Tesco and Mondelēz UK collaborate with GS1 UK to launch supply chain certification programme
28/01/14 - Mondelēz UK has become the first supplier to be successfully certified in their use of GS1 supply chain standards through the GS1 UK Certificate of Excellence programme.
Comprising more than 100 checks for best-practice compliance with GS1 standards across suppliers’ processes and product information, the certification programme drives data quality, accuracy in deliveries and trust in the trading relationship.
‘Trusted status’ benefits suppliers through using electronic messaging to support more efficient goods in checks ,quicker turnaround times on deliveries and fewer items rejected, while retailers can increase efficiency, capacity and more importantly get goods to shelf for customers quicker.
Commenting on the GS1 UK Certificate of Excellence programme, Jim Dickson, Tesco E2E Supply Chain Development Manager, said:
“Certificate of Excellence supports many standards of our new in-bound processes. It allows us to reduce dwell time from vehicle arrival to the product being available to assemble. It also helps us to support other product availability initiatives. We look forward to working with GS1 UK to roll-out the programme to all our leading suppliers.”
Rob Bullen, Director Customer Supply & Centre of Excellence, Mondelēz UK was tested in three key areas: the ability to correctly and consistently deploy Electronic Data interchange (EDI); the accuracy of its product data; and the quality of its shipping labels and bar codes. GS1 UK simultaneously trained and accredited over 30 Mondelēz UK employees for their knowledge of these areas.
He commented: “We joined the Certificate of Excellence Programme believing our processes and procedures were very robust, but the insights for me were that retailers and suppliers have become adept at working around data issues, rather than tackling them. Whilst we may have experienced very few issues as a result of data errors, this was still causing avoidable downstream activity. As a result of the certification process we are now easier to do business with for our retail partners.”
GS1 UK is working with industry to promote adoption of the Certificate of Excellence among other leading grocery retailers and their suppliers to help bring greater efficiencies and drive out costs from the supply chain.
Gary Lynch, CEO of GS1 UK, said: “The Certificate of Excellence programme is driving consistency and accuracy within the value chain, ensuring right first time deliveries from suppliers into retailers and enabling greater use of reduced checks across the industry. We are delighted that Mondelēz UK have become the first supplier to be certified and are already seeing the business benefits of the Certificate of Excellence in their trading relationship with Tesco.”
For further information on the Certificate of Excellence programme and how to become accredited visit the GS1 UK website.
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Notes to Editors
About GS1 UK
For further information or requests for interviews, please contact Tim Haidar: 020 7092 3584 / Tim.Haidar@gs1uk.org.
For more than 35 years GS1 UK has been working with its members to enable the efficient movement of goods and sharing of information. It drives supply chain efficiency alongside 111 other not-for-profit GS1 member organisations in 150 countries worldwide.
Having introduced the first truly global bar code numbering system in 1973, at least five billion GS1-compliant bar codes are now scanned everyday – making it the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world. GS1 identification numbers are now also commonly used in RFID tags, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages and for real-time global data exchange.
Providing independent support, GS1’s team of technical and business consultants also assist members with on-site implementation of appropriate supply chain information solutions.
Its 26,000+ UK members range from SMEs to major UK companies and include grocery retailers and Foodservice companies, food manufacturers, healthcare and pharmaceuticals companies, and NHS Trusts. Its supervisory board includes senior directors from Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, as well as Unilever, P&G, Diageo and the NHS.
GS1 UK actively supports The Food Chain – a UK charity set up to ensure that people living with HIV can access the nutrition they need to lead healthy, independent lives. For more information, visit www.foodchain.org.uk.