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Home > About GS1 US > UCC History > U.P.C. Background > Developers of the U.P.C.

 The People Behind the Bars

The Universal Product Code Bar Code Origin Key Facts U.P.C. Uses Pricewaterhouse Research Ad Hoc Committee Developers of the U.P.C.

Below is a list of people who are knowledgeable about the development of the Universal Product Code.

• Clancy Adamy - Past President, National Association of Food Chains Recognized the potential for the Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) technology and convened association heads to form the Ad Hoc Committee.
• Byron Allumbaugh - Past CEO, Ralph's Grocery
  Created the U.P.C. Advisory Committee on the Uniform Code Council (UCC) Board. His southern California chain was one of the first to install scanners and adopt the automated check out.
• Stephen A. Brown - Vice President & General Counsel Corporate Services, Uniform Code Council, Inc.
  Author of "Revolution at the Check-out Counter," a book that details how a group of grocery industry executives
• Burt Gookin - Past CEO, H.J. Heinz Company
  As Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, he was instrumental in getting endorsement for the project. He subsequently became Chair of the UCC Board of Governors.
• Albert Heijn - Past Chairman, Ahold (Dutch supermarket chain)
  Led the effort that resulted in the UCC and the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) working together for a global U.P.C.
• Charles Jones - Past consultant, McKinsey & Company
  Aided Ad Hoc Committee to research the business case economics for the U.P.C. At this time, there were only 43 scanner-equipped stores in the U.S. Subsequently, Mr. Jones worked for the UCC to evaluate the profit economics of a standardized shipping container symbol. He recently worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers to study the impact the U.P.C. has made in its first 25 years.
• George Laurer Assisted in the invention of U.P.C. technology through his work with Joseph Woodland.
• Don Marsh - Chairman and CEO, Marsh Supermarkets, Inc. The first commercial scanning of a U.P.C. took place at a Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio on June 26, 1974.
• Robert B. Wegman - Chairman, Wegmans Food Markets Wegmans, an upstate New York chain of supermarkets, led the fund- raising effort for the symbol selection process. He was an Ad Hoc Committee member and later became a Chairman of the UCC Board of Governors.
• Joseph Woodland - Worked with George Laurer to invent the U.P.C. technology.