Primary
Bar Coding in the Primary Sector
Looking for Efficiencies and Productivity Gain
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New Zealand is reliant on the productivity of its Primary sector – and the primary sector is increasingly aware of the contribution that GS1 standards, services and solutions can make. The large Primary retailing operators are moving to adopt best practice in their use GS1 identifiers, bar codes and data management standards. Meanwhile, there is increasing interest in EPCglobal RFID among the producers and marketers of primary products, most notably in the kiwifruit industry. Post-harvest operator EastPack has New Zealand’s first whole-of-operation deployment of this technology. |
GS1 New Zealand is working with CRT, Elders, Farmlands, PGG Wrightson and RD1 – the five large Primary sector retailers – on improving their use of the GS1 System for efficiency and productivity gain. When the retailers’ systems have accurate information on their supply of farming inputs and other products, they are better able to ensure:
- they have the right items in stock.
- pricing is correct.
- re-ordering occurs in the right quantities at the right times.
When farmers and growers are supplied with their requirements with market efficiency, the financial benefits flow in all directions. But inaccurate product information in Primary sector retailing leads to client dissatisfaction, lost sales and the need for costly in-store reconciliations. In late 2008, GS1 New Zealand did research at sample stores on their use of bar coding and GS1 identifiers. It was found that7% of bar codes on products did not scan at point-of-sale (much higher that comparable rates in Grocery and Hardware).
Industry Call to Action
In early 2009, four of the primary sector retailers (Farmlands, Elders, PCG Wrightson, CRT Co-operative) distributed a sector letter to suppliers encouraging them to use GS1 standards for standard identification and bar coding, and to seek verification of their bar codes from GS1 New Zealand.
Electronic Commerce
NZ Rural Trading Sector - Advanced Trading Solution
The sector have come together to define a standards based trading solution. The proposed solution makes trading processes between participants electronic and automatic, with standardised methods for exchanging information and documents. The objectives are to cut costs, especially those arising from current paper-based, and enable greater collaboration between trading companies and suppliers (with no reduction in competition across the sector). All the while ensuring the foundations of accurate product and location identification and supporting data quality are in place to support these and further reaching benefits within the sector.
The proposed solution contains three core components:
- Globally unique identification of products, companies, and locations using GS1 identifiers.
- Ongoing synchronisation of global standardised product data between suppliers and their customers using GS1net.
- Automation of order management processes commencing with electronic purchase order and invoices, using GS1 Ecom standards and First For Farming electronic document exchange network.
On the 19th August 2010, GS1 NZ held a rural supplier briefing in Wellington. This briefing provided a comprehensive overview of the proposed solution. For information please visit this page.
Below are some more relevant links and documents surrounding this initiative:
- Outline of the initiative and how to get started
- GS1net data requirements for synchronising product master data. (What is GS1net?)
- Industry data requirements and business rules for exchanging electronic purchase orders and invoices via the First for Farming (F4F) network.
Primary and EPCGlobal
There is huge potential for using EPCglobal RFID in the Primary sector, both on-farm and in processing facilities, to increase operating efficiency and top enable traceability. The latter becomes increasingly important for a food-exporting nation reliant on access to markets worldwide.
GS1 New Zealand had a major role in establishing a robust EPCglobal RFIDsystem within the 42-coolstore network of kiwifruit post-harvest operator EastPack.
Read about the EastPack adoption of EPCglobal RFID. Also learn about The Efficacy of Using the EPCglobal Network for Livestock Traceability: A Proof of Concept
GS1 is also providing insight and professional expertise for the potential adoption of EPCglobal RFID within New Zealand’s National Animal Identification and Traceability (NAIT) system. See Tools and Resources section for more information.
Also, read up on GS1 NZ's Submission to NAIT for livestock ID
