THE SUPPLY CHAIN MAGAZINE • ISSUE 20 • SUMMER 08/09

IMPETUS 2008A complete wrap-up of Impetus 2008

Standards help fight deadly sleep disorder

GROWTH POTENTIALGS1 AUSTRALIA’SNEW INDUSTRY MANAGEMENT TEAM

CONTENTS

Features14 Standards help fight deadly sleep disorder

AN AUSTR ALIAN COMP ANY IS HELPING THE MEDIC AL WORLD T ACKLE A POTENTI ALLY FATAL DISORDER WITH A R ANGE O F INNOV ATIVE PRODUCTS. ITS M ANU FACTURING AND M ARKETING PROCESSES ARE UNDERPINNED BY A ROBUST GLOB AL SUPPLY CH AIN AND THE GS 1 ST ANDARDS.

16 Thinking outside the square pays off

WHEN ASI AN FOOD SPECI ALIST ORIENT AL MERCH ANT ADOPTED THE GS 1 STANDARDS TO M ANAGE THEIR SUPPLY CH AIN, WITH SOME CLEVER L ATER AL THINKING THEY PUT IN PL ACE SOLUTIONS TO DELIVER END-TO-END E FF ICIENCIES FROM SUPPLIERS RIGHT THROUGH TO THEIR CUSTOMERS.

S tarters

03 WelcomeChairman’s Message

CEO Insights

04 QuickscanHow Green is your S upply Chain?

Visual Independence call to Impetus delegates

Hot Dates

GS 1 Australia S upply Chain

E xcellence Awards

This issue

05 Impetus Wrap -upTopical Conference a huge success

NeHTA to roll out eHealth records by 2012

E xperts keep an eye on the future

Data synchronisatioin brings surprise benefit

Plan now for pandemic, conference warned

10 Industry FeaturesWorking with Industry

Hardware group issues call to suppliers

GS 1 standards put S upercheap Auto in pole position

GS 1 S ystem delivers savings

B uilding a robust Liquor S upply Chain

S tandards deliver excellence from paddock to plate

Landmark asks suppliers to use GS 1 B ar Codes

CONTRIBUTORSE DITOR Mary R iekertP ROJECT MANAGER Matthew Timoshanko ADVERTISIN G AND PRODUCTION Matthew TimoshankoDESIGN Vetro DesignP RINT ING R A Printing

GS1 A USTRALIA HE AD OFF ICE Axxess Corporate Park 100/45 Gilby R oad Mount Waverley VIC 3149

S YDNEY OFF ICE Lakes B usiness Park B uilding 4B , 2–4 Lord S treet B otany NSW 2019

National Number: 1300 366 033 International Number: +61 3 9558 9559 Fax: +61 3 9558 9551General E mail: gs1aust@gs1au.orgLiNK E mail: editor@gs1au.orgwww.gs1au.org

26 Global NewsFocus on Indian retail

27 Tech HeadsGS 1 Australia’s 4- Watt R FID licence extended

B last from the past

Tell us what you think …

28 Get SmartTurning training to competitive advantage

Top end site visit is an eye-opener

Alliance Partners 30 Five-step plan to R FID success

Nil coder downtime best ingredient for F MCG processor

Insignia introduces O’Neil’s Microflash 2 TE , the world’s smallest and most rugged and reliable 2-inch mobile printer

34 When outsourcing makes sense

35 GS 1 Holiday S eason Message

GS 1 Australia is the only organisation authorised by GS 1 Global to allocate and administer GS 1 B ar Code numbers in Australia. GS 1 Australia adds value to its members’ businesses by promoting and developing the adoption of cross-sector, global supply chain standards. GS 1 Australia delivers supply chain solutions and services for bar coding, electronic business messaging, global data synchronisation and R adio Frequency Identification technology (R FID).

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WELCOME

CHaIrmaN’S meSSaGe

Innovation backed by 30 years of experienceAt impetus 2008, delegates joined gs1 Australia staff and vip guests in celebrating the organisation’s 30th anniversary. the theme of this year’s conference – insight, innovation and implementation – could apply equally to the direction gs1 Australia is now taking.

there has been a significant shift from simply administering the gs1 system and its numbering standards. we are becoming a much more responsive and dynamic organisation, delivering effective education and implementation support services.

we know that many of our members have complex businesses that require creative solutions. our advisors and trainers draw on the insights and wealth of experience garnered by gs1 Australia over the past 30 years to deliver real business results.

our teams now have hands-on implementation experience in more than eighteen industry sectors and are known for their neutral, independent advice. At impetus 2008 we heard speakers detail how gs1 Australia is working with Australian businesses to re-evaluate their business processes and implement the gs1 standards.

At the same time, we know that business never stands still, so we constantly explore new technologies and innovations in our quest to remain at the forefront of supply chain excellence. our focus on innovation has seen us partner with leading supply chain solution providers in our Alliance program and the impetus 2008 expo provided an opportunity for conference attendees to see first-hand the latest technologies available.

As gs1 Australia moves into the fourth decade of its exciting journey, we look forward to an interesting and promising 2009.

welcome to LiNK magazine summer 2008 edition

CeO INSIGHTS

The art of effective listeningAs a member of gs1 Australia you have access to a range of services and benefits to assist you in improving your supply chain and making your business more profitable.

however, we know there is simply no such thing as a typical gs1 Australia member – our community thrives on diversity. this means it is vitally important we are tuned in to all our customers and members so we can be responsive to their needs, especially during this time of global economic turmoil.

effective listening can be hard work. As leaders, we need to listen carefully to our membership and then use the feedback to make effective decisions for our whole community. As well as listening, we need to be receptive to new ideas to keep our thinking sharp.

much of the information we receive comes to us in verbal form through our customer service centre or during members’ conversations with our industry management team. working with more than eighteen industry sectors in Australia for the adoption of gs1 global standards, we provide businesses with training, expertise and independent, neutral advice.

when our membership asked us to be more responsive to their needs, we were listening. to this end we have reorganised our industry management and services teams to enable them to shift to a more flexible approach and to provide an improved customer service. in this issue we introduce a refocused industry management team and take a look at their ongoing work.

As the year comes to an end, gs1 Australia heads into 2009 in a robust position, with reformed teams focused on growth and improved customer service.

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Maria palazzolo

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QUICKSCAN

How green is yoursupply chain?the greening of supply chains was a key topic at impetus 2008 with conference delegates hearing about what companies are doing to reduce their carbon footprint and the changes required in supply chain management.

gabrielle Aitken, ibm’s energy and environment leader, addressed the roi of environmental leadership, outlining the steps ibm has taken over the last 37 years to reduce its carbon footprint. between 1990 and 2005 the company reduced or avoided co2 emissions equivalent to 40 per cent of 1990 levels (approximately 9 million tonnes of co2 emissions) and saved millions of dollars in the process. between 1998 and 2005 ibm garnered $100 million in energy efficiency savings.

in Australia, between 1998 and 2006, ibm averted 51kt co2 emissions and used 4 per cent green power which meant savings of 4.5kt of co2 annually. the company also sent less than 1 per cent of equipment to landfill.

ibm has a goal of reducing global co2 emissions by a further 12 per cent on 2005 emissions by 2012.

while the “big blue” has been leading the way in going green, gs1 Australia would like to hear from members about what they are doing to reduce their carbon footprint or make their supply chains more environmentally friendly.

if you have a green news story to tell, contact us and we’ll publish it in the next edition of LiNK magazine. simply email editor(at)gs1au.org or call mary riekert on 03 9550 3409 and we’ll interview you and write an article about your business.

VISUAL INDEPENDENCE CALL TO IMPETUS DELEGATESbernie slAgtmAn, oF visuAl independence, cAlled on All mAnuFActurers And suppliers At impetus 2008 to populAte gs1net with more dAtA to Assist with the project’s success.

visual independence is a non-profit organisation working to provide low-visioned and blind Australians with talking bar code scanners to enable them to lead a more independent life. gs1 Australia has provided the organisation with data from gs1net, free of charge, to assist with the project.

mr slagtman said while there was data on about 1 million items that could be downloaded to the scanner, information on many more was needed, especially data which could identify music cds as music was a lifeline for many blind and low-visioned people. For more information visit visualindependence.org.au

GS1 AuStrALiA SuPPLY CHAiN EXCELLENCE AWArDS

simplot Australia has won the 2008 Award for standards in Action which recognised the business that has driven the implementation of the gs1 standards within its organisation and has utilised the services of gs1 Australia to raise the knowledge of the standards among its employees and partners. presenting vince vella with the award at impetus 2008, gs1 Australia ceo maria palazzolo said the company was truly committed to the use of the global standards through the use of gs1net and had more than 100 employees attend gs1 Australia training. (see turning training to competitive Advantage, page 28).

samar haouchar, of csl bioplasma, has won the 2008 gs1 Australia Academic grant. ms haouchar is studying the graduate certificate of supply chain management at swinburne university. thanking gs1 Australia’s ceo maria palazzolo for the award, she said it was great to have the assistance as not many organisations or companies were helping students with supply chain study.

jacqueline perret, of grant burge wines, south Australia has been awarded the 2008 Award for leadership in standards. presenting the award at impetus 2008, gs1 Australia ceo maria palazzolo said ms perret had put in an astonishing amount of time to make the gs1 standards work in her company. “she has had to coordinate many people and many business partners and her manager says such is her commitment and her persistence that other companies now refer to her to explain how things should be done,” ms palazzolo said.

HOTDATES

December 2008

03 GS1 Webinar – “How do i improve visibility on my supply chain using the GSi System?”

10 GS1 Webinar – “How do i get started with the GS1 System?”

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the visitors were from - china, including hong kong - india, indonesia, iran, japan, korea, malaysia, malta, new Zealand, pakistan, russia, singapore, sri lanka, taiwan, thailand, the us and vietnam. miguel lopera, president and ceo of gs1, and members of the gs1 global office also attended the forum.

gs1 Australia ceo maria palazzolo said the forum was an opportunity for participants to hear about and be inspired by the work member organisations were doing to promote the use of the gs1 standards in their countries. it was also a chance to have an update from the gs1 global office on global projects and activities.

“topics under discussion included the role of gs1 in the future, what kind of organisation we wanted to be and where we want to be in ten years time. we are the fastest growing region in the world and we have to take this into account when we plan how to take the gs1 system to our markets,” she said. gs1 Australia deputy ceo and coo mark Fuller welcomed the creation of an executive committee to oversee gs1 projects in the region. “in particular, it will oversee a regional data pool to drive the growth of data synchronisation in the region,” he said.

A common vision For success wAs on the AgendA when representAtives From nineteen gs1 member orgAnisAtions gAthered in melbourne in october For the gs1 AsiA pAciFic regionAl Forum, hosted by gs1 AustrAliA.

Forum HAS viSioNFor SuCCESS

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01. gs1 Australia ceo maria palazzolo with delegate guests from gs1 indonesia.

02. gs1 hong kong ceo Anna lin and conser lee, head of business development and membership, gs1 hong kong, share a light moment during the forum.

VISION SUCCESS

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WrAP-uP IMPETUS 2008

toPiCAL CoNFErENCE A HuGE SuCCESS

topics covered ranged from epc/rFid and data synchron-isation to supply chains of the future and how to ensure supply chains had a light carbon footprint.

the two-day conference ran concurrently with a free expo showcasing supply chain a wide range of technology solutions.

gs1 Australia celebrated its 30th anniversary with a cocktail event at the close of day one, attended by delegates, speakers and Alliance partners.

gs1 Australia ceo maria palazzolo said the conference had highlighted that greater collaboration in the supply chain and the implementation of the gs1 standards were clearly the way forward. “in conclusion, there are two questions businesses need to ask themselves: ‘can i afford to do it? ’ and ‘can i afford not to do it? ’,” she said.

more than 350 people attended GS1 Australia’s premier supply chain event, impetus 2008, held at the melbourne Sofitel in october, to hear from supply chain experts and industry leaders.

0.1 simon langford, director of epc strategies for wal-mart stores, inc., urged Australian business to implement epc/rFid technologies.

0.2 impetus 2008 mc mike munro, keeping proceedings in order.

0.3 industry leaders (from left to right) sandra przibilla, tim piper, ron gauci and kate carnell, discuss the issues facing a modern day supply chain manager.

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EXPO

0.4 More than 35 supply chain solution providers showcased their products at the Impetus 2008 expo which ran concurently with the conference.

0.5 Business is brisk during a tea breakas conference delegates get a chance to look at supply chain solutions on show.

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Australia’s National eHealth Transformation Authority (NeHTA) aims to provide a shared electronic health record for all Australians who choose to have one by 2012.

Dr Tony Sherbon, a Board member of NeHTA and its former chairman, told Impetus 2008 delegates that while the standards for electronic health records and eMessaging were still being developed by NeHTA, the authority was working towards this goal with GS1 Australia.

“Australian health is behind in this area but eHealth is extremely complex. Getting right issues such as privacy, accuracy and security is crucial. If a bank makes a mistake in a financial eTransaction it can be rectified. When you are talking about eHealth, someone’s life may be jeopardised if a mistake is made. We have to get it right,” he said.

He said the benefits of eHealth included early identification of patients at risk of developing a chronic condition like diabetes, increased efficiency in the delivery of healthcare, a reduction in adverse events and increased access to relevant and current information for healthcare providers.

NeHTA was working on health identifiers to be given to patients, healthcare providers and healthcare organisations so there will be no misunderstandings. Providers will also have secure and simple authentication processes to allow them to access the systems that contain the electronic healthcare information, he said.

Work was also being done on standardising clinical terminologies, message security, privacy and choice to achieve the 2012 target, he said.

NeHTA To roll ouT eHeAlTH records by 2012

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WrAP-uP IMPETUS 2008

The supply chains of the future took centre stage at Impetus 2008, GS1 Australia’s successful supply chain conference held in Melbourne in October.

delegates heard from a range of supply chain experts about the challenges facing supply chain professionals in the 21st century, from preparing for a pandemic to implementing strategies to ensuring supply chains have a lighter carbon footprint in the future.

peter dapiran, of the university of melbourne, told the conference that while predicting the future was error prone, supply chain structures would change dramatically as a result of social forces/behaviour and technology. Flexibility and

responsiveness would be critical in future supply chains and the way information would be collected, stored, managed and disseminated will change beyond current comprehension, he said. in addition, sustainability will lead to redefinition of total cost and bring about radically different sourcing decisions.

during the conference a panel of experts from a range of industry associations identified critical issues for future supply chain professionals as:

+ increasing efficiency to cut costs in supply chains

+ managing risk in supply chains+ balancing efficiency and risk+ ensuring on-shelf availability

through greater collaboration between trading partners

+ collaborative logistics and warehousing

+ greater transparency to enable flexible supply chains

+ ensuring future supply chains are carbon-neutral

EXPERTS KEEP AN EYE ON THE FUTURE

marianne timmons, director of b2b at wegmans, told delegates at impetus 2008 that data synchronisation using the gs1 standards had opened a whole new way of employees working together.

“we found we had synchronised data and we had sychnronised people. our employees could collectively agree on goals and measures and there was a new level of communication within our company and with our trading partners. now the information we share is timely, useful and accurate,” she said.

wegmans, which is a privately held $us5 billion food retailer with 72 large-format stores, has been named the best place to work in America by Fortune Magazine. the company has been an early adopter of new technology. in 1974, wegmans was one of the first supermarkets to introduce bar-code scanning. the late robert wegmans co-chaired the public policy subcommittee for the grocery industry development of the universal product code (upc), numbers used in bar codes in north America for tracking trade items in retail stores.

ms timmons said wegmans’ implementation of data synchronisation had delivered benefits to the business in areas such as merchandising, logistics, accounting and finance, as well as leading to a better in-store experience for their customers. the company also found that mission-critical systems had been improved through the use of data synchronisation and accurate data.

supermArket chAin wegmAns Food mArkets Found dAtA synchronisAtion with their trAding pArtners brought A rAnge oF business beneFits As well As delivering new And better wAys oF working together.

Data synchronisation brings surprise benefit

“data synchronisation has also allowed us to develop a strategy called new ways of working together, focusing on the consumer, connecting the right people and business information and preparing our people for the future by identifying the knowledge and the capabilities that will be needed,” ms timmons said. the sharing of the supply chain was a critical component of this strategy, to break down traditional barriers to working together and leverage standards to operate as one with their trading partners.

“the real value here is not about technology. get the business units engaged early, true operational engagement and leadership are paramount,” she said. “those companies who are leading in new ways of working together are realising the greatest benefits.”

in conclusion, her message to businesses in Australia was: “pick a partner and get started!”

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“how many members of your workforce are mothers?” mr newton asked the conference. “if there is a pandemic they will stay at home as schools will close, as will child care centres. what impact will it have on your business if 30 per cent of your workforce doesn’t turn up?” he asked.

turning to Australia’s food supply chain, mr newton said in a pandemic problems would occur with the supply of fresh raw materials, transport and fuel, packaging materials, with manufacturing line labour, infrastructure and equipment maintenance and the import and export of food and raw materials.

currently Australia’s food supply chain is driven by just-in-time management and consumers were used to just-in-time shopping, 24 by 7, he said. there was a maximum of 30 days’ non-perishable supplies in the supply chain and this was reducing with no stockpiling capacity and minimal surge capacity. in the fresh food supply chain there was a maximum of five days’ supply but it was estimated that in a pandemic it would run out within two days in metropolitan areas, mr newton said.

“Factor in that 40 per cent of meals are consumed outside of the home today. now you can start to see the impact all these factors would have on the food supply chain in a pandemic.

“most important 95 per cent of homes in Australia only have two to four days of pantry stock on average (including lunch) making households in india more resilient than western homes in the uk, Australia and the us,” he said.

“however, it took six to eight weeks to recover from recent crisis such as the south Australian bushfires and the nsw floods.”

It is critical that Australian businesses factor a pandemic into their

business planning, Steve Newton, Metcash National Technical Manager,

told delegates at Impetus 2008.

in the light of this, rAwg had developed an emergency pantry list to increase household resilience by ensuring 14 days pantry stock level to enable a 14-day self-imposed quarantine. the list, which can be found at www.pantrylist.com.au, is now being adopted by canada, new Zealand and california.

rAwg also developed a retail pack, with ten disposable masks, ten disinfecting wipes and the pantry list, which will be available in retail stores this month, he said. in a pandemic, Australian retailers would have to set up health and hygiene stations within their business and train their staff and then customers in their use.

the Food industry working group and rAwg were successfully working together to ensure that contingency plans for food and grocery retail, food service and the food manufacturing industry are well planned to create an effective, integrated response to assist society to safely recover from a pandemic, he said.

work was also being done on food rationing preparation, food relief planning with government agencies and emergency organisations and the options for bulk storage of $1 billion worth of goods.

mr newton was addressing the conference as chairman of the retail Action working group (rAwg), part of the Food chain infrastructure Assurance Advisory group, one of nine industry-based groups set up by the Australian government to protect critical infrastructure, plan for pandemics and ensure business resilience in a crisis.

“Another pandemic is inevitable, medical authorities say. in fact it is overdue. when you look at the impact a pandemic would have on businesses it is critical to factor a pandemic into business planning,” he said.

“given the estimates of how many people would die from a pandemic should the Avian bird Flu (h5n1) spread as a human-to-human virus, the global economy will be affected and a new global recession will result,” he said.

A snapshot of how 100,000 employees would be affected assuming an infectivity rate of one in four, showed that 25 per cent would be directly affected, 35 to 50 per cent of staff would be absent (self-quarantining) and 1,000 to 3,000 might die (in 1 to 3 per cent range).

PLAN NOW FOR PANDEMIC,

CONFERENCE WARNED

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imPEtuS 2008 SPONSORS

Big Blue goes green At impetus 2008 gabrielle Aitken, ibm Australia’s energy and environment leader, addressed the roi of environmental leadership, outlining the steps ibm has taken over the last 37 years to reduce its carbon footprint.

“the ibm case study illustrates that by incorporating environmental values into overall business strategy companies have the potential to reduce environmental impact, enhance brand image, develop competitive advantage and strengthen bottom line,” she said.

ibm Australia is a leading supplier of information technology, software and services in Australia. their focus is on helping customers of all sizes to adapt and prosper in the online world and their extensive range of products and services help organisations to take advantage of new opportunities presented by technology.

Leadtec mD’s strategy for ePC/rFIDleadtec’s managing director, scott needham, put forward a strategy to leverage the scan packing and logistics systems already being used by thousands of Australian manufacturers and distributors to begin delivering the benefits of electronic product coding (epc) and radio Frequency identification (rFid).

“Australia is being left behind. walmart has been a global leader in the use of epc/rFid but big Australian retailers won’t commit to it. Australian businesses should consider an evolutionary approach to epc,” he told impetus delegates.

leadtec is a leading Australian business-to-business ecommerce solutions provider, delivering on-demand solutions to customers worldwide. specialising in supply chain solutions, including edi messaging, catalogue synchronisation, and scan packing and logistics, leadtec enables companies to connect to and communicate with, their trading partners for faster easier and more efficient business.

0.1 ibm speaker, gabrielle Aitken.

0.2 leadtec’s managing director, scott needham.

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GXS highlights growth gXs showcased a video at impetus 2008 highlighting their growth as a global provider of b2b ecommerce solutions. with 5.9 million trading partners relationships and 35,000 customers gXs facilitates 4 billion transactions through its gXs trading grid.

gXs ceo ian lister said that organisations worldwide, including more than 75 per cent of the Fortune 500, leverage the on-demand services on gXs trading grid to extend supply chain networks, optimise product launches, automate warehouse receiving, manage electronic payments and gain supply chain visibility. based in the us, gXs has an extensive global network and has local offices in Australia and new Zealand, America, europe and Asia-pacific regions.

Optimise inventory for rOI, says IBS CTOpeter clarke, chief technology officer, ibs Asia pacific, told impetus 2008 that ibs, a world-leading provider of supply chain management enterpise resourse planning (erp) software and services, was helping customers increase their profitability and their customer service through optimising inventory.

“ibs always looks to fully understand how various industries are reacting and responding to the challenges that political and economic forces place on the global supply chain. optimising your inventory provides the highest and fastest return on your investment. with this in mind, we develop our erp software solutions to work in tandem with needs of the business, and provide all the essential functionality and support that wholesalers/distributors need to meet the demands of the global supply chain,” he said.

Optimise inventory for rOI, says IBS CTO

with more than 30 years of experience in developing award-winning erp software solutions that optimise and increase the efficiency of the supply chain, ibs has 5,000 customers in 40 countries and is the ninth largest supply chain management solution vendor. ibs solutions are being used in industry sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals, automotive, electrical, to publishing, paper and food.

ibs delivers measurable business value, helping customers to increase profitability by boosting sales, reducing costs and tied-up capital, shortening lead-times, improving customer service, increasing process efficiency and accessing information in real-time to support strategic decision making, he said.

Innovit launches iICe master Data manager (v5.0)innovit ceo bang chau launched the company’s iice master data manager product at impetus 2008. the launch coincided with innovit’s 10th anniversary. with innovit’s iice solutions, users can efficiently manage and synchronise product data across the many information systems and business processes within their organisation.

innovit is a leading provider of master data management (mdm) systems and specialises in delivering software solutions that manage ‘product master data’ for suppliers and data recipients (e.g. retailers, government, health jurisdictions).

mr chau said the advance workflow management capabilities of iice mdm allowed users to design, configure and execute their own approval workflow processes for the maintenance of all master data, including products, customers and vendors. “with an increasing focus on ensuring data integrity, data accuracy, and data consistency in the business world today, innovit’s suite of iice mdm products will reshape the way master data is processed, validated, controlled, and managed,” he said.

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imPEtuS 2008 SPONSORS

insignia focuses on quality Quality is the focus of insignia’s services and products, delegates to impetus 2008 heard. Quality award winning labels, quality brands and quality people go into making a complete offering from this a leading Australian-owned label manufacturer with over 30 years experience in the packaging industry.

the presentation highlighted the company’s specialised teams who deliver what they promise including comprehensive maintenance backed by a national infrastructure and a service hotline.

insignia has innovative solutions for labelling and coding and supports companies who, through embracing technology, have made Australian business more competitive globally. “our aim is to clearly understand our customer’s needs and work with them to deliver the best overall solution,” insignia’s brad jeavons, national sales manager – labelling systems, said.

markem-Imaje looks at key marketsA global leader in product identification solutions, markem-imaje, highlighted their key market activities during a video presentation at impetus 2008.

markem-imaje offers a broad range of innovative, environmentally-conscious product identification hardware, software and consumable solutions. they include assisting in food product identification from manufacturer to consumer, a complete range of marking solutions for the beverage industry whatever the constraints, discreet and high-quality coding on health and beauty product packaging, compliance with demanding standards in the pharmaceutical industry and optimisation of mailing management operations.

markem-Imaje looks at key markets

jeffrey symonds, national key Accounts manager, markem-imaje, said the company’s world-class technology combined with extensive research, development and testing was available through the most extensive global network in the industry. each solution is individually customised to the customer’s specifications, providing tailored solutions at the best possible price.

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iDSnet showcasedmatthews Australasia, a leading supplier of bar code labeling, traceability coding and data-capture solutions for manufacturing and logistics organisations, showcased their identification network solutions (idsnet) at impetus 2008.

idsnet is a complete suite of software solutions which integrates all coding and labelling equipment to deliver a true product traceability solution throughout a business. it is designed to streamline operations and expand with product traceability needs.

by networking all coding and labelling devices, idsnet helps eliminate coding and labelling errors, centralise product identification management, increase production visibility and reporting, increase coding and labelling efficiency and enable remote diagnosis.

matthews Australasia offers a complete range of coding, labeling and rFid technology, supported by in-house software design, development and integration experts.

TIBCO drives efficiency and standards tibco software is driving efficiency and standards in Australia’s manufacturing and retail industries through its collaborative information manager, impetus 2008 delegates heard.

A video presentation explained how collaborative information manager builds a 360 degree view of information while ensuring that the data is consistent, complete, accurate, and highly available. collaborative information manager takes a process-centric approach to master data management (mdm). by enforcing configurable rules for data validation and orchestrating and controlling the manner in which master data is introduced, modified, and consumed, it ensures that data quality standards and business logic governing master data are enforced as part of business processes.

tibco serves more than 3,000 customers around the world with offices in more than 20 countries and more than 200 partners.

Business without bordersin an increasingly complex world many businesses are outsourcing processes beyond the edge of the enterprise to ensure they thrive in a global economy, according to a sterling commerce presentation to impetus 2008.

through business applications and integration solutions, sterling commerce helps more than 30,000 customers worldwide to eliminate complexity in order to simplify cross–channel sales, reduce cycle times and strip costs from supply chains.

based in columbus, ohio, sterling commerce has offices in 19 countries and regional offices in sydney and melbourne.

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GS1 FEATURE

Industry leaders are active on the GS1 Australia Board of Directors, as Council members, and as participants in working groups and steering committees. GS1 Australia also works in close consultation with Australia’s peak industry bodies to ensure the program remains relevant and focused.

GS1 Australia recently reorganised its Industry Management team and its Services Delivery team to ensure both could be more responsive to the needs of business and industry. “Our account managers work in close consultation with businesses in their industry sectors to understand their requirements and needs,” GS1 Australia’s CEO, Maria Palazzolo, said. “We want to be a responsive, dynamic organisation that can adapt where necessary and so we have reorganised our teams to allow them to be more flexible,” she said.

In this issue we focus on the members of the Industry Management team and bring readers some of the highlights of working with industry in 2008. In the next edition we will feature the GS1 Australia Services Group, explain their new structure and take a look at the services GS1 Australia offers customers and members.

Richard Jones General Manager Industry Management

richard has recently taken up this leadership role with responsibility for overseeing gs1 Australia’s work with more than eighteen industry sectors. prior to this, richard was general manager – service delivery overseeing the migration of gs1 Australia’s members from eAnnet to the gs1net data synchronisation service.

richard also headed a team developing a new bar code testing service and a mobile bar code verification service as well as finalising version 2 of the data Quality Framework. richard has a background in marketing and has been with gs1 Australia for 12 years.

richard sees gs1 Australia’s industry management role as constantly evolving. “As we work with a more diverse group of industry sectors we are constantly fine-tuning our model to be more responsive to our members’ needs,” he said.

richard is a passionate member of the hawthorn Football club, the president of the surrey hills cricket club, and coaches under- 14 cricket.

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WOrKINGwith

GS1 Australia’s Industry Engagement Program aims to help Australian industries successfully adopt best-practice supply chain management strategies. The program, which has been running for five years, is working for the adoption of the GS1 System across industry sectors, to provide compatibility, optimise supply chain operations and maximise return on investment.

John Szabo Industry Manager Automotive Aftermarket and Hardware

john has worked with these industry sectors for the past year and has been key in the formation of the hardware gs1 Action group. he has a degree in industrial engineering and throughout his career has focused on productivity and efficiency improvements of both manufacturing processes and information systems. he spent sixteen years working for cadbury schweppes, including international experience, followed by eighteen months working for gs1 Australia’s professional services team. john then worked in the retail sector in supply chain before returning to gs1 Australia to take up an industry management role.

when not occupied by supply chain issues john is an accomplished illustrator and spends most of his weekends either watching or coaching his children in sport (which leaves no time for house renovating or running).

Andrew Steele Industry Manager fast Moving Consumer Goods

Andrew’s role of industry manager – Fmcg covers grocery, liquor, meat and fresh produce, a diverse portfolio which keeps him very busy. it is a role he enjoys as it enables lots of interaction with gs1 Australia members, he says.

having previously worked in retail management with kmart and also as a national category manager for an Fmcg company, Andrew joined eAn Australia in 2001. he was appointed industry services manager and was then promoted to national corporate Accounts manager.

outside of gs1 Australia his passions (not necessarily in order) are all codes of football and cricket, which he still tries to play and his wife and two young daughters.

Bonnie Ryan Industry Manager General Merchandise

bonnie has been working in the Fast moving consumer goods sector since joining gs1 a year ago and she has now taken up the role of industry manager with a wide portfolio that includes general merchandise. bonnie joined gs1 Australia from pronto software where she was supply chain product manager for four years.

with a background in sales and marketing, bonnie has been in the it and supply chain space since 1995 when she joined At & t selling edi software.

when not occupied with supply chain issues, bonnie is kept busy with renovating her home. however, she says her true passion is food and wine.

Tania Snioch Industry Manager Healthcare

For the past four years, tania has been actively assisting the Australian healthcare industry to implement the gs1 system, having the dual aims of helping to improve patient safety and supply chain efficiency. in her current role of industry manager – healthcare, tania coordinates various industry working groups and is responsible for education of the Australian healthcare sector with respect to the gs1 system.

tania has been an important participant in the monash pharmacy project and coordinates the gs1 healthcare user group Australasia.

tania joined eAn Australia in 2000 as a bar code verification expert before transferring to eAnnet where she worked as part of the client services team, going on to become team leader. she has an honours degree in biomedical science. outside working hours, tania keeps fit by running.

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GS1 Australia’s Industry Engagement Program aims to help Australian industries successfully adopt best-practice supply chain management strategies. The program, which has been running for five years, is working for the adoption of the GS1 System across industry sectors, to provide compatibility, optimise supply chain operations and maximise return on investment.

LOCAL NEWS

companies committed to the initiative include 3m, boc, bunnings, danks, gwA international, itm, itwproline, mitre 10, placemakers, natbuild, nylex, orica, reece and saint-gobain. they have announced to the Australian and new Zealand hardware sector that they are committed to adopting the gs1 standards of numbering and bar coding for all products at all levels of packaging.

this call to action aims for all industry participants to fully support this commitment and meet the following requirements and timelines below:

1. Assign Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) to all levels of packaging for a product by the end of this calendar year 2008

2. All new products introduced to the market after 31 December 2008 must be physically bar coded on all levels of packaging with GS1-compliant bar codes

3. All existing products in the market must be physically bar coded on all levels of packaging by 31 December 2009

the call to action was backed by roadshows in sydney and melbourne to discuss the initiative.

john szabo, industry manager, gs1 Australia, said members who attended could see real business benefits being delivered through the initiative. “everyone is keen to get some action on this project because, at the end of the day, it can improve everyone’s bottom line,” he said.

within the hardware sector, an efficient and accurate supply chain is becoming increasingly important. while bar coding of items sold at point of sale has improved dramatically over the past few years, bar coding of non-retail point of sale items (cartons, inners and packs) has lagged far behind other industry sectors.

in light of this, key players in the Australian and new Zealand hardware sectors have formed a new industry action group in a bid to see supply chain efficiencies and savings delivered throughout the sector.

known as the gs1 hardware Action group, they have outlined an industry approach to product identification, bar coding, electronic messaging, data synchronisation and practical implementation for critical business activities.

these outlines have created the hardware sector numbering and bar coding initiative, and plans for implementing gs1net (data synchronisation) and emessaging requirements.

Key players in Australasia’s hardware sector have formed a new industry action group and issued a call to action to hardware manufacturers and suppliers to standardise packaging information and product identification.

HARDWARE GROUP issuEs call to suppliErs

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INdUSTRy FEATURE

As Australasia's leading retailer of automotive and boating, camping and fishing products, the supercheap Auto group has over 300 stores across every state and territory in Australia and in both islands of new Zealand with more than 36,000 stocked items and a further 350,000 available through special order.

According to supercheap Auto’s inventory optimisation manager, jim tarlinton, the company’s “holy grail” is the perfect order: the safe, timely delivery of products to the customer. one of the key supply chain performance indicators it uses is delivered in-Full, on-time (diFot) which looks at deliveries from the point of view of the customer. it measures how often the customer gets what they want at the time they want it.

outlining the supply chain transformation that the company has undergone, mr tarlinton told attendees at impetus 2008, that it had established that the company’s diFot was at a less than optimum level. Also, the system of purchase orders and templates for item and cost data were lengthy and time-consuming.

the company developed an internal supply chain restructure which included:• the development of $1 billion

stock-flow capacity• reduction of lost time through

injury• inventory optimisation• reduction in lead times• freight on time to stores• an increase in products

sourced out of china

they identified the key enablers as full-range warehouses in brisbane, melbourne and new Zealand, quality bar codes and packaging, electronic data interchange (edi), collaboration with trading partners and master data synchronisation through gs1net.

“we bought a bar code verifier that met the gs1 standards and then increased communications with our trade partners and internal

“we visited 90 trade partners in Australia and new Zealand and are working with gs1 Australia to get them onto gs1net. now we have 20 to 30 suppliers who are within weeks of getting data to us through gs1net,” he said.

mr tarlinton said diFot had already shown a 60 per cent improvement in the last twelve months and supercheap Auto aimed to have 50 trading partners using gs1net for data synchronisation by the end of the financial year.

gs1 Australia industry manager john szabo said gs1 Australia would assist all suppliers who are just starting out on their gs1 journey or those embarking on their gs1net project with supercheap Auto. “our industry management team, gs1net client services team and gs1 help desk can help with any issue a supplier has when it comes to the gs1 standards. suppliers should contact us on 1300 366 033.”

teams to educate them in correct bar coding and packaging as well as about data synchronisation,” mr tarlinton said. the company also worked with gs1 Australia to develop a suite of message implementation guide(migs) for emessaging.

“we ran forums, had one-on-one meetings and worked with industry groups and gs1 Australia. gs1net is our preferred data synchronisation platform and we worked with the Australian Auto Aftermarket Association (AAAA) and gs1 Australia to configure gs1net to meet the needs of the industry,” he said.

When The SupercheAp AuTO GrOup GAve TheIr Supply chAIn A Tune up, They Turned TO The GS1 STAndArdS fOr The TOOlS TO GeT IT runnInG AT MAxIMuM effIcIency. TWelve MOnThS lATer One Of TheIr Key Supply chAIn perfOrMAnce IndIcATOrS ShOWed A 60 per cenT IMprOveMenT.

GS1 STANDARDS PUTSUPERCHEAP AUTO

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trading in a global environment has meant that the company’s traceability processes need to be foolproof. to ensure a robust and efficient supply chain, resmed has implemented the gs1 system of standards throughout its business.

graeme scott, resmed’s director of logistics, said the implementation of the gs1 system had led to an overall improvement in visibility of the supply chain and greater efficiency.

the company sources a large volume of component parts from both local and overseas suppliers, hence the management of goods inward is vitally important. every part received is uniquely identified and has a gs1-128 bar code applied. the gs1 bar codes are scanned to record the part’s storage location for quick and easy retrieval.

From its Australian facilities, resmed produces thousands of masks per day. the main raw material for these masks is silicone, imported from the us. on completion, each mask is marked with a gs1-128 bar code containing an internal identification number.

sleep-disordered breAthing (sdb) AFFects Around 20 per cent oF the Adult populAtion, mAking it As widespreAd As diAbetes or AsthmA. in August 2008 an Australian study, from researchers at sydney’s woolcock institute for medical research, found that obstructive sleep apnea – in which the airways repeatedly constrict during sleep, starving the brain of oxygen – increases the risk of death independently of other factors. health professionals have called for the medical profession and the general public to take this potentially deadly disease seriously.

Australian company resmed has been taking sleep apnea very seriously since the company was established in 1989. resmed develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products for the treatment and management of respiratory disorders and has a special focus on products to treat sleep-disordered breathing.

in Australia it manufactures a range of approximately 400 health products such as masks, flow generators and diagnostic and medical data management equipment. there is such a global demand for resmed products that it sells them in more than 70 countries with 97 per cent of resmed’s products exported.

STAndArdS help fIGhT deAdly Sleep dISOrder

INdUSTRy FEATURE

An AuSTrAlIAn cOMpAny IS helpInG The MedIcAl WOrld TAcKle A pOTenTIAlly fATAl dISOrder WITh A rAnGe Of InnOvATIve prOducTS. ITS MAnufAcTurInG And MArKeTInG prOceSSeS Are underpInned by A rObuST GlObAl Supply chAIn And The GS1 STAndArdS.

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“resmed has certainly realised some valuable business benefits from using the gs1 system,” said gs1 Australia’s industry manager

– healthcare, tania snioch. “in the healthcare sector, where patient safety and quality of healthcare provisions are the key focus, having an efficient supply chain is extremely important.”

resmed is keen to remain aware of new technologies and processes for supply chain management. As a corporate member of gs1 Australia, the company has leveraged some of gs1 Australia’s education and training services to do just that.

working with joseph taylor, senior Advisor – industry management, the complete resmed supply chain team attended a session at gs1’s sydney-based supply chain knowledge centre. during this session, gs1 Australia helped resmed understand the future possibilities for even more comprehensive use of the gs1 system within its supply chain. this included the use of the traditional gs1 standards, such as identification and bar coding, as well as the possibility for introduction of newer standards such as direct part marking (bar coding) for individual item traceability, and the gs1 standards for radio Frequency identification.

“resmed has been keen to use its gs1 Australia membership entitlements and to actively work with us,” mr taylor said. “it is in this sort of collaborative environment that we feel that gs1 Australia is best able to support our members. i look forward to gs1 Australia continuing to work with this organisation on such a proactive basis.”

“sleep apnea is such a debilitating condition, it is important that sufficient time and effort are spent to keep developing the treatment patients receive, and also to ensure the availability of treatment equipment.

“Addressing the latter, resmed will continue to work closely with gs1 Australia to understand and implement further standards-based supply chain management techniques,” mr scott said.

“the possibilities for future supply chain improvement, and ultimately providing best service to our trading partners and end customers, are endless and we will continue to work to harness these.”

in its general manufacturing plant, where flow generators, humidifiers and diagnostic equipment are constructed, resmed handles some 150 work orders every day. products manufactured are identified with a gs1 global trade item number (gtin) and a lot number in a gs1-128 bar code. in the past the company would manually close work orders in two to three days. now with the gs1 system in place and using bar code scanning processes a work order down to pallet level can be completed within ten minutes.

this system has also meant the company can process work orders for multiple countries with products labelled specifically for different regions to meet traceability and regulatory requirements.

pallets of products that are moved out of the manufacturing plant to resmed’s warehouses are labelled with a serial shipping container code (sscc) ensuring the company can track inventory movements. in a recent receiving trial at one of its overseas warehouses resmed was able to process ten pallets in just twenty minutes using ssccs, a process that used to take two hours.

“we have greater component traceability with this system as well as efficient tracking,” mr scott said.

“In the healthcare sector, where patient safety and quality of healthcare provisions are the key focus, having an efficient supply chain is extremely important.”

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THINKING OUTSIDE

THE SqUArE

INdUSTRy FEATURE

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When Asian food specialist Oriental Merchant adopted the GS1 standards to manage their supply chain, with some clever lateral thinking they put in place solutions to deliver end-to-end efficiencies from suppliers right through to their customers.

PAYS OFF.oriental merchant is an Australian success story in one of the fastest growing consumer markets in the country – Asian groceries. in 1975, when the third generation of the yiu family of grocers from hong kong opened for business in melbourne, their business, hong oriental, was amongst the first to bring the trade of Asian groceries to Australia.

in 1990 it merged with china merchants to become oriental merchant pty. ltd., committed to making authentic Asian grocery lines accessible and affordable in Australia. today it supplies over 2,100 Australian supermarkets nationally and has supply partnerships with every major chain as well as servicing 95 per cent of the Asian grocery retailers in Australia.

to maintain the highest level of service oriental merchant has built an innovative, customer-responsive supply chain. this is especially impressive given theirs is a complex supply chain with products sourced in many countries and their logistics teams have to factor in lead times, shipping and transport considerations, customs regulations and quarantine requirements. oriental merchant now also operates as an importer and wholesaler in new Zealand and in europe making efficient supply chain management a truly global challenge.

the company’s buyers monitor stock levels on a daily basis to gauge fluctuations and trends in purchasing patterns. they have a strict selection process and their Asian manufacturers’ premises are checked regularly and their processes documented by oriental merchant’s regulatory and purchasing team. to maintain on-going quality assurance oriental merchant’s food wholesaling practices include national product recall protocol and their food safety committee ensures product safety through an hAccp Australia Food safety Accreditation program. the company also works closely with Australia’s Quarantine and inspection service to ensure products comply with import conditions.

underpinning this supply chain efficiency are the global gs1 standards of numbering, bar coding, data synchronisation

and emessaging. Fundamental to supply chain integrity and efficiency, they “aim for 100 per cent success rate for the scanning of all products”, according to oriental merchant’s sales support manager, Andrew bond. to support this process, oriental merchant has invested in becoming a gs1-accredited supplier, and has in-house systems and processes in place for the self-regulation and issuing of bar code verification reports to the gs1 Australia standards.

ensuring product and pricing information is accurate, up to date and readily available to customers is also critical. “All information on our listed products is now published on gs1net and we are actively engaged in emessaging, exchanging purchase orders, purchase order acknowledgements and dispatch advices with major retailer clients,” Andrew said.

At the heart of this efficiency lie the gs1 bar codes, and the team at oriental merchant quickly saw that they could harness the gs1 system to work more efficiently upstream with their suppliers as well as ensuring packaging compliance for their customers.

“we began a process of education with our many suppliers in Asia to explain that if they wanted to have their products in Australian supermarkets, they would have to use a gs1 bar code and ensure it was correctly printed and positioned on their packaging.

“we helped them with this process to eliminate warehouse and pos errors and they could see the benefits of minimum wastage of resources and time,” Andrew said.

For oriental merchant the gs1 system ensures products can be tracked in and out of their distribution centre as well as being essential for traceability.

“data capture in our warehouse management system is done through gs1 bar coding. Also, all products must have a use-by date and this information is stored on

a database and printed on the serial shipping container codes (ssccs) that go out to the major retailers. if we have a product recall we can tell immediately what product is in which store.”

while oriental merchant’s logistics team was kicking goals with the major retailers, they also applied some clever lateral thinking to use the gs1 system to address supply and stock issues with the smaller Asian grocery retailers, many of whom were family businesses without the support of large it systems for emessaging.

“our sales teams now all travel with portable bar code scanners and when they visit these small businesses they are able to scan stock on the shelf. downloading this data into the oriental merchant warehouse management system database provides valuable inventory information which we are able to share with our smaller customers and help these retailers to manage their stock holdings and ordering better. it is a win-win situation because we are able to reduce our cost of doing business with smaller companies by eliminating paper-based orders and potential data errors. they optimise their sales by having the right products on the shelf and reducing their out-of-stocks,” Andrew said.

thanks to this ability to think outside the square about supply chain efficiency, oriental merchant has given Asian ingredients a presence and identity on supermarket shelves and in households throughout Australia.

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INdUSTRy FEATURE

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For an Australian family-owned company, implementing the GS1 System within the red meat supply chain has delivered efficiencies as well as tangible savings.

INdUSTRy FEATURE

meat and livestock Australia (mlA) is a producer-owned company promoting the quality, safety and nutritional value of Australian red meat, in Australia and globally. the company is working to develop a competitive advantage for the industry through the red meat supply chain and has initiated a number of projects with the industry aimed at endorsing the use of open standards and the uptake of the gs1 system. collectively these cover cattle production, meat processing, transport, domestic and export distribution.

in the past year mlA partnered with the Australian meat processor corporation (Ampc), the national body representing all processors active in the red meat processing industry, and nolan meats to integrate the gs1 system along the red meat supply chain. nolan meats is an Australian family company and an integrated producer, wholesaler and distributor of beef and owns feedlots, a processing plant and off-site cold storage.

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to carry out the project nolan meats needed to implement gs1 numbering and bar coding and implement eAncom-compliant messaging systems within its own operations as well as with its business associates, to provide a fully compliant gs1 system. the project was based on three linked stages:• a review of the company’s

systems and determination of benchmarks

• the implementation of existing systems and equipment to use gs1-compliant numbering systems

• the implementation of eAncom-compliant messaging systems

project coordinator timothy discher, of nolan meats, said the audit of the company’s system (largely paper-based with basic communication between trading partners) identified areas needing improvement, particularly the double entry of data.

As part of the process the time and costs that would be saved at each data point were identified to give a framework to the improvements that may be expected using the gs1 system.

“the gs1 system demonstrated the potential to significantly reduce the number of documents through combining national vendor declarations, meat standard Australia declarations and national Feedlot Accreditation scheme declarations into one electronic format,” mr discher said. “it can also notify consignors of the receipt of cattle electronically, send producer feedback, generate electronic meat transfer certificates, send consignment information to major customers and distributors, and receive notification of receipt of goods by customers.”

the audit identified that the gs1 bar codes needed would be significantly larger than the existing non-gs1 bar codes and that the gs1 numbers and old product codes would need to co-exist in the system for a period of time necessitating the need for equipment and data systems to be able to handle both simultaneously. consequently a number of issues needed to be addressed:• Labels needed to be redesigned

to provide for the larger gs1-128 bar code

• New labels would be required for both slaughter floor (hanging labels) and boning room (carton labels)

• GS1 Global Trade Item numbers(gtins) needed to be allocated to products

• Software needed to be modified and upgraded to handle the new gtins and the co-existence of the original product codes and new gtins

• New printers were required to print the new labels

• Staff training in the new systems and product identification would be required to ensure a smooth implementation

the change in the bar codes on the labels was significant. the information applied in the gs1 bar codes had 44 numbers encoded compared with the 16 numbers requiring finer lines to fit onto the labels. there was some concern it would be difficult to read the codes without error in the same time as the old bar codes. on this basis the bar codes were made wider, new printers installed and an extensive program of testing undertaken.

with the gs1 bar codes, systems and labels in place the company was ready to move on to implementing eAncom for emessaging and communicating between systems on different sites and with other companies.

the ultimate goal of the new system was to allow nolan meats to replace the paper-based system with a wholly electronic system. to do this a number of documents needed to be redesigned to fit the new systems and provide traceability for the product through the supply chain.

with the implementation of electronic messaging, nolan meats found the flow of information to be much faster, allowing data to be sent ahead of loads and removing double data entry from the supply chain.

the eAncom messaging system is based on email systems giving it a simple and universal interface while requiring very little bandwidth making it suitable for communication with producers on dial-up lines.

the implementation of the gs1 numbering system and bar codes along with eAncom messaging provides nolan meats with a globally recognised system of coding products while reducing operating costs and labour and eliminating paper documents. this improved the accuracy and timeliness of data internally and the company’s interaction with suppliers and customers.

overall the benefits derived include the timely arrival of accurate data, standard descriptions and numbering between organisations, reduction in data input errors and the reduction in the use of paperwork and forms. the company was also able to realise real savings as illustrated in the tables below.

reSULTS

cattlE Dispatch anD rEcEiving (for 100 hEaD of cattlE)

time Spent task Without GS1 System Actual with GS1 System Saved

1. record induction of (100 x 40 sec) (100 x 30 sec) $20.00 cattle with weights, 67 minutes 50 minutes vendor’s nvDs, market access and drugs used for individual animals

2. produce waybill, 20 minutes (per lot) 5 minutes (per lot) $5.00 nvD,Msa,nfas Declarations. records kept and filed for

required period

3. reconcile load and 10 minutes (per lot) 5 minutes (per lot) $5.00 acknowledge receipt

transfErring bEtwEEn abattoir anD colDstorE (for 672 cartons)

time Spent task Without GS1 System Actual with GS1 System Saved

1. scan cartons to truck (672 x 0.12) (672 x 0.12) from abattoir $80.64 $80.64 $0.00

2. prepare Mtc for coldstore $5.00 $2.00 $3.00

3. scan cartons into coldstore (672 x 0.12) (672 x 0.12) $0.00 $80.64 $80.64

4. complete Mtc and $5.00 $0.00 $5.00 return to abattoir

5. reconcile Mtc and file $5.00 $2.00 $3.00

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The AuSTrAlIAn lIquOr SecTOr hAS been WOrKInG WITh GS1 AuSTrAlIA TO puT In plAce A nuMber Of IMpOrTAnT buIldInG blOcKS TO enAble The InduSTry TO IMpleMenT A beST-prAcTIce lIquOr Supply chAIn.

the key to efficient servicing of consumers is supplying the right products, in the right quantity, at the right time and place with a minimum of effort. this demands a highly responsive supply chain in which all participants have easy, rapid access to information.

As the Australian liquor sector strives to meet these high levels of customer service, it must also deal with the impact of an increasingly global liquor industry and a rapidly evolving retail environment. increased supply chain efficiencies, reduced costs and added value for consumers are crucial at this time. to achieve this, the Australian liquor sector has been working with gs1 Australia to put in place a number of important building blocks to enable the industry to implement a best-practice liquor supply chain.

Liquor Industry advisory Groupin june this year gs1 Australia and the liquor sector organised a series of successful liquor industry roadshows in melbourne, Adelaide and sydney. these meetings brought together Australia’s major

liquor retailers, wholesalers, industry associations and government agencies to present and discuss their ebusiness strategies and the industry’s implementation of the gs1 standards. product identification, bar coding, emessaging, data synchronisation and practical implementation for business-critical activities also were discussed.

As a result of these meetings retailers and associations from the liquor sector, with gs1 Australia, formed a new industry group called the liquor industry Advisory group. the aim of the group is to drive the implementation of the gs1 system in the Australasian liquor sector with a focus on the full set of gs1 standards, including reviewing numbering and bar coding guidelines, harmonisation of electronic messages (edi) and increased uptake of global data synchronisation using gs1net. the group also will look at future initiatives such as the use of electronic product code/ radio Frequency identification standards.

participating retailers and associations include liquor merchants Association of Australia (lmA), woolworths ltd, Australian liquor marketing, coles, Australian wine and brandy corporation, wine Federation Australia packaging committee, lion nathan, pernod ricard, suntory, constellation wines and vinpac international.

gs1 Australia industry Advisor rachel kairuz said gs1 Australia is also working with lmA to organise a liquor industry open day in sydney in march 2009 to educate members of the liquor sector about gs1net and the benefits of data synchronisation.

INdUSTRy FEATURE

BUILDING A ROBUST LIQUOR SUPPLY CHAIN

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ranked as the number one Queensland privately owned agribusiness company, Acc’s vertically integrated beef and veal supply chain operation with its paddock-to-plate philosophy and disciplines has enabled them to remain coles supermarkets’ beef supplier for more than 35 years.

the company has 26 cattle stations and two registered feedlots and their cannon hill central processing facility can process 1,000 head per day with a further process and retail pack capacity of 800,000 kg per week. their forecast Fy09 primary processing production is in excess of 55 million kg, plus 28 million kg of value-added and retail-ready meat products.

A paddock-to-plate supply chain uses gs1 standards to deliver livestock supply security, livestock health and welfare management, breed selection and specification control. in the paddock rFid ear tags are used to gather data for a national livestock database traceability system along with a dnA trace-back capability for genetic performance identification and recording of sires for carcass qualities.

loading and transport of stock is tracked from cattle stations through to feedlots and then the processing plant with etransfer of stock movement monitored in a central database.

AustrAliAn country choice (Acc) is using the gs1 stAndArds to deliver top-QuAlity beeF From their QueenslAnd cAttle stAtions to the consumers in coles supermArkets

Landmark asks suppLiers to use Gs1 Bar CodeslAndmArk, AustrAliA’s lArgest distributor oF Agribusiness merchAndise And Fertiliser, hAs sent A letter to over 1,500 oF their suppliers reQuesting them to AllocAte And print gs1 bAr code numbers (gtins) on All products supplied to them.

daniela costantino, merchandise support coordinator, landmark, said: “landmark initially received a mixed response from suppliers to the request.

“however, many of our suppliers do appreciate the need and importance of bar coding to the landmark business as well as their own.”

A leading agribusiness company, landmark offers merchandise, fertiliser, farm services, wool, livestock, finance, insurance and real estate and has 2,000 employees servicing 100,000 clients in a national network of around 400 locations.

the letter explains that landmark operations will soon be implementing a point-of-sale scanning system throughout its 240-plus regional stores with trials commencing late in 2008.

suppliers to landmark will be required to allocate gs1 bar code numbers and to print these bar codes on their products. representatives from landmark are contacting suppliers to request bar coding information. At the same time they will also take the opportunity to validate product master data such as codes, descriptions, weight, volume and unit of measure data etc.

the product master data and the gs1 bar code number (also known as a gtin, eAn, Apn) will become an integral component of a supplier’s product data and must be provided when submitting new product data information to landmark.

gs1 Australia industry manager john szabo said gs1 Australia would assist all suppliers in complying with landmark’s requirements. “our industry management team and gs1 help desk can help with this process. suppliers should contact us on 1300 366 033.”

gs1 bar codes and emessaging standards are used throughout the processing plant, in the dispatch to cold storage and into stores to ensure hygiene and food-safety management controls, process flexibility, product specification management and product tracking control.

Acc ceo david Foote said electronic data capture was faster and more accurate, ensured product and process traceability, decreased costs and minimised mistakes as well as delivering regulatory efficiencies. overall, managing inventory was much easier. “A bar code system can easily gather information that would be difficult or impossible to gather in other ways. this means faster access to production inventory and sales information to assist with better decision making,” he said.

gs1 industry manager Andrew steele said Acc had been a standards pioneer as it was one of the first in the Australian meat industry to implement gs1 bar coding at carton and carcass level and to use it in asset tracking. “with the support of meat & livestock Australia through numerous proof-of-concept projects they have implemented a true “paddock- to-plate” tracking and traceability system.”

STANdArdS delIver excelleNce froM pAddock To plATe 25

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GLOBALNEWS

the indian retail sector is growing and changing very rapidly and is expected to exceed $950 billion turnover by 2015 with a 300 million plus upwardly mobile middle-class consumer base. this presents unique opportunities for retailers and manufacturers in terms of servicing consumers, new distribution channels and the impact of technology.

the global commerce initiative, supported by gs1 india and capgemini, organised a one-day workshop in september in mumbai, india, to deliberate on global trends, predict scenarios and create a forward plan on the vision for the “value chain of the Future”.

the meeting drew industry leaders representing retailers, manufacturers, distributors and trade organisations. efficient consumer response (ecr) india, founded by gs1 india, was acknowledged as the umbrella organisation under which projects could be progressed.

Oil and gas companies develop virtual asset pool using ePCIS

swire oilfield services, Aker solutions and spartan solutions, have jointly announced the world’s first exchange of oil and gas asset information using the electronic product code information service (epcis) global standard. this allows swire and Aker solutions to connect their supply chains and share real-time information using radio Frequency identification (rFid) tags, bar codes and mobile computers. both companies can now see information on their assets as they move beyond the horizon of their depots into bases and on to platforms.

this development has major implications for the oil and gas industry as it allows trusted parties to share transit location, availability, certification and any other equipment status for all items in the supply chain. with demand for energy at an all time high and production costs increasing, early visibility of asset movement will improve production hours for operators and asset utilisation for service providers.

US fresh produce association backs GS1 DataBar

the produce marketing Association (pmA), a us trade association serving the fresh produce and floral supply chains, has released a media release showing the benefits of using gs1 databar in the supply chain for the produce marketing community and its partners.

“the needs of the marketplace are changing, including the need for more information and the ability to track product to a specific grower,” said pmA’s Fleming. “the gs1 databar allows for exactly this, while minimising the impact a new technology can have on members of a supply chain. chances are you have probably already seen the gs1 databar on some apples, bananas, avocados, peppers, tomatoes and other commodities. if you haven’t, don’t be surprised because you soon will.’’ GS1 UK launches Data Quality Initiative

gs1 uk has launched an industry initiative to develop practical solutions for the uk retail supply chain to improve data quality and to build a roadmap to standard data sharing. data quality was identified by ecr uk as an important business issue and gs1 uk will provide a forum for retailers, suppliers and food service operators, to collectively develop a standard approach to sharing common product information.

FOCUS ON INDIAN RETAIL

it also aims to develop a roadmap for implementing global data synchronisation (gds). leading gs1 uk members, including sainsburys, britvic, co-op, morrisons, unilever, nestlé, cadburys, boots, mitchells & butlers and makro have joined the initiative. members of the initiative will begin by developing a strategy to consolidate and standardise core information on demand-side new line forms in the grocery and food service sectors. the group has also set a target for at least two retailers to have adopted the strategy framework by the end of 2008.

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BLAST

pASTfroM thEGS1

AuStrAliA’S 4-WAtt rFiD licence extenDeD

in Australia the radio frequency spectrum is governed by the Australian communications and media Authority (AcmA). ultra high Frequency (uhF) rFid services come under a low interference potential devices (lipd) class licence which currently limits rFid power to 1 watt while much of the world uses 4 watts. robustness of rFid performance is substantially improved with an increase in the allowable power output.

gs1 Australia, in collaboration with leading industry associations and organisations, has been working with AcmA to review whether to amend the licence to allow uhF rFid services to operate up to 4 watts in the 920-926 mhz band.

three years ago AcmA issued a scientific licence to gs1 Australia that enabled the organisation to issue third-party authorisations for the use of site-specific 4-watt power to companies trialling or looking to implement rFid. the purpose of the scientific licence was to gather data to assist AcmA

to determine if an increase in power had any major effect on devices of adjacent users of the spectrum.

gs1 Australia’s extension to the scientific licence allows current holders of a third-party authorisation to continue with their current applications and gs1 Australia will send out renewals shortly, according to sue schmid, general manager of standards development at gs1 Australia.

however, under this extension AcmA will not allow any new third-party authorisations for any sites wishing to use 4 watts. this means that companies not currently licensed to use 4 watts will need to operate within the current 1-watt allowance until the formal licence changes.

gs1 Australia has been granted an extension to its scientific licence allowing the use of radio frequency devices with up to 4 watts of power.

AS repOrTed In APNA NEWS, The neWSleTTer Of The AuSTrAlIAn prOducT nuMber ASSOcIATIOn (nOW GS1 AuSTrAlIA) In June/July 1990:

“The ApnA hAS expAnded ITS STAff And cOMpuTer fAcIlITIeS TO OperATe The InduSTry dATAbASe reSOurce.

“The neW cOMpuTer WhIch hAS been InSTAlled IS A cOMpAq SySTeMprO 386, WITh A 1.6 GIGAbyTe hArd dISK WhIch WIll be fully InTeGrATed WITh The ApnA’S exISITInG MeMberShIp ServIceS.”

Tell us what you think ...

we are interested in your feedback. LiNK’s primary role is to keep our membership informed and up to date on the latest developments in supply chain management and ebusiness.

If you have any ideas, comments, points of view or criticisms, please forward them to editor(at)gs1au.org

TECh hEAd

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GET SMART

Above: working together: simplot employees Attended Four corporAte trAining dAys At gs1 AustrAliA to leArn the bAsics oF supply chAin mAnAgement And the gs1 system.

When it came to supply chain education, Simplot Australia decided on an enterprise-wide approach to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of its employees.

TurNINg TrAININg To coMpeTITIve AdvANTAge

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the company organised four corporate training days at gs1 Australia and asked some 80 employees from different parts of the business to attend.

vince vella, simplot Australia’s national retail customer and demand manager, explained the company’s thinking: “generally speaking supply chains cross many divisions within a business and these divisions tend to operate in silos working only on the functional areas they are responsible for. the training assisted these divisions to understand better the link within the chain they represent and how the other links are reliant on each other.”

simplot Australia employs about 2,000 people at a number of sites throughout Australia, with five manufacturing facilities in bathurst, devonport, echuca, kelso and ulverstone and sales offices in each state as well as in new Zealand. the company, a subsidiary of a us food and agribusiness corporation, is also responsible for the international operations in both south-east Asia and china.

since it was founded in 1995, simplot Australia has acquired some of Australia’s favourite food brand businesses including edgell, chiko, birds eye, harvest, plumrose, and leggo’s.

the gs1 standards are used throughout their supply chain and the gs1 Australia training aimed to give simplot employees an understanding of the theory of the gs1 system as well as practical knowledge.

in both sydney and melbourne employees spent the morning learning about numbering, bar codes, data synchronisation and ecommerce, followed by an afternoon in the supply chain knowledge centre seeing an interactive demonstration of how the supply chain works.

gs1 Australia’s education and training integrator camille dreyfuss said employees gained a much better understanding of how their role fitted into simplot Australia’s supply chain. “you can see the interaction between people

in the room as the understanding grows. Also, when you have a group where everyone is from the same company, they feel more comfortable to ask questions openly,” she said.

more large companies are following the trend and target Australia, premium beverages, paperlinx, heinz and Ab Food & beverage have all participated in successful corporate training days at gs1 Australia.

For simplot the outcome was clear: “i found the training a good way to have all parts of the supply chain understand clearly where each player in the chain sits, what part they play and more importantly what the impacts of their job can have both up and down stream should things not be done correctly,” mr vella said.

Top eNd SITe vISIT IS AN eYe-opeNer

when it comes to training, no business is too small or too far away for the gs1 Australia education team.

she sells orchids to retail giant bunnings and is using gs1 bar codes on her plants. with more than a hectare dedicated to the commercial propagation of orchids, the farm has the largest variety of tropical ephiphytic orchids in the northern territory.

“we arrived at this absolute oasis with palm trees and orchids and there was jenny. her business may be one of our smallest members but she is very dynamic. we went through the basics of the gs1 standards and how to apply a bar code, using gtins and talked about supply chain issues,” camille said.

jenny said the site visit had been very helpful and had made her more aware of the ways she could use the gs1 bar codes. “i thought i could only use them for my bunnings line but i found out that i could use them in my nursery as well.

“i am only a small grower and it was fantastic that they were prepared to come down to the people and speak to small businesses.”

jenny also gave some valuable feedback: she was pleased with the new fee structure as her gs1 subscription fee had been reduced and she felt it was more equitable.

For camille, who hails from France, the trip to the top end, was an eye-opener and not just in terms of the scenery. “in darwin we were training small businesses and the people were all very switched on. it goes to show it doesn’t matter how far you are from sydney or melbourne. it is up to us to be available to them,” she said.

TurNINg TrAININg To coMpeTITIve AdvANTAge

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northern territory orchid farmer jenny bandias received an invitation to attend gs1 Australia training in darwin in August but couldn’t make it on the day. so she contacted the gs1 Australia team to explain the situation and asked if gs1 Australia could come to her howard springs farm instead.

After a very successful darwin training session, camille dreyfuss, education and training integrator, and industry manager tania snioch drove about half an hour south of darwin for a site visit.

jenny is the founding proprietor of jenny's orchid garden which started as a self-taught, home-based hobby in the late 1980s. motivated by sheer passion for growing orchids, jenny set about developing what is now known as one of the best commercial orchid nurseries open to the public in Australia.

ALLiANCE PArtNEr EdITORIAL

Against such a complex backdrop, it pays to use a systems integrator that has a strong technical and systems engineering background with rFid experience.

since 1983, unique micro design (umd) has been solving customers’ needs for data capture and interface, devices and solutions using fixed and mobile terminals for a wide range of intelligent sensor network applications within the supply chain. the company implements “edgeware” products and solutions in rFid, bar coding, mobile computing devices, warehouse terminals, point of sale, wireless infrastructure and payment gateways.

edgeware is a term used for middleware platforms that enable business functions to take place near the “edge” of the network. For example, in rFid, when used near the base or “edge” of the distributed network, edgeware allows the rFid architecture to enable business logic execution at the point of activity and can maintain functionality over low-bandwidth, intermittent networks.

due to the growing complexity of "edgeware" and integration issues, specialised skills are required to collect, manage and interface data between terminal devices and the enterprise software application. to minimise risk, time and cost in implementing rFid projects, umd has developed an effective five-stage process to ensure a rapid project deployment without excessive consultancy costs. the

FIVE STEP PLAN

TO

RFId SUCCESS

WHEN IMPLEMENTING RfID DATA CAPTURE PROjECTS, fACTORS SUCH AS RISk, TIME AND COST MUST BE TAkEN INTO ACCOUNT If THE PROjECT IS TO BE SUCCESSfUL. ISSUES WITH THE RfID READING ENVIRONMENT OR LACk Of COMPLIANCE WITH THE CLASS LICENCE REGULATIONS CAN IMPACT A PROjECT’S SUCCESS OR POTENTIALLY LEAD TO fINES BY THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY (ACMA) WHICH REGULATES THE USE Of RfID SERVICES.

five stages are: proof of concept, workshop, pilot, evaluation and refinement and deployment.

the starting stage of any umd project is with the feasibility of being able to read an rFid-tagged asset. just being able to read an rFid tag on an asset is not sufficient – it is crucial to know the conditions under which a tag can be read as this will determine the eventual solution and architecture. umd’s proof of concept stage, which typically takes a day, provides basic tests with rFid readers and tags in a simulated environment using the actual asset of interest.

if these tests are successful, then a workshop is conducted to help design a feasible solution in consultation with the client. the client’s input is critical to ensure they have an understanding of the operational constraints. A successful workshop will result in an agreed solution and approach.

the pilot phase usually involves the design and implementation of at least one of the rFid reading systems in its final environment. once the equipment has been installed, an evaluation process follows to test the rFid reading system and the tagged assets in the actual environment. the goal is to optimise the performance of the system in its real environment and to ensure adequate read rates are achieved and read errors minimised or eliminated.

once this process has been completed the project is reviewed and, if required, refined based on measured results.

once the pilot rFid tag reading system has been satisfactorily deployed, the remainder of the it infrastructure can be developed, installed and commissioned.

umd managing director and chief solutions Architect, geoffrey ramadan, said the company had developed this five-stage process based on its experience in dealing with potential rFid clients. “invariably clients have some basic experience with rFid, have attended the courses and conferences, have identified a business problem which they see rFid as potentially solving, then ask us ‘now what? ’ with this five-step process, we provide them with a practical methodology which we have developed and follow," he said.

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niL Coder doWntime Best inGredient For FmCG proCessor

ALLiANCE PArtNEr AdVERTORIAL

kerry ingredients is a global manufacturer of food ingredients and flavours, supplying more than 10,000 products in over 140 countries worldwide.

manufacturing at its south windsor plant in nsw was being hampered by coding machine downtime, which was reducing running time between eight and fifteen hours per week, per line.

After trialling equipment from several companies, the company installed two linx 4900s and a linx 6900 from matthews intelligent identification. kerry ingredients’ production manager, gary Farrell, says their process needs were not straightforward.

“we have four different production lines, each running multiple products, with speeds varying from 20 bottles per minute up to 120 twin sachets per minute. we needed the coders to be able to be easily moved between the lines to suit our business dynamic.

because our throughput is quite high, we needed the coders to be efficient and not hamper production,” he said.

kerry prints codes for traceability and legal requirements, including best-before dates, times and allergen declarations.

the 4900s are used on the bottling lines, with one also being used on the single-lane, form fill seal (FFs) machine for sachets, while the 6900 is used on a double-lane FFs sachet machine.

“with the bottle line, the coders sit at the end of the production process, but on the sachet line, the roll unforms itself through the machine, so it is pre-printed, before the sachets are filled,” mr Farrell said.

kerry’s hygiene requirements meant the linxes’ stainless steel enclosures, with no dirt traps, were ideal for wash down. the user-friendly operator interface was an important criterion, and operators find the equipment “very easy, very user friendly, very efficient”.

“that impact on operator training has been important too. being able to train up operators a lot more quickly and smoothly, allows the production line to run a lot more quickly and smoothly,” mr Farrell said.

the lack of downtime has had an immediate and positive impact on productivity and profitability.

the improvement in performance from the plant was in fact so great that they were asked to explain to head office what they had done to achieve these results!

“before installing the linxes, i had a spreadsheet of all our downtime caused by coder failure. now we are down to zero. we are more than happy with our decision,

”mr Farrell said.

when kerry ingredients needed A reliAble, robust, FleXible coder, they turned to mAtthews to eliminAte up to 50 hours oF downtime A month.

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ALLiANCE PArtNEr AdVERTORIAL

iNSiGNiA iNtroDuCES o’NEiL’S miCroFLASH 2tE tHE WorLD’S SmALLESt AND moSt ruGGED AND rELiAbLE 2-iNCH mobiLE PriNtErThe 2te represents the eighth generation of the industry-leading microFlash family and has been designed to be the smallest, highest performance and most reliable printer for mobile applications

insignia, Australia’s leading label manufacturer and thermal printer distributer has released o’neil’s microFlash 2te – the world’s smallest and most rugged and reliable 2-inch wireless portable thermal printer. the 2te is the latest model from o’neil’s legendary microFlash family, which has set a new standard of ultra-rugged reliability for portable thermal printers. the 2te provides a 38 per cent smaller footprint than its closest competitor, and offers all the advanced features available in the 4te mobile printer, which insignia introduced last year and has already become the industry’s leading 4-inch portable thermal printer.

recognising the need for the highest possible reliability and super small casing for field service, route accounting and a number of other mobile printing requirements, o’neil conducted extensive testing to ensure the 2te could withstand the harshest environmental conditions and the most physical abuse, while maintaining the highest performance standards. “the 2te performed flawlessly in conditions that it should never experience in real-life scenarios,” said endre vargha, general manager for o’neil. “the printer is a true powerhouse designed to be the smallest and most reliable 2-inch printer available in the marketplace, and the ideal solution for any mobile application where size ruggedness and reliability are paramount.

“the 2te has been eleven years in the making, and benefits from eight generations of improvements that have been incorporated into the microFlash, which has set the industry standard for printer reliability,” vargha said. “At o’neil, we recognise that in the world of mobile printing, outstanding reliability is a business-critical requirement, because any amount of downtime costs money, reduces productivity and ultimately profits.”

the 2te produces top-quality direct thermal receipts, proofs of delivery and invoices for route accounting, direct store delivery, field service, logistics, home delivery and pre-sale systems. to accommodate the need for faster transaction processing, the 2te printer incorporates a 32-bit risc Arm 9 processor allowing the printer to process complex applications with lightening speed, while enabling the user to enjoy exceptionally high print throughput.

the 2te can print up to 2,240 - 6-inch-long receipts on a single battery charge with automated power-saving sleep and wake-up modes. users can quickly determine the printer’s bluetooth, charging, and power status with the 2te’s external leds, and the external charging capability enhances ease of use in the field. the 2te also includes an optional built-in magnetic stripe card reader allowing the easy processing of credit or debit card payments. the 2te utilises usb to ease integration into new or established applications, and is compatible with a variety of network/remote management software tools. Additional enhancements make media loading and battery handling easier than ever.

For more information contact insignia on 1300 300 373 or visit www.insignia.com.au

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Contact insigniaT 1300 467 446F 1300 780 049E sales@insignia.com.auW www.insignia.com.au

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©20

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Contact insigniaT 1300 467 446F 1300 780 049E sales@insignia.com.auW www.insignia.com.au

The Cure Dmax 290 x 215.indd 1 21/9/08 11:14:40 AM

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ALLiANCE PArtNEr AdVERTORIAL

supply-linQ has been operating in this space as a quality provider of specialist logistics services for 12 years. the company provides floor-ready merchandise services to a large number of suppliers to the retail trade as well as contract logistics services to companies associated with retailing.

clients include some of the biggest names in Australian retailing including myer, target, kmart, big w, david jones, rebel sport and just jeans and the company has operations in sydney and melbourne.

the floor-ready merchandise service is the preparation of goods for retail sale. For example, items are bar coded with the product number, price marked, security tagged and apparel is placed on hangers and packed to store level. this system reduces the overall supply chain costs and minimises manual handling.

combined with electronic supply chain management, it enables product to arrive far more quickly on the shop floor, thereby improving service levels to the retailer's customers.

supply-linQ provides these services to suppliers of products to retailers in sectors such as apparel, cosmetics, footwear to electrical goods. they are the largest provider of innovative scan-packing services of suppliers to retailers in Australia and have implemented etrading with major retailers.

contract logistics services are provided to manufacturers, wholesalers and importers who contract out their logistics requirements such as warehousing, transport and floor-ready merchandise services (Frm©) to a specialist provider.

supply-linQ is a specialist provider of contract logistics services in the retail supply chain. it services include the provision of multi-user warehouses for national brands, dedicated warehouses for multinational companies and supply chain management

including transport, electronic trading, warehousing and floor-ready merchandise. it also offers an on-line warehouse management system for warehousing customers and overflow warehousing and processing services for retailers and their suppliers.

besides freeing up management to concentrate on the core business, outsourcing can also deliver benefits such as improved cash flow and return on assets, a distribution system that adds value to the manufacturing and marketing operations, a platform to enable alliances with retailers to be built through point-of-sale (pos) data back to client and the flexibility to respond quickly to changing market trends without major disruptions to distribution operations.

At an operational level outsourcing can also allow flexibility to increase output for peak periods, complex picking tasks can be managed more efficiently through the application of technology and labour risk can be reduced. by sharing resources with other economies of scale can be leveraged and for international companies, outsourcing logistics ensure a local presence.

with the real-time integration of distribution systems into a client’s 'host' system, supply linQ can enable accurate and timely data reporting with operational key performance indicators (kpis) easily captured and reported and activity-based benchmarking. this also enables total logistics costs to be clearly identified and tracked.

novelty confectionary manufacturer mike and jack decided to outsource their warehousing to supply linQ to cope with their expanding business.

“we continually faced problems of storage, renting another and yet another warehouse to cope with our growing regular and seasonal business,” managing director jack klusa said. “our business is complex, covering many hundreds of items and orders are packed in a variety of forms from pieces to inner boxes to master cartons or pallets.

“we decided to outsource our warehousing and it turned out to be one of the best business decisions we have made, both in the decision to outsource and in our choice of supply linQ as our partner,” he said.

When outsourcing makes centsAS SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGERS COME UNDER PRESSURE TO ENSURE SUPPLY CHAINS ARE COST EffECTIVE AS WELL AS CARBON NEUTRAL, THERE IS AN INCREASING TREND IN BOTH AUSTRALIA AND AROUND THE WORLD TO CONTRACT OUT LOGISTICS SERVICES TO SPECIALIST PROVIDERS SO BUSINESSES CAN CONCENTRATE ON THEIR CORE BUSINESS, LEAVING LOGISTICS TO THE ExPERTS.

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wishes all its members and alliance Partners a haPPy

and safe festive season

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