Business Processes Get Clearer In New GS1 US Visibility White Paper

Food and CPG companies are improving processes by leveraging existing standards investments.

Orlando, FL: A new white paper from GS1 US explains in practical, non-technical terms how organizations can gain better visibility into common business processes and what business benefits they can achieve by leveraging the GS1 US Visibility Framework.

The not-for-profit standards group released the paper here at its annual U Connect LIVE conference for users of supply-chain standards.

The paper is titled “Using GS1 Visibility Data to Improve Business Processes.” It describes how companies in multiple industries can leverage GS1 standards with widely used technologies and practices such as barcodes, RFID, electronic data interchange (EDI) and data synchronization to improve business processes. The process areas covered include store operations, production and logistics planning, and track-and-trace.

More than 1 million companies in 150 countries use GS1 standards, but many have not taken full advantage of the GS1 US Visibility Framework to gain visibility into operations and improve efficiency.

Readers will learn about the Framework, an integrated suite of GS1 global standards used to identify, capture and share information about items, locations and events. Well-known standards within the Framework include the U.P.C./EAN barcode format, Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and Electronic Product Code (EPC) numbers, Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) and multiple EDI and XML messaging and data standards.

The white paper provides use-case examples of how organizations can use standards and technologies supported within the Framework to automate and improve multiple business processes, including:

  • Inventory monitoring;
  • Cycle counting;
  • Ordering;
  • Receiving;
  • Promotion execution;
  • Work-in-process tracking;
  • Production planning;
  • Logistics planning;
  • Traceability;
  • Cold chain compliance;
  • Recall management;
  • Returns authorization;
  • Asset tracking;
  • Dwell time analysis.

The use-case examples are supported with data and recommendations from recent independent research that has found links between standards use and improved business performance.

“This white paper will help make companies more aware of the benefits and opportunities available to them by gaining visibility from many of the technologies and standards they already have in place,” says Laura DiSciullo, Vice President of Solutions and Marketing, GS1 US. “It presents ideas for how the Visibility Framework can improve a company’s business processes, both internal and external, throughout the supply chain.”

Many of the concepts presented in the white paper will be covered in depth at the U Connect LIVE conference and exhibition, taking place May 31 – June 3, 2011 at the Orlando World Center Marriott. More than 1,200 professionals from industries including apparel and footwear, consumer packaged goods/grocery, fresh foods, foodservice, general merchandise, and healthcare will converge to learn how to use new and existing standards to address emerging and evolving issues.

For more information on the Global Visibility Framework, or to download the white paper, please visit www.gs1us.org/visibility.

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