GS1 DatakwaliTijd 2.0: hard consequences

After frequent encouragement, the curtain has fallen on GS1 Data Source for some fifty suppliers in the food and drugstore sector. They are the first companies to be excluded from the database because they do not meet the criteria for data quality.

Jerry Tracey, Sector Manager for Food and Drugstore at GS1: "Agreements have been made within the sector for the DatakwaliTijd 2.0 programme. By the end of 2018, the article data for all articles in the data pool must have been checked or recorded by a Data Management Service (DMS). It now appears that of the more than a thousand suppliers involved, some fifty do not in any way meet the standards set. Their articles are removed from the data pool and the contract is terminated.

Why is it the only option to close these suppliers?

"To be a reliable data pool, the data of all articles in GS1 Data Source must be complete and demonstrably correct. We cannot afford that some suppliers will not cooperate in this. From the end of 2016 suppliers were called up for the audits, they have a GS1 account manager as contact person and have received detailed information about the working method and planning. The group of companies we are now closing has not even signed a contract with a DMS by the deadline. So they have not yet shown any activity in any way. Then the only option is to close the contract. The companies concerned come from all kinds of product groups, and are of all kinds of sizes.

What does it mean for these companies that they are disconnected from the data pool?

"That no retailer or wholesaler can find information about their products in GS1 Data Source. For most retailers, inclusion in the database is a purchase condition. These choices are made by the retailers themselves. This may mean that these companies can no longer deliver.

The other companies are already busy, but not all are ready yet. What should they do?

"All companies have been given a deadline for which they must have their data in order. They have to get on with finalizing the checking of their data by their DMS. Closing this group of companies should be a signal to those companies that are not yet ready to complete their checks in time.

What will the rest of this year look like?

"For us, the most important task is to support all suppliers as well as possible in correctly entering data. And the suppliers must make agreements with their DMS as soon as possible to have their data checked. It is important not to wait until the last moment, because the capacity of the DMS is also limited; then things can still go wrong. Our advice to suppliers is therefore: make sure that your checks are scheduled as soon as possible.

What is GS1's expectation about the progress of DatakwaliTijd 2.0?

"Most companies are well on track, but it will be exciting. Most of their data will be in order on time, but there will also be companies too late. We have to be strict - but objective and transparent - in the interest of the sector.