GS1 India: A Standards Organisation

When a consumer walks into a retail outlet or search online to purchase a product, s(he) ignores the most important aspect of the product — its barcode number, which is printed on product labels. These labels also comprise of some details pertaining to the product — like manufacturing date, expiry date (if it’s a consumable), batch number along with the retail product price. Barcode numbers starting with prefix ‘890’ consists of a GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) which is a global standard widely used in the retail sector. The barcode number is linked to an external tool which holds additional information about the product that the label presents. Simply put, these barcodes link back all the information about the product all through the chain — when it was manufactured, the batch it was manufactured in, the date, the time, its packaging details, etc. In India, the platform which acts as a national repository to accurate & authentic product information is called DataKart...

GS1 is a global standards organisation that develops and maintains standards to improve efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across the globe. GS1 standards enable businesses to uniquely identify, accurately capture and seamlessly share information on products, logistics units, locations, entities, documents and services across supply and demand chains. Most commonly, these standards are used in  assigning barcode numbers  to consumer items. They also enable several applications, such as product authentication, POS checkout, online selling, stock availability, track & trace, product recall, real-time stocks monitoring, and more. GS1 standards are open, neutral and technology agnostic, enabling companies of all sizes and complexities to use — send and receive data in the supply chain, and hence, gain visibility and exchange information. By the use of global  GS1 standards  across the supply chain, organisations can significantly cut down on adminis...

Today, the collection of reliable, up-to-date information on retail products is a challenge for retailers, online shopping websites and app providers. This is especially because there is no standard format/no fixed product attributes that are required by each retail sector player. This is despite the fact that this accurate and trusted product information is vital to managing daily retail operations like merchandise ordering, supplies receipts, planogramming, FIFO management, stock monitoring, new product introductions, promotions, etc. Need for detailed, updated information The information required to manage day-to-day retail operations includes detailed product attribute information, such as its net weight, gross weight, dimensions, price, action and deactivation dates, description, etc., along with product images. For small brand owners, a more streamlined approach to collecting and mentioning product information can help them list their products faster with multiple retailers/...

India's pharmaceutical industry today enjoys global eminence for producing the largest volume of generic drugs in the world, meeting over half of the global demand for vaccines and almost 25% demand of medicines for the United Kingdom. Indian drug companies are recognised globally for their operations across the world. Despite this critical role that Indian pharmaceutical industry is playing in global healthcare, it becomes a target of various counterfeit and  verification of pharmaceuticals    allegations from across the world, from time and again. As per a study done in 2014 by one of India’s trade bodies, around 25 per cent of India’s drugs are fake, counterfeit or substandard. According to a report released in April’19 by the office of the United States Trade Representative, 20% of pharma products in India are counterfeit. As per a report published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), “To Err is Human”, 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur annually due to medical errors, o...

The EPC (Electronic Product Code) is a unique number assigned to a specific product/item, which acts as a key to database to unlock information about that product.  These numbers are similar to a  Global Trade Item Number  (GTIN), which is encoded in barcodes, except for the fact that it is unique for each specific unit of a product.  EPC number is encoded in a microchip of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Radio waves are used to capture the unique ID at extremely high rates and at distances further than 10 meters, without line-of-sight contact.  RFIDs are leveraged to boost supply chain visibility and increase inventory accuracy. As per market research, integration of sensors and cloud-based technologies in RFID tags offer lucrative growth opportunities to market players across Industry segments, including supply chain management, airline baggage handling, industrial logistics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, brand protection, libraries, me...

As per the Global Brand Counterfeiting Report 2018, total value of counterfeiting globally has reached to 1.2 Trillion USD in 2017 and is heading towards 1.82 Trillion USD by 2020 including counterfeiting of all equipment/products. For Indian market, where online retailing is expected to account for 3% of the retail market size by 2020, according to a report by PwC, counterfeiting provides a major challenge. The annual loss to counterfeiting in India amounts to 1 trillion per annum. Counterfeit products pose 3 major threats: Consumer safety :  Typically, authentic products goes through various high quality control processes during the manufacturing and processing and are governed by safety laws which companies have to abide by. Loss of revenue for brands and government:  Counterfeit products impact the market share for authentic business and also reduces the revenues for both businesses, in terms of sales revenues, and the Government, in terms of taxes and duties. Investment...

Back in May 2015, Indian food safety authorities outlawed the production and sale of an instant noodle product, manufactured by a leading global brand, for high level of MSG. As the ban surfaced, the company struggled to recall affected instant noodle packs from its supply chain spread across the country. The company was unable to access as much as 35–40% of the total stock as thousands of outlets selling the product are outside the company’s direct reach or network. Recalling a faulty product proved difficult, especially from the rural areas. As a result, the only retort available to the company was to destroy the whole stock, wherever found in the supply chain. Trucks of material were destroyed, leading to huge losses in cost and reputation. Brand owners need to be always prepared for the uncalled situations like the above. The sheer preparedness will not only save huge costs by exactly targeting the stock that needs to be recalled but also save the brand image, portraying ...