With over 40 points of sale, and for the last couple of years, it has undertaken identification projects with GS1 Mexico, mainly in the fresh product sector.

Fruit and vegetable identification has gained relevance, because of new eating trends in which this type of product is more sought after by the consumer, because they are considered to be natural, and in some cases organic.

One pilot focused specifically on last mile delivery.

Project management was provided by the Institute of Transport Economics—Norway Centre for Transport Research.

Results

• Better last mile supply chain visibility via more efficient logistics.
• Fewer vans/lorries to the same destination and reduced transport costs.
• Reduced number of truck-kilometres and energy consumption per delivered item, decreasing CO2 emissions.
• Reduced and more reliable delivery times; less out-of stocks in store.
• Savings in delivery costs—GS1 standards have been shown to reduce distribution costs by 42%.

Situation

As e-commerce continues to grow exponentially, the last leg of delivery, specifically the “last mile”—ending up at the consumer’s home or business—has become more challenging.

The increased amount of urban home delivery has a huge economic impact on citizens, shopkeepers, transport companies and government. It causes emissions, traffic congestion, noise nuisance, and problems with public space and services.

The Straightsol project designed seven pilots aimed to identify innovative ways to rationalise urban distribution.

Approach

One pilot, GS1 Smart Urban Transport, was designed to find ways to improve efficiency in retail trade supply chain management and “last mile” distribution via the use of standardised information collected from all business partners.

For all kinds of e-commerce businesses, knowing precisely where an item is in the supply chain can enable faster and more efficient delivery to the customer, lower fulfilment costs and enhanced customer service levels. For example, with greater visibility retailers in the same shopping centre can logistically collaborate on deliveries.

GS1 standards were leveraged to accurately identify products, assign a universal, global identification number to every product and enable the automated exchange of data between business partners.

Gelre Hospitals updated their internal processes to take advantage of new technologies combined with GS1 barcodes.

The context

An initial study at Gelre revealed that more than 3% of medication administrations were erroneous. The organisation introduced a computerised prescriber order-entry system, a barcode-assisted dispensing system and a bedside assortment picking system in effort to reduce the number of medication errors.

Through their implementation of GS1 barcodes, combined with IT technologies, Gelre has made substantial strides in helping to reduce medication administration errors. This enabled clinical staff to deliver safer, more efficient care.

Results

• Medication dispensing errors reduced by 74%1

1 Bedside Assortment Picking, Hans Ros, Hospital Pharmacist.

Charing Cross Hospital implemented GS1 barcodes on their patient wristbands.

The context

At Charing Cross, positive patient identification checks were only being done 17% of the time. Issuing a barcoded wristband to every in-patient directly increased caregiver activity to positively identify patients at all points during the care process.

The use of barcodes containing a unique identifier also mean hospitals have the ability to cross reference patients and treatments.

By leveraging GS1 barcodes, Charing Cross has been able to ensure that more patients are positively identified before, during and after care.

Results

• Positive patient ID confirmation through wristband checks increased from 17% to 81%1, 2

1Lovell, Helen M.D. (2007). Coding for Success: Simple technology for safer patient care.

2Lawrence, Neil. (2008). NHS Connecting for Health, Auto Identification and Data Capture in the NHS.

Results

In order to implement the mandate of APEC Leaders and Trade Ministers, the Committee on Trade and Investment approved a project which will provide hands-on technical assistance to a suite of pilot projects using Global Data Standards in APEC supply chains. Following an open tender GS1 Hong Kong was awarded the official APEC contract which will cover implementation of pilots that will be measuring the efficiency gains by using GS1 standards and EPCIS data sharing platforms in international supply chains and cross-border government procedures.

The outcome of the pilot projects will assist APEC member economies to consider whether and how Global Data Standards can improve their supply chain performance in terms of reduction of time, cost and uncertainty as well as improvement in risk management. They will also assist APEC member economies to implement their commitments under the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) e.g. by providing advance and detailed information which can help government agencies focus risk assessments on high risk consignments and expedite the release of low risk consignments. Pilot shipments are scheduled to be completed by August-September 2016.

Situation

Optimizing and further enhancing the logistical elements of the global supply chains that enterprises need to engage in production and distribution on a global footing, including supply and production logistics, international transportation, and sales distribution, is growing in importance.

APEC member economies are working toward achieving the Bogor Goals for free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific. Enhancing supply chains to reduce the time, cost, and uncertainty involved in movement of goods and services in the Asia-Pacific is tremendously important to advancing liberalization of trade and investment and furthering economic growth in the region. This importance is reflected in developments such as the Supply Chain Connectivity Initiative and the Supply Chain Chokepoints. The issue has remained high on the agenda since 2009.

Given their importance, active steps need to be taken to develop and enhance reliable supply chains by, among other things, capacity building to develop single windows, Authorized Economic Operators and lowering barriers to small and medium enterprises(SMEs) joining global value chains.

Approach

In any international transaction of goods, a range of information needs to be exchanged between various parties as the goods move along the supply chains. This was recognized by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), which recommended that APEC should explore the potential of leveraging Global Data Standards in APEC supply chains, for efficiency, security and visibility purposes. Global Data Standards is used to ensure that relevant information is provided in a common format which is easily understood and sharable by all parties. APEC Leaders and Trade Ministers have recognized the contribution that Global Data Standards can make to enhancing supply chains in the APEC region.

In 2013, APEC Ministers “recognized the contribution that global data standards can make to enhancing supply chain efficiency, and encouraged officials to explore what more can be done to facilitate mutual compatibility amongst data standards frameworks, and the compatibility of economies’ frameworks with the use of GDS”. In 2014, they instructed officials “to further advance work on global data standards by developing pilot projects with the participation of the private sector”. And, in their 2014 Declaration, Leaders encouraged APEC member economies to work with the private sector to promote further cooperation on GDS and their wider use by developing pilot projects.

In the GCC Region, Saudi Arabia is the first country to establish a national system of drug traceability.

Alignment on global standards to ensure harmonisation across the region is critical.

Results

The SFDA published a circular stating the dates of implementation in two phases:

• Use of 2D bar codes with Batch or Lot Number, Expiration
• Date and SFDA code will be due on the 21 February 2015
• All of the above plus a Serial Number due on the 21 March 2017

The SFDA is working with GS1 KSA on similar requirements for medical devices identification (UDI) and for cosmetics.

Situation

SFDA believes in a standardised identification system for drugs from the manufacturer to the patient to comply with increasing need for product integrity and traceability.

SFDA released requirements on barcoding of drugs imposing that all Saudi and international drug manufacturers exporting to Saudi Arabia adopt GS1 supply chain standards.

Approach

All drugs’ markings must be upgraded from linear bar codes to GS1 DataMatrix bar codes.

The GS1 DataMatrix bar code must, at minimum, carry the GTIN (Global Trade Item Number), Expiration Date, Batch or Lot Number.

The new requirements must be applied by drug manufacturers on all type of pharmaceutical products (both human and veterinary drugs).

Rick and Rosemary Drury are third-generation growers.

Their family has been supplying Woolworths ever since the supermarket introduced fresh fruit and vegetables into its stores in the 1960s.

Results

Decreased business and consumer risk, reduced costs, and helped improve food safety, protecting its business relationships and the brands of its customer.

Reduced time spent on semi-annual recall tests for HACCP audits from hours to 30 minutes.

Demonstrated fast and effective recall notification processes to its customers.

Reduced time required to issue a recall or withdrawal notification, minimized the risk of miscommunication to trading partners and consumers, and automatically notified relevant government agencies.

Situation

Fruit and vegetable producers sell to major supermarkets, market agents, processors and distributors. Increasingly, these customers are insisting that their suppliers have quality systems based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP).

At the same time, Drury Orchards is always looking for ways to improve business processes in order to foster long-term relationships with its customers, which include the major Australian retailer Woolworths. Therefore, this South Australian grower was eager to improve its manual paper-based product recall and withdrawal process.

Approach

Drury Orchards had a formal process for recall and withdrawal notifications. It was based on the the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand Product Recall Protocol and followed a flowchart format. The format relied on filling out separate paper forms for each individual customer. Twice a year, the company tested the process to ensure it fulfilled HACCP’s exacting requirements, but the manual process was time consuming and created the potential for errors.

Drury Orchards transitioned its process to a web-based portal designed around global GS1 standards and best practices. The portal simplified and automated recall and withdrawal notifications, employing a template that could be reused with multiple business partners. The system’s “mock recall” functionality also allows the company to efficiently test its recall readiness.

On 17 December 2013, GS1 was accredited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as issuing agency for unique device identifiers (UDIs).

The basic underlying issue is the lack of a consistent, standardized way to identify devices. When it comes to doing things like adverse event reporting or aggregating adverse events or other post market surveillance, we don't currently have a way to unambiguously identify devices, which creates all sorts of problems for everyone. UDI provides a standardized, unambiguous identification which supports all these sorts of activities for devices as well.

Results

On 17 December 2013, GS1 was accredited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as issuing agency for unique device identifiers (UDIs).

Global GS1 standards meet the U.S. government’s criteria for issuing UDIs and is helping manufacturers comply with the requirements of the FDA UDI regulation, to support patient safety and supply chain security.

Situation

Following the case of the breast implants manufactured by the PIP Company in Europe and other recent scandals, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulators in the IMDRF (International Medical Device Regulator Forum), have made patient safety a strategic priority by developing legislation for Unique Device Identification (UDI).

UDI is expected to improve patient safety and Healthcare business processes. A single, global system of standards is fundamental to enable an efficient and effective implementation of UDI by all Healthcare stakeholders worldwide.

More information https://www.gs1.org/healthcare/udi

Approach

The U.S. FDA released, in September 2013 a rule which establishes that a common, worldwide system for product identification should be applied to all medical devices placed on the U.S. market. The rule establishes that:

a unique device identifier number should be assigned by the device manufacturer to each version or model of a device

the unique device identifier should be both in human readable format and in AutoID format. By default, this information will be applied on the label of each device uniquely identified.

UDI should be applied to all medical devices made available on the US market.