Bar Coding Guidelines

The National School Supply and Equipment Association recommends to its members, and to the entire school market, the adoption and compliance of the Universal Product Code and EAN Code as the uniform systems of choice for this market.

Further, suppliers are encouraged to follow the recommendations below addressing consistent placement of bar codes on products and packaging and the standardized format for data interchange.

I. Frequency of Use

Suppliers are encouraged to bar code as many products as possible. They should update their lists with new product introductions.

II. Placement of Bar Codes

A. On flat and header products (i.e., books, stickers, etc.) the bar code should be placed in the rear, lower right corner.

B. For products with printing on one side only, the bar code should be placed in the front, lower right corner.

C. For boxed packaging, the preferred placement of the bar code should be consistent by each supplier and their product line.

D. To assist receiving cased packaging, bar codes should be consistently placed within the case.

III. Other Information

A. There should be no staples, packaging seams, etc. through or placed over bar codes.

B. The preferred color of bar codes is bold black, as per the UPC Guidelines.

C. UPC bar codes should be separated from other industry codes.

IV. File Format for Data Interchange

A. Files should be in a flat ASCII comma delineated format for data interchange.

B. Fields and definitions should be in this standard format: