Last year the Federal Government and GS1 launched the National Location Registry to streamline transport operations and boost supply chain efficiency. Now they are calling on more businesses to register their location data today.
In last year’s August edition MHD covered the launch of the National Location Registry (NLR), an industry-led initiative, sponsored by the federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, to develop and deliver an industry platform to complement the government’s Freight Data Hub.
Now the NLR is well and truly in action, industry leaders in transport and logistics are calling for more businesses to register today.
Initially piloted by a steering group of industry stakeholders, the registry digitises the management, storage and sharing of attribute information about physical pickup and delivery locations.
This data can then be shared between location owners and transport operators. This new initiative provides a one-stop-shop of pick-up and delivery location information to support truckies to get goods to businesses and consumers.
This includes operating hours, weight and height restrictions for vehicles, entry points, driver amenities and safety requirements for each site.
Ben Newton, Head of Transport Development at Woolworths says that the registry will “reduce the administrative burden on industry”.
He points out that as location owners maintain their own location data, transport operators don’t need to maintain their own data set. All products in all industries become freight at some point in the process, so understanding the specific parameters of a location where physical transport processes take place is important and is a key element in achieving supply chain visibility.
At the time of its launch, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said: “Every Australian, everywhere, every day relies on freight. The National Location Registry will benefit us all by backing a more efficient supply chain for our businesses and truckies.”
HOW DOES IT WORK?
“The NLR is basically a digital registry that enables the storage, enrichment, and retrieval of information about physical locations,” says Bonnie Ryan, Director Freight, Logistics and Industrial Sectors at GS1. “The NLR contains up-to-date information that streamlines transit of goods between supply chain and logistics operations – whether it’s information about new road accessibility, where receivers want goods put, the opening hours of particular locations, or health restrictions in force at a location.”
Bonnie says that a major frustration for truck drivers is when they turn up to a location to make a delivery only to find the location isn’t open or the truck entry is in another location. Schedules are disrupted, and there are knock-on effects throughout the supply chain.
“Before the NLR there has been no place where transport companies can get this information,” she says. “So, they’ve had to create it afresh every time. To give you an example, a company like Woolworths deals with 100 different transport companies. So those 100 transport companies all have their own record of all the Woolworths locations – it’s hugely inefficient and leads to massive and unnecessary duplication of work.”
Now, that information is available on the NLR, and the more businesses that register, the more useful it is. The NLR is available to registered users, rather than an open forum accessible to all. This is to ensure the integrity and quality of the data that is shared on it, says Bonnie.
“It is very easy to use,” she says. “The user interfaces are very user friendly, and it functions much as one would expect a modern well-designed website to function. Big companies can build API interfaces into the registry so that large volumes of data can be uploaded or downloaded without having to manually key it all in. But it also caters to smaller transport companies that might just need it to log on and download a particular customer location when they need it.”
For those accessing the data, they can subscribe to just those locations which they need to keep track of and will receive automatic alerts when changes in location information occur.
IMPROVING SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY
“At some point, goods always need to enter the transport network to be picked up from somewhere and delivered somewhere else,” Bonnie says. “And that can be a quite complex process. So, when you’re looking at overall supply chain productivity, digitising and making accessible location information is a great opportunity to improve operational efficiency. Having good information about where you’re going, and the special considerations that attach to a given location, really smooths out the whole transport process.”
GS1 was well positioned to work with industry and government to bring about this important initiative for the benefit of all stakeholders.
“We were able to bring various stakeholders to the table to solve a common problem,” Bonnie says. “That’s the real value we bring – helping industry to collaborate in a non-competitive way, for a goal that couldn’t be achieved by any one company. Because we are a neutral player and had the support of the Federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport, this meant we could bring industry players together for a common benefit. And now we’re calling on more businesses to register and take part.”
REGISTER TODAY
GS1 is calling for businesses to sign up for the registry and add their Global Location Numbers to the growing list already added. The benefits of the registry will be maximised by adding as many organisations as possible.
The registry is designed to support any business operation involving the sharing or retrieval of location data, ensuring smooth pick-up and deliveries. Further information on operating hours, weight and height restrictions for vehicles, entry points, driver amenities and safety requirements can also be included. It is a multi-industry solution supporting sectors such as healthcare, transport and freight, grocery, agriculture, and general merchandise.
There are two steps to joining the NLR: (1) Get a Global Location Number (if you don’t have one already); and (2) Sign up to the registry.
A national call to action is in place for location owners across all industry sectors to publish their location data to the registry www.nlr.org.au. ν
For more information and to sign up to the National Location Registry, visit https://www.gs1au.org/nlr.