Abstract:
'Many happy returns' is a greeting which is used by some on birthdays, and by others in response to holiday greetings. An alternative explanation dating back to the early 18th Century is that 'returns' here is used in the sense of 'yield' or 'profit' that it is still found in 'investment returns'.
As we look at the very expensive (time and money) projects to apply standardized unique numerical identifiers, a.k.a. 'serial numbers', to packaging components as required by legislative and/or regulatory bodies, it makes sense to seek business benefits from the interoperable use of these codes in the normal conduct of business.