The Supply Chain Implementation Series, Guide #1: Using Industry-Compliant Bar Codes

What You Must Do

The trend to print and apply U.P.C. bar codes is based on a need to use the information that bar codes provide.  Companies must understand how and why they are going to use this technology as part of encouraging compliance by their trading partners. 

5 Things to Understand:

• Understand company requirements and options well enough to express needs to a supplier.  Then, evaluate the supplier’s ability to provide what is needed at the best price.
• Understand the bar code and communication needs/capabilities well enough to explain them to trading partners (suppliers and customers).
• Understand how system improvements can boost your company’s profits.
• Understand how U.P.C. and bar code-enabled system improvements can also provide benefits to your customers.
• Understand the importance of compliance.  Staff time must be devoted to it on an ongoing basis.

10 actions that facilitate understanding and ensure success:

• Provide an overview session for your staff.  It will include non-technical information about effective bar code data collection, compliance to industry standards, how bar code fits into transaction-related information, and how this will save the company money.  Part of this session must explain that using bar codes to drive down cost is an important part of the effort.  Bar-coded labels must be placed on all products.  This means that conformance to standards is critical.
• Establish the project team and designate the person who will act as the Bar Code Project Champion.
• The project team reviews and understands the bar code guidelines, print quality, and label format.
• The project team identifies the potential internal use of bar codes, including what it will take to prepare for their use and the projected savings. 
• The project team identifies the information you need within your operations and your product numbering system.  It also provides links to existing or potential systems.  This is to make sure that information needs can be provided in bar code.
• The project team determines the best way to link existing or potential systems to any printing systems or equipment using bar codes.
• The project team explores alternative methods to apply bar codes to items not labeled by suppliers.
• The project team implements a campaign to encourage suppliers to provide bar codes that comply with industry guidelines.
• The project team contacts potential suppliers of bar code and other technologies, explains your needs, and evaluates their proposal. 
• The project team oversees the “roll out” and then maintains the quality of labels and communications with your customers and your suppliers.

Documents that support understanding and the activities that ensure success:

• Implementation Plan (see the next section of this guide).
• Bar Code Policy identifies what your company expects from suppliers and what you intend to provide to customers (Appendix 1.1).  It should be very clear and should include sample labels.  It should also include sample letters to suppliers (Appendix 1.2) and customers (Appendix 1.4).  To support the compliance plan, the policy should also include a method to monitor the progress of your suppliers (Appendix 1.3).
• Functional Specification for bar code labels and printing equipment (Appendix 2).
• Review potential in-plant use of the compliance bar codes (Appendix 3).
• Calculations of what can be saved by using bar codes (Appendix 4):
  • receiving the wrong thing from vendors
  • shipping errors to customers
  • mis-identification
  • other general savings.
• The Project Description should explain how the new processes will work, what they will provide, why they were selected, etc.  Don’t overlook things like a procedure to handle non-labeled receipts and warehouse storage location labeling requirements (Appendix 5).
• An estimate of the cost of products and services related to the anticipated use of bar codes and a list of applicable services and products with budgeted prices (Appendix 6).
• Methods to qualify suppliers (Appendix 7, 8, 9).

[Home] [Introduction] [The Trend: What and Why] [What This Could Mean for Your Company] [What You Must Do] [Implementation Path] [Support Materials]