Bar-code standardization in industrial construction

The use of bar-code technology continues to grow in construction related industries in the United States. This growth provides an opportunity for construction owners, contractors, and vendors to take advantage of an inexpensive, easily accessible technology of considerable importance, particularly in materials management. A key to this growth is the development of standards. Industry-wide bar-code standards are needed to simplify and facilitate communication between companies. Various approaches have been used by other industries to develop barcode standards and these are applicable for developing construction-industry-wide materials-management bar-code standards. To develop such standards, it is first necessary to survey the current industrial-construction use of bar codes for materials management. This industry includes users, suppliers, and manufacturers. It is necessary to know whether construction-industry suppliers are developing their own applications or are furnishing bar codes for other users. Research findings to date indicate minimal use of bar codes among construction-related companies and considerable interest in developing bar-code standards for materials-management applications.