Bar Code Standardization in Industrial Construction

The use of automatic identification technologies, particularly bar code technology, continues to expand in all industries in the United States, including the construction industry. Bar coding is essentially a means of providing rapid, error free data entry into a computer system. When the system is implemented using a portable programmable data terminal, additional benefits in the form of error free data entry at locations remote from the host computer result.

Bar codes are being used internally by many construction related companies. Approximately 60% of the electrical manufacturers, 67% of the pipe, valve, and fitting distributors, and 25% of the instrumentation manufacturers responding to the survey are using bar codes for internal operations. They are using bar codes internally in shipping, receiving, and inventory management. The findings of the surveys indicate that owners, contractors, and construction materials suppliers have identified similar application areas for bar code use. (SD-47, p. 52)