EDGEWATER, NJ - The co-inventor of the bar code, Norman Joseph Woodland has died from complications and Alzheimer’s disease, the Associated Press reports. He was 91.

Woodland, along with fellow Drexel University student Bernard Silver, developed the technology which captures product information in a single scan. The two received a patent in 1952, US Patent 2,612,994.

Their research became the basis for IBM’s development of the standard universal product code (UPC) technology.

Widely used in consumer markets, the use of bar code in woodworking continues to grow as manufacturers implement the technology to track inventory, work in process and shipments.