Every building site in the UK will have a computer terminal by 1995 as the result of an explosion of electronic data interchange in the construction industry, it has been claimed. According to John Saunders, founder member of Electronic Data Interchange (Construction) Ltd, Edicon, the trade body representing EDI users in the construction industry, electronic data interchange will be the catalyst to computerise the construction industry. He says that most problems on-site will be handled using computer communications so that, for instance, design problems will be transmitted via telecommunications lines to an architect who would not need to leave his office. Non-profit making Edicon is now seeking to expand the use of EDI in the UK, and co-operate with equivalent bodies in mainland Europe; the US, however, has been negative in its response to approaches from Edicon. The construction industry has a number of characteristics that are thought to make it appropriate for electronic data interchange paperless trading. For instance, only one in 70 purchase enquiries in the industry results in an order actually being placed. Edicon has 79 members, including 10 of the largest 12 UK construction companies. But it has a long way to go before reaching its target of 95% penetration of the industry, as there are over 2,000 construction firms operating in the UK. The association claims data interchange reduces costs by 25% per trading transaction. All three UK EDI clearing houses, IBM’s Information Exchange, Istel Ltd’s Edict and International Network Services Ltd’s Tradanet, now include construction companies among their customers.
