Australian rail industry supports global marking standard

The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and GS1 Australia have announced that the ARA Board recently confirmed its support for the adoption of GS1 open global standards for identifying and marking (barcoding and/or tagging) components used across the Australian rail industry.
The decision by the ARA Board has been driven by the industry-wide Parts and Components Identification Project in rail that commenced in 2015, followed by the launch of the new Implementation Guideline for the Effective Management of Inventory in the Australian Rail Industry at AusRAIL 2016. The Australian Rail Industry is now being called to respond to a Call to Action to standardise the way materials are identified.
Danny Broad, CEO, Australasian Railway Association, said the announcement by the ARA Board to support the adoption of common standards is a significant milestone for Australia’s rail industry.
“We invite the Australian rail industry to join us in embracing a Call to Action to reduce costs, improve safety, reliability and quality using GS1 standards. The adoption of GS1 standards will provide a common framework to support the current challenge of managing efficient Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) processes,” Broad said.
The objective of the Call to Action initiative is to implement GS1 standards across the Australian Rail Industry by 1 January 2019. This initiative is important from the perspective of quality assurance traceability and cost savings, the ARA and GS1 said in a joint statement, adding that the implementation of GS1 standards across the Australian rail industry is a critical foundation for the subsequent phase of full-lifecycle tracking of components from acquisition to disposal – essential for the effective implementation of ISO55000 Asset Management Standards.
Maria Palazzolo, Executive Director and CEO at GS1 Australia, said, “A level of effort will be required for the implementation of these standards as many rail operators, suppliers, manufacturers and contractors are at various stages of barcoding their products, with some rail organisations already well advanced and actively working with their suppliers.”
Bonnie Ryan, Senior Manager – Trade, Transport & Heavy Industry, GS1 Australia added, “Calling on industry players to work with us gives the Australian rail industry a unique opportunity to collaborate with a standardised approach for consistently identifying and marking components and assets.”