David Collins, one the bar code and automatic identification and data collection (AIDC) industry's pioneers, who was there from the very beginning, died last week in Massachusetts at the age of 86, from complications of ALS.
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| In 2011, the United States Congress issued an official Certificate of Appreciation to Collins, recognizing him as “the father of the bar code industry. |
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He started with an engineering degree from Villanova engineer and then was a graduate of MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
In 1959, Collins joined Sylvania Electric Products at its Applied Research Lab in Waltham, Massachusetts. There he created a system to track railroad cars labeled with a unique pattern of red, white, blue, and black bars. Bolted to the side of railroad cars on three-foot tall metal plates, these early “bar codes” could be read by laser scanners positioned along the tracks, accurately identifying the cars as they sped by.
Convinced this technique had applications well beyond the railroad industry, Collins left Sylvania in 1968 to found his own company, Computer Identics Corporation, in Westwood, Massachusetts. By 1970, the company had developed the first black and white bar codes, as well as helium-neon laser scanners capable of reading them. Laser scanners read the reflected light from a label or other surface to identify the different numbers or other carriers represented in the bar code patterns.
The first applications were for a General Motors assembly line, and for package delivery, with precursors to the portable scanners now used by FedEx and UPS drivers worldwide.
John Hill, another key figure in the history of AIDC now with consulting firm St. Onge and who worked with Collins at Computer Identics for a while, says the GM application went live scanning transmissions October of 1971, and was the first ever industrial implementation of a laser scanner.
Wikipedia says the Buick system went live in 1969, while Collins’ obituary says the first scanning application was to track axels for Pontiacs.
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Computer Identics scanners read the bar codes printed on badges for every athlete, journalist, and staff member. This novel security feature was so successful that every Olympic Games since then has adopted badges with integrated bar codes.
After stepping away from day-to-day management of Computer Identics in 1987, Collins formed a consulting, research, and educational firm called Data Capture Institute, through which he advised on advanced bar code solutions for large multinational corporations and for branches of the US Government, including the FAA, the Department of Defense, and the FDA.
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 At some point in the late 1980s/early 199os, Computer Identics was sold to another firm and soon disappeared as a brand in the industry.
In 2011, the United States Congress issued an official Certificate of Appreciation to Collins, recognizing him as “the father of the bar code industry.
Other accomplishments and recognitions for Collins include:
He was a 1971 co-founder of AIM, the Automatic Identification Manufacturers trade association.
Collins was also a recipient of AIM's Dilling Award, its highest award, for executives, scientists, and engineers in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the industry.
He was elected in 1997 as a charter member of AIDC 100, a global organization of automatic identification entrepreneurs and users who have significantly contributed to the growth and advancement of the industry.
"I first met Dave Collins in the mid-1960s when, he with Sylvania and I with 3M, teamed on bringing Automatic Railcar Identification to Europe," Hill told SCDigest. "Bright, technically savvy, articulate and always the “fashion plate”, Dave charmed every room of European politicians and technocrats he entered."
Hill added that "In spite of the latter and victories over “microwave” competitors in lab and field tests we conducted in Czechoslovakia and North of the Arctic Circle, euro-political bias stacked the cards against us, leading to a Siemens win with what we now call RFID."
Hill concluded that "Dave’s incredibly sanguine response to this disappointment characterized his style throughout our friendship while fueling an exciting business career the fruits of which have touched us all. We miss you Dave but will never forget you or your contributions."
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