GS1 India’s e-newsletter for
subscribers
Standards@Work
www.gs1india.org December, 2007
GS1 India is a standards-based
not-for-profit organization promoted by the
Ministry of Commerce and Indian Industry to spread awareness and provide
guidance on adoption of global standards in Supply Chain Management by
Indian Industry for the benefit of consumers, Industry, Govt. etc.
This e-newsletter
is meant for GS1 India subscribers. You are receiving this
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>> Cover
Story: Why GS1 bar codes make sense?
>> GS1 Update: News from
§
World Customs Organization and GS1 sign MoU
§
New web site highlights benefits of RFID technology
§
Big opportunity in smaller bar codes
§
Bar Code Workshop gets overwhelming response
§
Wal-Mart personnel
attend GS1 India workshop
§
RosettaNet Training is a huge success
>> Alerts: Time to take
action!
§
Bar code implementation workshops
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I’m delighted to present the inaugural issue of
our monthly e-newsletter, Standards@Work.
This is part of our commitment to keep you updated on
the exciting developments in the evolution of technologies
and standards in Supply Chain Management, which are
benefiting Industry, consumers and regulatory bodies worldwide.
You will find a wealth of information on how you can benefit
through adoption and implementation of GS1 standards across
multiple mission critical business applications related to stocks
management, traceability, recalls, etc.
We welcome your feedback to this e-newsletter. Also,
please
feel free to suggest topics that you would like us to include in
our forthcoming issues.
Regards,
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Cover Story: Why GS1 bar codes make
sense
By:
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Businesses around the world are under
pressure to reduce costs and improve
efficiency. The GS1 bar code is a handy
tool that helps in addressing these concerns.
Bar coding is an IT tool used for automatic
data capture. As opposed to manual data
entry, which is tedious and prone to
inaccuracies and errors, bar coding enables data capture with 100%
accuracy and in micro-seconds.
Bar codes are represented through a series of black bars
and white
spaces and printed as either part of product/consignment
packaging (source marking) or as bar coded labels (stickers) or as
tags (attached to items/consignments).
GS1 Bar codes can be used to represent information related
to
product attributes; other supplementary information like batch
number, manufacturing/expiry dates, consigner/consignee etc.
When International Numbering standards are used, as symbology,
it enables universal and unique identification of companies and their
products/consignments.
Retailing is an important
sector where GS1 bar codes are used
heavily. With the rapid growth of organised retail in India,
almost 80 per cent of consumer items today carry GS1 bar codes,
which also have a human readable number beginning with ‘890’. The
retail point-of-sale offers a truly convincing demonstration of the
power of bar codes, where products are scanned and bills generated
at great speeds and accuracy, eliminating queues.
The benefits of bar codes, however, go far beyond PoS
applications.
GS1 bar codes can be used to manage stocks and automate
replenishment; help in drawing up accurate demand forecasts and
identify product movement so that shelf-space is devoted to fast
moving products only.
The most important benefit is lasting loyalty of
consumers, who keep
coming back for fresh products that are available at all times on
the retailer’s shelf. Besides, in case of injury or fatalities, bar codes
can be of great help in ensuring efficient and fast product recalls.
Some major applications of bar coding are in manufacturing
(for inventory management of finished goods/raw materials,
work-in-progress, product track & trace, etc.), in distribution (for
warehousing, cross-docking operations, etc.), in transport (for
consignment track & trace, ensuring correct dispatches and
correlation between transport documents and consignments, asset
tracking, facilitating trans-shipments, facilitating loading/unloading
operations, etc.).
Some other applications of bar coding are in facilitating
generation of automated packing lists, delivery challans, invoices;
facilitating generation of MIS reports through data capture of
digitized information contained within bar codes and its integration
with in-house software applications (ERPs etc.); integration with EDI
(Electronic Data Interchange); streamlining of supply chain business
process; and other such operations.
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GS1 Update
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International News
World Customs Organization and GS1 sign MoU
World Customs Organization (WCO) and GS1 have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding on
cooperate in the development of Supply Chain standards to meet
the requirements of Customs.
The MoU follows a successful pilot which proves that GS1
Serial
Shipping Container Code (SSCC) can be used as a unique identifier
(or "UCR") for wine and spirits supply chain. The pilot was conduct
for shipments between
For more information on the pilot, visit:
http://www.gs1.org/sectors/transportlogistics/sscc_ucr/
GS1’s identification numbers can provide WCO with global standards
for the management of goods and assets and reconciliation of data.
The use of GS1 standards could contribute to WCO's efforts to
ensure supply chain security, facilitate international trade and
increase the efficiency and predictability of Customs procedures at
national borders.
New web site highlights benefits of RFID technology
EPCglobal Inc, a global non-profit standards organisation for
Electronic
Product Codes and a subsidiary of GS1, has announced the
launch
of discoverRFID.org, the first global Web site designed exclusively to
inform consumers about the use and benefits of Radio Frequency
IDentification (RFID) and Electronic Product Code (EPC) technologies.
The intuitive and graphically-rich Web site communicates these
benefits in an informative, entertaining and simple way, providing
real-life examples of how RFID is improving everyday life. In a
section called “Stay Healthy”, for example, www.discoverrfid.org
explains how a hospital in
receive the correct blood products. Blood bags carry an RFID tag
that is combined with a lock that will not open if the tag on the
bag does not match an RFID tag worn by the patient. The RFID
device also contains a temperature sensor that monitors and
records the temperature outside the blood bag, allowing doctors
and nurses to confirm that the blood has been stored properly.
Please visit www.discoverrfid.org
for additional information.
About EPCglobal Inc:
EPCglobal Inc is a subsidiary of the
global not-for-profit standards
organization GS1, and supports the global adoption of the Electronic
Product Code as industry-driven standards to enable accurate,
immediate and cost-effective visibility of information throughout the
supply chain. In the end, the business community is improving its
operations through EPCglobal standards in order to be more efficient,
flexible and responsive to consumer needs. For more information
about EPCglobal please visit www.epcglobalinc.org
Retailers,
suppliers identify big opportunity
in smaller bar codes
GS1 strongly recommends suppliers and retailers
to start planning for the 2010 adoption date to
ensure compatibility and take advantage of the
new smaller, GS1 DataBar bar code. The date
marks when the bar codes – previously known
as ‘Reduced Space Symbology’– will start
appearing at retail checkouts to save time and improve efficiency.
Suppliers and retailers will also benefit from increased packaging
space for branding and additional information. For more information,
Visit: http://www.gs1.org/productssolutions/barcodes/
databar/readiness/
National News
Bar Code Workshop gets overwhelming response
Over 100 representatives from 84 companies attended a Bar
Code
Implementation Workshop in Mumbai on October 24, 07. GS1
had received several requests for conducting such a programme in
Mumbai. The interactive audio-visual workshop was organised to
impart the necessary skills and knowledge required to implement bar
codes successfully in their respective organisations. Similar
workshops are held every week at the
For information on future workshops,
please visit:
http://www.gs1india.org/serv/seminars.htm
Wal-Mart personnel attend GS1
About 60 members from Walmart’s
officials, attended a Bar Code Implementation Workshop in October.
The workshop helped the delegates understand how GS1 bar codes
can help improve efficiency in warehouse management, inventory
control and retail POS. The event was organised at the GS1
office in
RosettaNet
Training is a huge success
A two-day training programme organised by
GS1 India and RosettaNet, titled
'Understanding and Implementing RosettaNet
Business Process Standards' was recently
organised in
A total of 37 delegates, including
representatives from IBM India, Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS), Satyam Computers, Quinnox, Wipro,
Motorola and several other major IT companies attended the training
programme that covered the entire gamut of e-Business Standards.
RosettaNet, a wholly owned subsidiary of GS1 US, is a consortium
of
major high-tech companies working together to create and implement
industry-wide open e-business process standards. RosettaNet has more
than 500 global consortium members, including Intel, Cisco Systems,
Sony, IBM, Phillips and TI as well as government bodies like ASEAN
e-custom.
About GS1: GS1 is a
leading global organisation dedicated to the design and
implementation of global
standards and solutions to improve the efficiency and
visibility of Supply and
Demand chains. Headquartered at
and Lawrenceville, US, GS1 has
affiliated organisation offices in 108 countries
around the world. Over one
million subscriber companies are currently using
GS1
standards all over the world.
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Alert
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The renewal of your GS1 India subscription is due on
It has been observed that due to preoccupation with other
important
business matters like taxation, annual meetings, etc. during the last
quarter of the Financial Year, many companies fail to renew their
subscription on time. This results in unnecessary hassles and delays.
We have therefore decided to accept Renewal requests with
immediate effect.
You are requested to kindly send in the Subscription Fee
well in
advance, preferably by January 2008. If you do not look after
subscription renewals, please pass on this message to the person
concerned in your organisation. For more information or clarification,
please write to vinay@gs1india.org
If you're involved in using
GS1 standards, including 13-digit GS1
product coding on consumer items, designing and/or printing labels
and packaging or you want to know how you can benefit by adopting
GS1 Standards, then GS1’s e-learning courses are for you.
You can now e-learn from the comfort
of your home or office, and
at your own time & pace. Our world class multi-media learning
material is easy to understand and apply. You can also take online
tests to check your understanding.
The courses will be of interest to professionals engaged in
packaging,
logistics, procurement, IT, etc. For
more information, email
info@gs1india.org
Bar code implementation workshops are held at GS1 India’s
Office on every Thursday. Seats are limited, and are available on a
first-come-first-serve basis. There are no charges. To register, email
mukesh@gs1india.org Register early to avoid last-minute rush.
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GS1: The global language of
business
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© 2007 GS1
330, 2nd Floor, ‘C’ Wing, August Kranti Bhawan,
Telephone:
+91-11-26168720/721 Fax: +91-11-26168730
Web site: www.gs1india.org
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