MHD sat down with Dimi Pachiyannis from GS1 to gather insights into the state of the Australian logistical sector and where improvements can be made.
There are more than 40,000 freight companies that work within Australia. Each has its own unique system and data formats, which contribute to inconsistent labelling and other issues, in turn impacting across a multitude of industries
Dimi Pachiyannis, Senior Advisor, Freight, Rail & Construction, GS1, highlights some of the key issues experienced by the logistics sector.
“When each freight company has its own unique system and data formats, the consistency of labelling within freight processes can vary greatly. The need to re-label freight can be quite common creating problems in the supply chain, particularly in complex or international supply chains that involve multiple different carriers or stages,” says Dimi.
“When different labels are used through a product’s journey, it can become difficult to trace that product through the supply chain, which can become a bigger issue in the event of a product recall or a dispute.”
Some of the key inconsistencies those at GS1 see in the freight industry include inefficiencies in tracking and tracing, poor labelling quality, errors due to manual data entry, lack of real-time updates, and Fan absence of interoperability between systems.
“These problems can lead to significant delays, increased costs, and customer dissatisfaction,” notes Dimi.
GS1 is placed to help industry address, and overcome, these issues, boosting productivity and other key initiatives.
“GS1 addresses these issues by providing globally recognised standards for unique end to end identification of the freight and the automated capture of data from barcodes that can be electronically shared directly to freight systems,” explains Dimi.
“The use of these standards reduces the risk of errors, increases efficiency, and enhances visibility of freight throughout the supply chain.”
GS1 is making it possible to achieve a seamless process in freight logistics across first, middle and last mile delivery to help prevent any possible logistical issues.
“Using the GS1 barcodes and electronic messaging are key enablers in this process,” says Dimi.
“For example, the Scan4Transport label was introduced to the freight industry in 2019 and has been designed to enhance the efficiency and visibility throughout all stages of the supply chain by providing a standardised way to capture and share key freight information.
“The label uses global standards developed by Logistic Service providers, shippers, solution providers and industry representatives from around the world. Subsequently all parties across the supply chain can leverage a common standard (“language”) across the supply chain which is system/technology agnostic, instead of learning and setting up different proprietary formats for each party in the supply chain.”
“This promotes the interoperability and seamless data exchange between different parties as the freight moves through first, middle and last mile to the end consumer.”
The use of GS1 standardised barcodes to identify each logistic unit (i.e., pallet, case, parcel, etc.) enables accurate tracking and tracing of the logistic unit throughout its journey.
“One label, one common language across all parties without the need to re-label,” adds Dimi.
The Scan4Transport label enables standardised, consistent data capture so that all parties have access to accurate, consistent data such as sender, recipient, delivery location, routing codes and more.
“And because the information captured in the Scan4Transport label can be shared in real time, it can provide up-to-date visibility of the logistic unit’s status and location,” says Dimi.
The Scan4Transport label incorporates a 2D barcode that can capture larger volumes of data in a small area and is designed with a high level of error correction, which allows it to be read even if part of the code is damaged or obscured.
“Already some Logistics Service Providers have elected to use the Scan4Transport standards as their default label, while a number of others have confirmed they are able to process freight with the Scan4Transport label through their network,” says Dimi.
“We expect the adoption of the standard to continue to grow as freight companies continue to realise the potential.”
Dimi adds that the Scan4Transport label was a prime example of the work they do at GS1.
“At the core of what we do at GS1, is our engagement with industry. We bring together key industry leaders, governments, and other peak associations to solve for industry challenges around data exchange in a neutral, collaborative environment,” explains Dimi. “We are here for industry”.
“By working with the industry to better understand their needs we can then leverage our global and local networks to develop standards that can be used all over the world.”
Scan4Transport is also an example of industry leaning on GS1 expertise to help overcome consistent issues being faced in the sector.
“The Scan4Transport standard is one example of that. Industry approached GS1 about the challenges caused by the many different labels and inconsistencies and the work undertaken by the industry working group and GS1 standards development process led to the standardised label for industry use,” says Dimi.
“Since then, the standard was further evolved, incorporating additional standards specific to the needs of temperature controls for temperature sensitive freight.”
In the logistics sector, there can be many instances where the electronic manifest does not arrive before the freight. This solution helps prevent that occurrence.
“The use of GS1 Application Identifiers (standardised qualifiers) is a game changer for freight carriers enabling them to view specific temperature requirements just by scanning the label,” says Dimi.
“The encoded data can include minimum and maximum requirements, which can allow for pro-active measures that will help freight handlers to stay ahead of potential challenges.
“This maintains temperatures within the necessary range to ensure product shelf life is maximised, keeping waste to a minimum whether that’s in fresh foods, dairy or pharmaceuticals.”
This approach offers better efficiency than the use of cold freight colour changing labels where issues were only able to be identified once temperatures exceeded a set limit.
The standards continue to emerge to meet the evolution of industry.
“If freight companies have implemented GS1 standards in their systems, new enhancements can be very straightforward, allowing companies to move away from needing to manage these changes in proprietary systems and just focus on what they do best,” explains Dimi.
Recently a milestone in creating a more uniform standard in Australia was the introduction of new Australian Standards by Standards Australia.
“These new standards incorporate the use of standard GS1 keys,” says Dimi.
“The keys include the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) for identifying products, the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) for identifying logistics units, the Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN) for identifying logistics units delivered to a customer together, the Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) and Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI) for identifying assets, and GS1 Application Identifiers for standardising the encoding of supplementary data in barcodes, tags and other media.”
Overall, GS1’s standards and solutions, such as the Scan4Transport label, play a crucial role in overcoming the logistical challenges faced by the freight industry, paving the way for a more efficient, reliable, and transparent supply chain.
For more information on GS1 Australia, click here.