9. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory and a program comprising program instructions stored in the memory, the at least one memory and the program being configured, with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus at least to perform the following when the program is executed on the at least one processor: obtain data resulting from an optical recording of at least one surface of a packing unit; carry out a text recognition based on the obtained data for recognizing individual characters; determine a plurality of characteristic values, wherein each characteristic value is a statistical value that is based on another predetermined statistical analysis of the recognized characters; provide the characteristic values as at least one part of an identification of the packing unit for and comparison with previously stored characteristic values for the packing unit, wherein the result of the comparison is used for tracking the packing unit; and compare the determined characteristic values with characteristic values previously determined and stored for packing units to establish differences; and: determine in the case of differences falling short of a predetermined threshold that the particular packing unit has been processed before for reasons of tracking and providing an indication that the particular packing unit has now reached a particular location; and/or determine in the case of differences falling short of a predetermined first threshold and exceeding a predetermined second threshold that the particular packing unit has been processed before for reasons of tracking and that text on the particular packing unit has been altered in the meantime, and providing a corresponding indication.
9. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, at least one memory and a program comprising program instructions stored in the memory, the at least one memory and the program being configured, with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus at least to perform the following when the program is executed on the at least one processor: obtain data resulting from an optical recording of at least one surface of a packing unit; carry out a text recognition based on the obtained data for recognizing individual characters; determine a plurality of characteristic values, wherein each characteristic value is a statistical value that is based on another predetermined statistical analysis of the recognized characters; provide the characteristic values as at least one part of an identification of the packing unit for and comparison with previously stored characteristic values for the packing unit, wherein the result of the comparison is used for tracking the packing unit; and compare the determined characteristic values with characteristic values previously determined and stored for packing units to establish differences; and: determine in the case of differences falling short of a predetermined threshold that the particular packing unit has been processed before for reasons of tracking and providing an indication that the particular packing unit has now reached a particular location; and/or determine in the case of differences falling short of a predetermined first threshold and exceeding a predetermined second threshold that the particular packing unit has been processed before for reasons of tracking and that text on the particular packing unit has been altered in the meantime, and providing a corresponding indication. 17. The apparatus according to claim 9 which further comprises at least one of the following components: an interface for data communication; a scanner; and a camera.