Supply chain visibility study shows importance of GS1 standards

There are two things the top 20% of companies with global supply chains have in common: compliance with GS1 standards and tracking supply chain visibility at the item level.

A new research study by Aberdeen Group shows that 63% of 149 companies surveyed rank supply chain visibility as a high priority for improvement. The ‘Supply Chain Visibility: A Critical Strategy to Optimise Cost and Service’ study outlines how increasing visibility is a critical strategy for enterprises, aimed at reducing costs and improving operational performance in the context of their increasingly complex and multitiered global supply-demand networks.

Aberdeen noted an increase in the use of logistics service providers as supply chains become more globally connected. “At their core, supply chain visibility solutions aim to improve an organisation’s ability to connect transport and logistics activities, and put universal standards - like GS1 enabling technology - to their most productive use,” said Bob Heaney, Senior Analyst at Aberdeen.

Key findings of the report include:

• The top 20% best-in-class companies claim to be compliant to GS1 standards.
• Users that adhere to GS1 standards are more than twice as likely as others to monitor transport and logistics activities at the unit and container level.
• Shippers and logistics service providers are tightly interconnected and need to speak the same language to enable end-to-end visibility.

“End-to-end supply chain visibility has never been more important for all involved parties to speak the same language,” said Maria Palazzolo, GS1 Australia’s CEO.

“As GS1 celebrates its 40th anniversary, we can look back to all we have achieved to increase visibility in the global supply chain. And we are excited about the future as we work with our partners to reduce costs and improve operational performance within their organisations.”

The full Aberdeen report is available here.