A major milestone in the history of e.centre.

As part of the global re-launch of EAN International and all of its member organisations, e.centre will become GS1 UK. The single, standardised, global name is a significant step forward for the organisation. The GS1 name reflects the global marketplace in which its members are active and it makes them recognisable worldwide as the organisation responsible for supply chain standards.

The launch of GS1 UK also heralds the arrival of a series of new products, services and solutions such as EPCglobal, traceability solutions and the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN). GDSN--the process of synchronising product and company information between trading partners--is a major, global initiative supported by the top consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies worldwide. GDSN compliant product catalogues, or data pools, are an essential component of the EAN.UCC System and e.centre, with the support of its strategic partners, Global eXchange Services (GXS) and UDEX, has been working with supply and demand-side users to develop the first, fully standards compliant UK Data Pool. The UK Data Pool is in pilot phase and later this year will go live with over 2,500 members making it one of the world's largest communities actively engaged in data synchronisation.

Data quality is vital in view of the anticipated uptake of the EPCglobal Network, which utilises Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and promises to generate valuable information to improve supply chain management, e.centre, the UK provider of the EPCglobal Network is collaborating globally with industry and its fellow Member Organisations to develop a set of standards for a technology which is set to dramatically improve supply chain visibility, efficiency and security.

Great steps have been made with the ratification of the UHF Generation 2 standard in December 2004. This determines how RFID tags and readers will 'talk' to each other. With the standard now in place, solution providers will be able to create products to meet the requirements of suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and other end users; and industries as a whole can drive EPC implementation with standards-based equipment. This month Tesco demonstrated its commitment when it announced a deal with ADT for the delivery of 4,000 RFID readers and 16,000 RFID antennas. Others are expected to begin implementation over the coming months.

Visit www.gsluk.org