On March 12, 2013, the GS1 FORUM 2013 was held by GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg The event took place at The Event Lounge in Brussels. Representatives from commerce and industry attended the event. Alistar was, of course, also present to further enhance knowledge about traceability and barcodes and, naturally, to network with the business leaders and managers in attendance.
The barcode
The common thread running through FORUM 2013 was the barcode, whose role is far from over. The GS1 barcode is making inroads into new sectors, contributing to reliable digital product information for consumers, and the logistics label remains the key to smooth goods receipt and traceability. The barcode is evolving alongside the digital (r)evolution and, more than ever, contributes to efficiency in the supply chain.
Speed Docking
Retailers Colruyt, Delhaize, Carrefour, and Makro presented their joint project. Starting this year, they will agree with their suppliers on a concrete rollout plan for the GS1 logistics label and the electronic shipping document. Next, Mars and Heinz introduced ‘Speed Docking,‘ an initiative aimed at optimizing goods receipt. This initiative is accompanied by a competition that rewards the most efficient and fastest goods receipt process at a retailer.
Trustbox B2C Platform
In this digital economy, consumers are gaining more and more influence. In his presentation, keynote speaker Jo Caudron (DearMedia) highlighted the changes that companies, brands, and retailers are experiencing in their relationship with the market, driven by mobile, social, and other digital trends such as virtual shelves, big and small data, showrooming, paperless shopping, and more. The final highlight of the day was the presentation of the Trustbox B2C platform as a solution to the need for reliable product information for consumers. With Trustbox B2C, companies can also comply with EU Regulation 1169. Every food product sold online must make all the information (from the label) available to consumers online before they make a purchase. This presents a major challenge for all parties involved. Starting in December 2014, the new regulation will take effect, and clear and comprehensive product information will be mandatory both on the label and in digital form.
If you would also like to continue focusing on efficient and effective logistics processing through well-designed electronic data exchange and the right IT investments (ERP, CRM, BI, EDI), please do not hesitate to contact to contact us.
