ALC supports adoption of global data standards

The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) in conjunction with GS1 Australia has announced its endorsement of global data standards (GDS) in a further bid to improve freight visibility and supply chain efficiencies.
Following a recommendation from the ALC Technology Committee, the ALC Board has chosen to act on two industry reports, the latest of which was released in May of this year titled Report of the Inquiry Into National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities.
According to the ALC, a key takeover from the AustRoads Report encouraged “the adoption of global data standards and collaborative electronic platforms across all freight modes to streamline the exchange, comparison and understanding of data within the land, sea and air freight sectors.”
According to Lachlan Benson, ALC Interim CEO, ALC members and the industry will focus on adopting and promoting the Australian Freight Labelling and Transport data exchange guidelines first launched in 2016 in close consultation with the ALC Supply Chain Standards Working Group and GS1 Australia.
“Enhanced freight visibility is a clear priority for logistics companies, and increasingly for consumers. The guideline will help industry participants implement the agreed GS1 standards to improve freight efficiency and visibility across all modes of freight transport,” he said.
The Australian Freight Labelling Guideline and Australian Transport EDI Guidelines are based on GS1 global supply chain standards and best practice.
Both guidelines have been developed to provide a common label format for identifying freight units consistently through one common data file format in which to exchange data across the freight transportation process.
Bonnie Ryan, GS1 Australia Senior Manager – Freight, Logistics & Industrial Sectors said the AustRoads report detailed various complex supply chains operated by the likes of Toll Group, Liberty OneSteel and Nestle as it investigated end-to-end supply chain visibility improvements using GS1 standards on multi leg transport corridors.
“Based on the pilot findings, the economic benefit to Australia could exceed $1 billion,” said Ryan.
“GS1 supply chain standards enable parties across the supply chain to operate more efficiently with improved freight visibility using a common standard for identifying, labelling and sharing data relating to the movement of freight units.”