Article by:
By Al Garton
Uniform Code Council, Inc.

This is a tale of two retailers. The date is January 2nd, 2005.

Retailer #1
Is busy selling a hot new product from one of its overseas trading partners. Demand is high, sales are brisk, and the retailer can’t keep enough of it on the shelves.

Retailer #2
Well that’s another story. This retailer did not address the systems issues to become 2005 Sunrise-compliant and now cannot handle the 13-digit EAN-13 bar code. While the retailer wrangles over unnecessary and time-consuming re-labeling issues with the manufacturer, sales are being lost to its competitors.

This scenario is not business make-believe. If your company has not addressed the systems impact of the January 1, 2005 Sunrise, this could become a very and costly real issue.

Since the introduction of the 12-digit Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) more than thirty years ago, the use of the EAN.UCC System has expanded greatly as the standard of choice to facilitate efficient global commerce. While the 12-digit U.P.C. has been used by U.S. and Canadian companies to identify products, eight-digit EAN-8 and 13-digit EAN-13 symbols are used throughout the rest of the world. To sell those products in the U.S. and Canada, overseas manufacturers have had to re-label the products with a 12-digit U.P.C., which has created additional expense and time-to-market issues.

In order to simplify worldwide commerce through the EAN.UCC System, the UCC announced the January 1, 2005 Sunrise harmonization initiative. By January 1, 2005, all U.S. and Canadian companies must be capable of scanning EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols, in addition to the 12-digit U.P.C. symbols, at point of sale.

This initiative has significant implications for U.S. and Canadian companies, and time is growing short. Listed below are key elements of the 2005 Sunrise initiative and related issues that warrant your consideration:

Address systems and applications issues. 2005 Sunrise Compliance will affect companies differently. Retailers and distributors will have to expand systems, databases, and related applications to enable the processing of 8-digit and 13-digit EAN symbols in addition to the 12-digit U.P.C.

For suppliers and manufacturers, there will be no change to the physical markings on products. If you are currently marking your products with a U.P.C., continue to do so. However, if you receive products from overseas, you should consider expanding the capability of your scanning equipment and systems/applications for products that will be marked with EAN-8 and EAN-13 numbers. Stop parsing. UCC Company Prefixes are no longer just 6-digit numbers; they can vary between 6 and 10 digits. Additionally, Company Prefixes encoded in EAN-13 and EAN-8 also vary in length. If you are parsing these numbers in your system, discontinue the practice immediately because you risk storing and sharing bad information with your trading partners.

New commerce applications. If your company is considering using Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) symbols or data synchronization using the GLOBALregistryä of UCCnet, it is important to remember that these new applications are based on 14-digit standards. In order to utilize these applications, your system must be expanded to scan and store data structures up to 14 digits in length.

Understand the implications of GTIN compliance. The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is simply an umbrella term for the four EAN.UCC data structures used to uniquely identify products at all levels of packaging (GTINs can be 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits in length). If you need to expand to 13 digits to become 2005 Sunrise-compliant, there is little incremental cost to expand to 14. GTIN compliance will allow you to use the full suite of global EAN.UCC GTIN standards as well as be positioned for RSS data synchronization applications.

Don’t delay. The number of products marked with EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols will increase quickly after January 1, 2005. If your company is unable to process them, it will create a range of costly supply chain problems. These disruptions include time-to-market delays, non-standardized trading information, additional product marking costs, and service problems for consumers. The UCC is urging all companies that have not yet achieved 2005 Sunrise Compliance to begin system planning, testing, and update/conversion activities now.

For Immediate Release: 06/13/2003
Director of General Merchandise/Retail
Uniform Code Council, Inc.

Al Garton is the Director of General Merchandise/Retail for the Uniform Code Council, Inc. He can be reached at (609) 620-4546 or via e-mail at agarton@uc-council.org. A 2005 Sunrise Information Kit is available from the UCC. You can download it from the UCC’s website at www.uc-council.org/2005sunrise.