Automotive

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) was the first organization to develop standards for barcodes to be used to automatically track parts through the supply chain in the automotive industry. Since the founding of the AIAG barcoding project team in 1981, many guidelines for manufacturers and suppliers have been created, and worldwide standards for barcoding have evolved because of consolidation, mergers, and supply chain practices in the industry.

In addition to the standards developed by AIAG, the automotive industry adheres to several ISO and IEC standards. Also, several barcode standards are in use that have been developed by General Motors, the Organization for Data Exchange by Tele-Transmission in Europe (Odette), and the German Verband der Automobilindustrie (VDA) organization.

Automotive industry barcode standards include the following:

• AIAG B-1 Bar Code Symbology Standard

• AIAG B-2 Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) Label Application Standard: Provides guidelines for marking a VIN by using direct parts marking (DPM) methods.

• AIAG B-3 Shipping/Parts Identification Label Standard

• AIAG B-4 Parts Identification and Tracking Application Standard: Outlines the recommended symbologies for automotive part identification and tracking: Code 39 - Regular, Code 128, Data Matrix, and QR Code.

• AIAG B-5 Primary Metals Identification Tag Application Standard

• AIAG B-7 Vehicle Emission Configuration Label Standard

• AIAG B-9 Gas Cylinder Identification Label Standard

• AIAG B-10 Trading Partner Labels Implementation Guideline: Describes the template for barcode labels on shipping containers.

• AIAG B-11 Tire and Wheel Identification Label Application Standard

• AIAG B-16 Global Transport Label Standard for the Automotive Industry: Modeled after existing regulatory guidelines from ISO 15394, ANSI MH10.8.1, the Odette Transport Label (OTL), and AIAG B-10. It was developed by Odette International in conjunction with AIAG, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), and the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association (JAPIA). It is widely used throughout the automotive industry in Europe.

• AIAG B-17 2D Direct Parts Marking Guideline: Provides information about how to mark and read Data Matrix and QR Code symbols that are marked directly on parts. This guideline uses AIM direct parts marking (DPM) standards.

• GM 1724 Shipping/Parts Identification Label Standard: Describes the General Motors global label specification, which uses PDF417 and Code 128. GM has proposed the GM 1724 standard as a model for an international standard.

• ISO 15394 Bar Code and Two-Dimensional Symbols for Shipping

• ISO 15416 Bar Code Print Quality Test Specification - Linear Symbols

• ISO 28219 Labeling and Direct Product Marking with Linear Bar Code

• ISO/IEC 15415 Information Technology Automatic Identification: Specifies two methodologies for the measurement of specific attributes of two-dimensional (2-D) barcode symbols, one being applicable to stacked symbologies and the other to matrix symbologies.

• ISO/IEC 15417 Code 128 Bar Code Symbology Specification: Specifies the requirements for Code 128 symbology characteristics, data character encodation, dimensions, decoding algorithms, and the parameters to be defined by applications.

• ISO/IEC 16388 Code 39 Bar Code Symbology Specification

• ISO/IEC 16022 Data Matrix Bar Code Symbology Specification

• ISO/IEC TR 24720 Guidelines for Direct Part Marking (DPM): Describes several methods for applying permanent machine-readable symbols to items (including components, parts, and products) by using DPM methods.

• VDA-4902 Barcode Transport Label Standard: Identifies means of transport and load carries in the internal material flow and in transit between the supplier, forwarder, and recipient of the goods. It is used mainly in the automotive industry in Europe.