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Bar Code Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What's involved in becoming accredited?
- A GS1 New Zealand consultant will visit you and conduct a one-day training session for the person designated as your bar code coordinator, for that person's reserve and for anyone else who would benefit from this initial phase.
- The GS1 New Zealand consultant and your coordinator will then plan how to achieve accreditation in your workplace.
- To become accredited, your systems must ensure that everyone involved in creating GS1 numbers or producing bar code symbols does their job according to the GS1 Specifications, and that verification testing is carried out on all bar codes.
- Accreditation is granted once those systems are in place and working well, and once supporting documentation is in place to describe your procedures and to provide an audit trail.
Q: What do you cover in the initial training?
- The typical initial training day covers:
  - the range of products and services available from the GS1 system and from GS1 New Zealand
  - the GS1 numbering system explanation, demonstration, practice in making up numbers and number strings, calculation of check digits
  - the various GS1 bar-code symbologies used in retail, distribution and logistics (including GS1-128 bar codes)
  - any current industry guidelines relevant to your company (for example, the Australasian grocery industry guidelines, Canadian liquor import labelling requirements, European Union guidelines for beef/fresh produce imports)
  - GS1 Specifications for bar code types, sizes and locations
  - introduction to new technologies that may be relevant to the company's activities.
  - design considerations size, colour, packaging implications
  - printing issues direction of print, substrates, gloss, etc.
  - verification what it is, how it is done, the ISO verification standard, why ISO verification is superior to scan-checking and to other verification methods
  - practical coaching in the use of the verifier
  - how to use verification results to diagnose bar code quality.
Q: How long will it take from the time we're trained to the time our company is accredited?
- That depends largely on the priority you give the project. Companies with well-developed quality assurance systems find it quick and easy to incorporate GS1's procedures into their existing systems. One such company was ready for accreditation six weeks after the training day, while others have taken six months or so.
Q: We only supply labels or printed packaging to clients. They tell us what numbers to use, and they specify the symbology. Why do we have to do all of the training?
- Accreditation means that you can help your clients by being knowledgeable about the entire numbering and bar-coding system. Printers and designers in particular benefit from being able to advise clients who might otherwise incorrectly specify such things as symbology or bar-code size. Being accredited gives print and packaging suppliers a powerful marketing advantage over their non-accredited competitors.
Q: What paperwork is involved?
- Each company will differ, but the required documentation typically looks like this:
  - the ACERT Accreditation Manual (supplied by GS1 New Zealand)
  - your company's GS1 Quality Manual (or your existing quality system documentation with appropriate GS1-related content added)
  - a statement of the company's policy on the GS1 system, articulating the company's full compliance with GS1 International Specifications
  - a statement of training policy indicating that relevant training will be routinely provided to relevant staff and that updates to the Specifications will be communicated to them
  - detailed instructions for the verification testing of bar codes on receipt (for outsourced packaging) and upon production (for bar codes produced on-site)
  - instructions for the use, calibration and care of the verification equipment (usually as supplied by the vendor)
  - instructions for selecting the correct symbology for the product and its scanning environment
  - procedures for managing complaints received and non-compliance observed, including instructions on how to manage non-compliant stock
  - evidence that the company's QA and internal audit systems incorporate the GS1 system
  - evidence that records will be kept to enable audits by GS1 New Zealand
  - references to GS1-related responsibilities included in the relevant job descriptions
  - references to GS1-related duties in the relevant standard operating procedures.
Q: My company operates out of several sites. Do they all have to be accredited?
- Each site that originates bar codes is accredited separately. This ensures that all stages of number creation and bar-code production are captured by the quality assurance systems and audit trails. Fees for multi-site accreditation are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Q: Do we have to buy a verifier?
- Probably, but there are alternatives. You must verify samples of all print runs of labels or packaging: either by doing the tests yourself, sending samples to GS1 for testing, or sourcing your labels and packaging only from accredited suppliers who will have done the tests for you.
Q: What sort of verifier should be used?
- Any verifier that complies with ISO/CEN Standards 15416 and 15426-1 is acceptable. Note that you may need to use as many as three different types of scanner with your verifier, depending on how many types of bar code you are testing. This is because different light apertures are required in the scanner depending on the type and/or size of bar code that you are verifying.
Q: What will a verifier cost?
- Depending on the equipment you buy and the number of accessories you need, the cost is likely to be from around $2000 to $9000.
Q: Why can't I just get my bar codes from an accredited supplier and then consider myself accredited?
- The accreditation programme is not just about bar-code quality. It's also about:
  - the correctness and integrity of the numbering system(and you, not your printer, allocate the numbers)
  - choosing the correct symbology
  - placing the bar code correctly on products
  - staying current with all industry requirements for your use of bar codes.
- An accredited printer's report can only cover the actual print quality. If you don't specify the bar code correctly in the first place, your printer may do an excellent job of printing a bar code that is incorrect. Also your printer may provide you with excellent bar codes but you may do something that changes them in the course of preparing your product for market e.g. distorting the package, allowing product colour to show through and affect reflective properties etc.
Q: Once I'm accredited, can I guarantee that my bar codes will scan everywhere in the world every time?
- Accreditation demonstrates that you have done absolutely everything in your power to achieve that outcome. Other variables like the age and condition of the scanner being used, operator technique, ambient light and shipping damage to your products might cause bar-code failure even when you do everything right. Even so, accreditation demonstrates to the world that your numbering and bar-code practices are world-class.
Q: Some of our products are already in the market with bar codes that don't comply totally with GS1 specifications, but that seems to be working fine. Do we have to change all of these labels even though they're not causing problems?
- An accredited company must be committed to total compliance, but that doesn't mean you need to change labels that are working in the marketplace immediately. Once you are accredited, your licence agreement requires you to introduce only compliant bar codes on new products. Existing labels should become totally compliant at the next reasonable opportunity, such as when a routine label change takes place.
Q: My company operates in Australia and New Zealand. Is accreditation in one country good in the other?
- Yes. Accreditation granted in one country is recognised in the other, as are verification reports issued by any accredited company. However, a New Zealand accreditation does not entitle the Australian branch of the same company to hold itself out as GS1 accredited. Most trans-Tasman companies entering the programme are enrolling their Australian and New Zealand sites together.
Q: Is accreditation recognised internationally, beyond Australasia?
- Your accreditation will be understood globally as evidence of the excellence of your numbering and bar code practices. Some individual companies may still impose their own checks on your bar codes. For example some major retailers such as Wal-Mart and Sainsbury operate their own bar code testing services (but they test against the GS1 Specifications so your accredited status will ensure that your bar codes will pass.
- Within Australasia, however, accreditation entitles you to issue your own verification reports that will be recognised as being equivalent to those issued by GS1.
Q: So what do the accreditation fee and the subsequent licence fee cover?
- The fees cover:
  - training
  - specimen quality system documentation that you can quickly and easily adapt to your situation, saving many hours of design and writing
  - the GS1 Accreditation Manual
  - guidance with your setting up of internal systems
  - help-desk support throughout the set-up
  - at least one subsequent site visit for guidance and review
  - assistance in equipment selection
  - assistance in communicating your quality requirements to your suppliers
  - licensing to use the Accredited Company logo and produce verification reports
  - on-going access to the consultant
  - on-going help-desk support
  - immediate updates on any changes to the GS1 standards or to any relevant industry guidelines
  - rolling reviews of your systems and quality checks of your bar codes by GS1 New Zealand to underpin and validate your accreditation.
Q: Does the fee cover all of the subsequent assistance from EAN New Zealand?
- Yes, within reasonable limits. We would negotiate a separate consultancy fee if you had on-going issues that took our resources away from other members. For example, guidance over the telephone about documentation would not incur a charge, but writing the documentation for you would be regarded as a separate consultancy service.
Q: Isn't the accreditation programme really just for big companies?
- Definitely not! It is a quality assurance programme that works for all companies to enhance their status and the image of their products by demonstrating excellence in product numbering and bar-coding. Accreditation is second to none for assurance against the financial and other costs of product rejection or an incomplete recall of faulty products.
- For packaging suppliers and printers, the programme demonstrates to the market that you have mastered the quality requirements of the GS1 system and will reliably provide a superior product. Human resource managers will recognise it as a first-class investment in staff training.
- From any perspective, the accreditation programme is a wise investment for a business of any size.
- There are currently over 80 companies either accredited or in the process of becoming accredited. Some of these companies might be your competitors!