new area in the Ghanaian productions chain and per the numerous activities of GSA, external permit has been issued to GS1-Ghana, to regulate the production of barcodes for businesses in Ghana. 6 In order to educate businesses on the current trends of barcodes, GS1-Ghana organizes seminars and conferences to update barcode users, meaning they see to the appropriate usage of barcodes in the country since it's a product labeling requirement by the GSA. 7 Studies have proven that, the type of barcode that is most used on both imported and locally manufactured processed consumable products is the EAN-13 barcode. 8 EAN-13 as the name depicts is represented by a 13-digit code length which is grouped in four divisions, that is, the number system, manufacturer code, product code, and check digit. Critically analyzing the structural architecture of the EAN-13 barcode, the study realized that, the mode in which EAN-13 barcodes are generated could result in barcode duplications on different products especially in areas where there are no strict enforcements on the generating of barcodes for product labeling. Another critical observation has to do with barcode usage by the manufacturing companies, where a single generated barcode is used on several processed consumable products with different production batch numbers.
These observational analyzes necessitated the introduction of two additional components, thus, barcode type and production count by the study. The barcode type indicates whether a product belongs to either the medicinal group or other processed consumable groups and the production count indicates the number of times a particular production has been produced. The production count is expected to match the production batch number. Since this EAN-13 barcode enhancement is originating from Ghana, the study coined the name GHBS-13 as an acronym for Ghana Barcode System of length 13, to represent the enhanced EAN-13 barcode. Section 4 of this research article elaborates on the details of both EAN-13 and GHBS-13 barcodes.

LITERATURE REVIEW
One of the fundamental expectations of barcode use in the present Internet of Things (IoT) era is that barcodes should be able to link every product to a complete background of the manufacturer, including the batch number to which each barcode has been assigned. The following sections go over some of the literature on barcode applications in libraries, hospitals, supermarkets, and other places.

Application of barcode technology in libraries
An article on the use of barcode technology in library administration was written by Reference 9. The research evaluated the impact of barcode technology in libraries (both positive and bad) as well as barcode operating methods. According to the researchers, the use of barcode technology in libraries will help librarians minimize their manual effort and lower the risk of human error, allowing them to improve library services from fast to fastest. The article also mentioned that creating and implementing barcode systems does not cost a lot of money because there are free source software solutions that can help you do so. According to the report, most automated libraries in India have integrated barcode technology into their core library system due to its ease of adoption. Reference 10 also issued a report on the importance of barcode technology in libraries and information centers, with a focus on computerized barcode applications in circulation systems. According to the article, barcode technology was created to replace the traditional keyboard system, which requires users to always type in keyboard characters in order to do data capture or other queries. Manual systems presented some challenges in business centers and libraries, such as making it difficult to learn about the status of books, requiring users to go through tedious processes, and the issuance of clearance certificates to readers taking unthinkable days, due to the librarian's need to verify borrower's details systematically. Given the growth of technology in the barcode community, the report stated that it is more advisable for libraries and business centers to embrace the application of barcode technologies in their business activities due to the significant benefits they provide.

Application of barcode technology in healthcare
Reference 11 studied ways to use barcode technology into healthcare activities. According to the report, barcode technologies can be used to automate a variety of processes in health care institutions. Barcodes can be used by departments like pharmacies, laboratories, and in-patient wards to track drug inventories and sales, document specimens, and function as patient wristbands for easy record retrieval. The study found that the value of barcodes in healthcare is not well recognized by the majority of healthcare providers' management bodies, and as a result, they are unable to mobilize funding to train personnel and buy the necessary logistics for implementation. The researchers recommended that all healthcare providers advance their operations by automating their processes and workflows using barcode technologies, since some health facilities have successfully adopted barcode technologies in their healthcare services and considering the benefits barcode applications bring to the management body. The Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) conducted research into how practical barcode technology can improve healthcare delivery. 12 The use of information communication technology (ICT) in healthcare does not always imply purchasing computers and printers for office use; however, the right integration of ICT into clinical activities can result in successful outcomes. The researchers worked with nine East Africa Public Health Laboratory Networking Project (EAPHIL) project study sites, where physicians and laboratory staff were taught how to store, handle, and apply barcodes. The KEMRI created a series of encoded 9-digit identification codes that were written centrally on forms and other questionnaire materials to collect patient data, laboratory specimen data, clinical and pharmaceutical shipment details. Responses from the nine sites were captured on KEMRI's centralized database management system, so when a specimen is received, the barcode on it is scanned against the record in the database, and everything matches up. The study's findings revealed that the training sessions organized for clinical and laboratory professionals contributed to the research's effectiveness. While 92% of the specimens delivered to KEMRI from the nine study sites were successfully scanned, the remaining 8% of the specimens were unable to be scanned due to mistreatment and poor storage of the barcode labels. The study's findings demonstrated that, yes, barcode technology may be used in healthcare delivery if all logistics and training are readily available and implemented.

Retailers transactions in expired consumable food products in Ghana
It has been observed in some parts of Ghana that some retailers are found of selling expired processed food products to consumers. Reference 13 reported that the Food and Drugs Authority in Ghana has confiscated expired products worth over GHc40,000.00, this operation occurred in the Upper West Region. It was reported that, the destroyed products that were hazardous to public health included canned tomatoes, canned fish, alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks, toffees, milk, and herbal medicines. Another incident where the Sene West District Assembly (SWDA) collaborated with Zoomlion Ghana Ltd. to perform a market inspection which is part of their random activities. At the end of their operation, they seized and disposed expired food products worth approximately GHc5,000.00. 14 The four studies found that barcodes may be employed in a variety of settings, including food manufacturing, publishing, and education. However, the review on the retailers who are involved in the sales of expired products to consumers without considering their health implications must be treated with much seriousness. Even though it is the consumers' responsibilities to verify what they consume, there should exist a campaign that aims at advocating on consumer awareness when it comes to food consumables.
The study presents the use of 1-dimension (1D) barcode technology as a means of generating consumer awareness on the kind of food or pharmaceutical items they consume, based on the potential and benefits of barcodes as described in the reviewed literatures.

CASE STUDY
Barcodes come in a wide array of usage and among the benefits of barcodes; they can be used as unique identifier of products they are used on in a way that, when scanned, the code can lead to the detailed information about the respective product on the internet. However, it has been realized that, when some barcodes on some locally manufactured products are scanned, the results either would not produce any information on the internet or the information would be misleading. This was realized when the study conducted a random check on processed consumable product barcodes in some well-known grocery shops in Ghana. The items barcodes were scanned on Google, which is one of the most prevalent techniques consumers presently use to check some consumable products. The scanned barcode result was then routed to other supermarket's shopping e-commerce web portal. The product information acquired on the web portal was linked to the cost of product information from the grocery store. The study also identified that some of the locally manufactured products did not have barcodes on them.
Could the lack of a government agency in charge of monitoring the development and use of barcodes in the country be blamed for these misleading results, and how can consumers trust the source of products manufactured in the country? This study corroborated the users' concerns, which had been voiced during the study's consumer engagement.

METHODOLOGY
The study adapted EAN-13 barcode technology and analyzed, since it is the widely used barcode in processed consumable manufacturing companies and grocery shops. 15

EAN-13 barcode structure
From Figure 1, EAN-13 barcode is divided into four divisions; 1. The number system (75): The number system is made up of two or three digits which depict the code that has been assigned every country. 2. The manufacturer code (01054): It is made up of four or five digits which represent the manufacturer and it is issued by a country's standards authorities.

F I G U R E 1
The divisions of EAN-13 barcode structure. The number system can be either two or three digits depending on the country. When the number system is three, the size of both manufacturer code and product code adjusts, but the entire barcode would still be 13 digits in length.

F I G U R E 2
The divisions of GHBS-13 barcode structure. In the GHBS-13, when the number system or the country code reduces from 3 to 2, the section that increases is the production count in order to sum the code up to 13.
3. The product code (53010): This code is assigned to the product by the manufacturer. 4. The check digit (7): It is an additional digit that verifies the barcode to ensure that it has been correctly scanned. 16,17 However, these four divisions only cannot satisfy the credibility of barcodes when it comes to processed consumables in the manufacturing industries. Processed consumable products can be grouped into two types, that is processed food products and processed medicinal products, in this state, a barcode analyst should be able to validate at a glance of EAN-13 barcode, the type of product at hand and the number of times such product has been produced by its manufacturer, dubbed, the production count.

Modeling GHBS-13 barcode
GHBS-13 is an acronym for Ghana Barcode System of group 13. The name was coined around the existing EAN-13 structure. GHBS-13 has the same 13-digit length with a check digit which is the same as the EAN-13, but, what makes the major difference is the availability of product type and production count in GHBS-13 that are not present in EAN-13.

GHBS-13 barcode structure
In Figure 2, 1. Country code (603): It represents the global accepted code that has been assigned to Ghana. 2. Barcode type or product type (2): It represents the type of product, be it medicinal or food. The study used the numbers 2 and 5 to signify the type of barcode, where 5 goes with medicinal products and 2 goes with other processed consumables such as food, water and so forth. 3. The manufacturer code (302): It is made up of three digits which represent the manufacturer and it is issued by a country's standards authorities. 4. The product code (37): This code is assigned to the product by the manufacturer. 5. Production count (005): This code represents the number of times a particular product is produced by a manufacturer 6. The check digit (9): It is an additional digit that verifies the barcode to ensure that it has been correctly scanned.

GHBS-13 and EAN-13 modeling structure
Observing the differences and similarities in Figure 3, it can be witnessed that: 1. The total length of both barcodes is 13 2. The length of the manufacture code has reduced from five in the EAN-13 to three in the GHBS-13.

F I G U R E 3
Comparison of the EAN-13 and GHBS-13. The competitive advantage that the GHBS-13 has over the EAN-13 barcode are the barcode type and the production count. The production count is expected count from 000 to 999 within a business year per the generated production batch numbers.
3. The length product code has reduced from five in the EAN-13 to two in the GHBS-13. 4. The differences paved way for the introduction of the barcode/product type of maximum length of one and production count of maximum length of three.

Formulating check digit equation
When it comes to the computation of EAN-13 barcode check digit, there is no existing propounded general mathematical formula that aids in its calculations even though there are several steps to follow to perform such activity.
In order to get a general formula to handle the computation of check digit for EAN-13 and GHBS-13, there was the need to have one general formula which is based on the available computational steps. The research however, propounded a general formula called Tabiri Check Digit (TCD) as indicated in the equation below, ] . (1)

IMPLEMENTATION AND RESULTS
This section is divided into subsections, the first section discusses the implementation and testing of the TCD general formula and the second section discusses the application of GHBS-13 in processed consumable manufacturing companies.

Implementing TCD general formula on GHBS-13 barcode
The last digit of every EAN-13 or GHBS-13 barcode represents the check digit, and as discussed earlier, the check digit serves as the barcode validation checker. In order to verify the check digit of either EAN-13 or GHBS-13 barcode, the 12 digits of the barcode counting from the left to right should be computed using the TCD general formula, and the result must equate to the 13th digit of the barcode, when this is successfully executed, we can have a good barcode. For the purpose of clarity and better understanding of the application of the TCD formula, three barcodes, thus 6032302370059, 7501054530107, and 6032304131016 were generated from online platforms. These barcode were tested through the TCD formula and their results were all correct.

Example 1.
Given the GHBS-13 barcode number: 603230237005 9, and using the TCD to compute the validity of the check digit, the following steps must be followed 10 − i. Identify all the odd and even numbers ii. Start counting from left to right. iii. In our case, the odd positions have been given the black color and the even positions have been given the red color. iv. The 13th position, which is 9 in the green color is not part, since it is the check digit we are calculating for. v. If after going through the steps above and the resultant check digit is not equal to the check digit on the barcode, then it can be said that the generated barcode is not valid. ix. Take the final digit (the unit digit of the answer) of step viii, that is, 63 = 3 x. Therefore, the check digit will be equal to 10 minus the unit digit in step ix: 10-3 = 7

PHP algorithm for testing TCD general formula
Lines 1 to 10 represent a function block called sumEvenOddPosVal(). This function accepts two parameters, thus, the barcode array and the barcode array size. The purpose of the function is to loop through the barcode array and sum the values in the even and odd positions and assign the results into the $even_val and $odd_val variables, respectively. The variables are specifically stored in an array variable called $return_arr with the $even_val variable being stored in the zeroth index of the array while the $odd_val variable is stored in the first index of the array. The array variable on line 8 is encoded into json format for it to be returned by the function.
Line 11 receives the 13 length barcode either EAN-13 or GHBS-13. Line 12 singles out the check digit from the barcode. Line 13 takes of the check digit from the barcode received, reducing the length to 12. Line 14 converts the barcode string into an array. Line 15 measures the size of the $barcode_array. On line 16, the $barcode_array and the $barcode_array_size variables are passed to the sumEvenOddPosVal() function to initiates its purpose, the returned values from the function are decoded from the json format and assigned to the $decode_res variable. Lines 17 to 22 perform the normal arithmetic operations. Line 23 compares the computed result against the barcode's check digit and if they are the same, then it prints a successful message, likewise the vice versa.

GHBS-13 application and usage in the production chain
One of the aims of introducing the GHBS-13 is to have a centralized point where consumers would be able to verify their processed consumables from. This central point can be managed by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) or outsourced to a trusted third-party. Figure 4 presents the framework that outlines the steps of the integrated workflows from manufacturers to consumers. In Figure 4, FDA generates barcodes for manufacturing companies based on their production batch numbers. The manufacturers capture their item details onto FDA central database before supplying them to their retailers. Consumers verify items received from the retailer from the FDA central database by scanning the item's GHBS-13 barcode, the result from the database is returned to the consumer via the GHBarcodes web application. If the item is not available on the central database, then the details of the item's location are stored on the FDA pending items database. If the consumer is okay with the item details, then the consumer is required to make payment to the retailer else, the consumer is supposed to return the items to the retailer.
The scanned results from the GHBarcodes web application is displayed in Figure 5. From Figure 5, for every GHBS-13 barcode scanned on the GHBarcode portal, the following information is displayed: 1. Barcode number: It represents the GHBS-13 number captured by scanning the item's label. 2. Product name: It displays the product's name and description as provided by the manufacturer. 3. Manufacturer's name: This is the brand name of the product's manufacturer. 4. Manufacture date: It denotes the date when the item was produced.

F I G U R E 4
The implementation process flow of the GHBS-13 barcode from the manufacturer to the consumer, considering the regulatory body. FDA represents the Food and Drugs Authority, who has been given the mandate to regulate the food, medicinal, and other products in Ghana. Considering their nature of operations, the Authority is best to handle the generating of the GHBS-13 barcode for manufacturers.

F I G U R E 5
Search engine optimizer (SEO) configuration is implemented on the GHBarcode website, which enables public data captured on the database to be accessible to the site visitors whenever they search for any stored product from other search engines such as Google and the final output will appear as the Figure 5.
5. Expiry date: This is the date when the product will most likely expire and become unsafe to use. 6. Address: This is the location of the manufacturing firm. 7. Contact number: It represents the producer's phone number, which should be used if a user needs further product information. 8. Email: It represents the producer's email address; which consumers or potential retailers could use to send additional virtual requests.
The user can confirm and authenticate the product's uniqueness using the information from the GHBS-13 barcode scan before consuming it. Table 1 compares the benefits of both barcodes and concludes on which of them has the competitive advantage over the other. The presence of the barcode type and production count in GHBS-13 barcode provides additional information of the product to the person accessing the code. Anyone who views the GHBS-13 barcode is capable of confirming the type of product, be it medicinal or other processed food products. However, the absence of the barcode type and the production count on the side of EAN-13 barcode provides limited product information as compared to that of the GHBS-13 barcode. The production count feature also allows manufacturers to communicate the number of times products have been

GHBS-13 barcode EAN-13 barcode
It gives you extensive information on any product that has it. It provides limited information about products.
It allows producers to measure and manage their production counts more effectively.
It does not enable manufactures to track their production count.
It improves customer happiness and the accuracy of scanned results for products with this barcode.
It demoralizes consumers reliance on its usage since it does not produce any meaningful results.
Adoptive to the general check digit formula Adoptive to the general check digit formula produced to their consumers, since the count would be increasing per the production batch number, the EAN-13 on the other hand does not consider the product count.
Since consumers are capable of verifying scanned products from one source, manufacturing companies are able to meet their customer satisfaction expectations, hence, GHBS-13 increases customers' joy since they are able to view other details of a respective product, whereas the implementation structure of the EAN-13 rather demoralizes consumers, since they are not able to trace the true origin of the products that has it. The check digit of both GHBS-13 and EAN-13 were able to be computed by using the TCD general formula.
Therefore, Table 1 concludes that GHBS-13 barcode has a competitive advantage over EAN-13 due to the added components.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
The literature clearly depicts the difficulties customers face in verifying the items they consume on a regular basis. Even though some schools of thought attempt to address the noted gaps in the literature, they do so by overlooking the critical role of barcodes and their benefits. This research looked at how to employ barcodes and other software applications to remedy the gaps in the literature. These solutions made significant contributions to the existing understanding of tracking the validity of processed consumable products. The following are a few of them: 1. The study proposed a general formula called the TCD for computing the check digit for any barcode with the maximum length of 13. 2. The study created the GHBS-13 barcode structure, which has additional properties not found in the widely used EAN-13 barcode. 3. The study developed a central web portal that houses locally manufactured products, which makes it easier for consumers to monitor their consumables.

CONCLUSION
The lack of systems to enable consumers effectively validate processed consumables, resulted in their inability to do so. However, with the introduction of the GHBarcodes web application, consumers can now easily check the originality of all processed consumables they purchase. Furthermore, the study introduced GHBS-13, an improved well-structured barcode that has more features than the present EAN-13 barcode structure. Consumers and manufacturers find barcodes more useful with this standard organized barcode system.
These conclusions were reached based on the study's scope; however, additional research might be conducted to improve and simplify other procedures used to protect consumer safety in Ghana.

RECOMMENDATION
The study demonstrated the importance of putting in place new mechanisms to meet the needs of customers. The report does, however, urge that Standard Authorities should establish a guiding concept for implementing the structured barcode model developed by the study, as well as ensuring that all forms of production, whether local or imported, follow the policies specified.