For their leading infant nutrition brand Friso, they developed together with their technology partner Kezzler an app called TrackEasy, which is based on GS1 standards.

The industry’s first smart packaging innovation that enables parents to experience the journey of Friso’s formula milk at their fingertips, starting from Dutch farms.

A QR code on the packaging uses the GS1 Digital Link standard which allows customers to learn more about the provenance of the product, receive a confirmation that what they have purchased is in fact a genuine can of Friso infant formula.

With over 40 points of sale, and for the last couple of years, it has undertaken identification projects with GS1 Mexico, mainly in the fresh product sector.

Fruit and vegetable identification has gained relevance, because of new eating trends in which this type of product is more sought after by the consumer, because they are considered to be natural, and in some cases organic.

One pilot focused specifically on last mile delivery.

Project management was provided by the Institute of Transport Economics—Norway Centre for Transport Research.

Results

• Better last mile supply chain visibility via more efficient logistics.
• Fewer vans/lorries to the same destination and reduced transport costs.
• Reduced number of truck-kilometres and energy consumption per delivered item, decreasing CO2 emissions.
• Reduced and more reliable delivery times; less out-of stocks in store.
• Savings in delivery costs—GS1 standards have been shown to reduce distribution costs by 42%.

Situation

As e-commerce continues to grow exponentially, the last leg of delivery, specifically the “last mile”—ending up at the consumer’s home or business—has become more challenging.

The increased amount of urban home delivery has a huge economic impact on citizens, shopkeepers, transport companies and government. It causes emissions, traffic congestion, noise nuisance, and problems with public space and services.

The Straightsol project designed seven pilots aimed to identify innovative ways to rationalise urban distribution.

Approach

One pilot, GS1 Smart Urban Transport, was designed to find ways to improve efficiency in retail trade supply chain management and “last mile” distribution via the use of standardised information collected from all business partners.

For all kinds of e-commerce businesses, knowing precisely where an item is in the supply chain can enable faster and more efficient delivery to the customer, lower fulfilment costs and enhanced customer service levels. For example, with greater visibility retailers in the same shopping centre can logistically collaborate on deliveries.

GS1 standards were leveraged to accurately identify products, assign a universal, global identification number to every product and enable the automated exchange of data between business partners.

Gelre Hospitals updated their internal processes to take advantage of new technologies combined with GS1 barcodes.

The context

An initial study at Gelre revealed that more than 3% of medication administrations were erroneous. The organisation introduced a computerised prescriber order-entry system, a barcode-assisted dispensing system and a bedside assortment picking system in effort to reduce the number of medication errors.

Through their implementation of GS1 barcodes, combined with IT technologies, Gelre has made substantial strides in helping to reduce medication administration errors. This enabled clinical staff to deliver safer, more efficient care.

Results

• Medication dispensing errors reduced by 74%1

1 Bedside Assortment Picking, Hans Ros, Hospital Pharmacist.

Charing Cross Hospital implemented GS1 barcodes on their patient wristbands.

The context

At Charing Cross, positive patient identification checks were only being done 17% of the time. Issuing a barcoded wristband to every in-patient directly increased caregiver activity to positively identify patients at all points during the care process.

The use of barcodes containing a unique identifier also mean hospitals have the ability to cross reference patients and treatments.

By leveraging GS1 barcodes, Charing Cross has been able to ensure that more patients are positively identified before, during and after care.

Results

• Positive patient ID confirmation through wristband checks increased from 17% to 81%1, 2

1Lovell, Helen M.D. (2007). Coding for Success: Simple technology for safer patient care.

2Lawrence, Neil. (2008). NHS Connecting for Health, Auto Identification and Data Capture in the NHS.