GS1 UK is one of over a hundred independent, not-for-profit organisations working under the international GS1 banner to help manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and retailers to automate and standardise their supply chain standards. Using the common language of GS1 global standards, that includes everyone involved in making, moving, trading and selling goods; and that includes Eagle customers.
The Perfect Order Programme
As the business landscape adapts to changing technology and globalisation, the Perfect Order programme was set up last year to address industry concerns about the order-to-cash process. Facilitated by GS1 UK, the Perfect Order programme is a collaboration between leading retailers and suppliers, its purpose being to create a set of industry-agreed, harmonised processes that creates guidelines for the consistent application of GS1 standards across the retail supply chain. Supported by such heavyweight companies as Tesco, Morrisons, Unilever, Coca-Cola Enterprises and Nestle, the Perfect Order programme will improve efficiency and remove significant avoidable costs from the supply chain for a wide range of businesses, delivering real benefits for suppliers, retailers and customers alike. As a GS1 member, Eagle is perfectly positioned to assist our own customers in implementing the Perfect Order programme. Using our considerable, long-held experience within the GS1 environment, we are supporting the Perfect Order initiative, bringing expert knowledge and assistance to the process application, delivering a forward-thinking and practical implementation.
A Three Year Programme
Formulated to create and standardise a consistent working practice across the industry, the GS1 UK’s three year programme will focus on:-
- Reducing non-value adding activities and removing all avoidable costs
- Creating greater efficiency in processing inventory
- Improving the quality of data and removing paperwork from the system
- Increasing product availability
With businesses currently facing many pressures in the order-to-cash process across all sectors – increased costs, reduced margins, increased fluctuations in demand – Eagle has identified areas where, working with the GS1 program, efficiencies can be made:-
- Optimised processing efficiencies in inventory and supply
- High quality and inaccurate supply chain data
- Increased product availability
- Better traceability of goods
- Increased efficiency of workforce practices
- Implementation of GS1 Standards
For suppliers looking to cut costs and streamline processes within the retail supply chain, the Perfect Order programme drives efficiencies and reduces outgoings by:-
- Improving the product flow through the supply chain from the supplier to the retailer and on to the customer
- Reducing the time it takes to create shipments
- Creating more accurate deliveries, resulting in less returns and invoice queries
- Increasing staff productivity through reduced non value-added activities, such as spending time chasing and following-up order and invoice queries
- Creating more accurate inventory
In the long term, this increases productivity and product availability through all retail channels – in-store, online or mobile – and drives increased sales for both the retailer and the supplier.
The Order-to-Cash Process
Ordering, delivering and paying for goods is what most companies do. A large amount of documentation is traditionally required for the order-to-cash process: reams of paper for purchase orders, invoices, delivery notes and Paper Based Shipping Documents. But this is a tradition that is no longer the preferred method for effective functionality. In today’s technology-driven marketplace, it is a simple fact that manual, paper-based processes cannot operate efficiently in a competitive economy. Increasingly, many leading retailers will not purchase products from suppliers using paper-based information. No matter the size of business, or sphere of operation within the industry, there is a crucial need for a fast, accurate solution that is both cost-effective and efficient. Utilising automated data collection solutions, such as that provided by Eagle can drive the use of ASNs (Advanced Shipping Notices) and other EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) messages – further automating the process, using GS1 standards, making things simpler, more accurate and cheaper.
