In this case study, Business Value Exchange looks at how supply chain nonprofit GS1 worked with HP Enterprise Services to help move from a slow and disjointed manual recall process to a standardised, cloud-based solution for its members.

1. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
Building Trust
in the Global
Supply Chain

2. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
Supply chain management is not
just about getting the right products
to the right place at the right time.
With roughly 48 million cases of food
borne illnesses every year, ensuring
the quality of food on the market is a
top public safety priority.
In this case study, Business Value Exchange
looks at how supply chain nonprofit GS1
worked with HP Enterprise Services to help
move from a slow and disjointed manual
recall process to a standardised, cloud-based
solution for its members. Read on to find out
how this change reduced product recall times
and prevented contaminated and unsafe
products from causing large-scale public
health problems.
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3. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
The challenge
These days, identifying contamination in
food and finding out where it occurred is a
quick process for scientists. With greater
government regulation and legal oversight
too, the need and expectation to act quickly
and decisively is greater than ever.
But recalling a product can be a
complicated and slow process.
Different retailers, suppliers,
manufacturers and other links in the
supply chain often favour different
technologies, with differences in the
quality of information supplied at
various stages, and with a variety of
regional regulations to comply with..
AMR Research Inc., part of Gartner
Research, found that the average
time between detecting a problem
and acting on it was 18 days, in
the North American food industry.
It then took another 42 days to
actually complete the recall,
meaning that a dangerous product
could often stay in circulation for 60
days. Not only that, but AMR also
discovered that 43% of products
could be traced by manufacturers but not actually located.
Not only is this a danger to the
public, but it also has a knock on
effect on brand reputation and
stock value. Within 24 to 48 hours,
stock value could fall by 2% for
companies that do not have an
adequate recall process in
place, and up to as high as
20% after 14 days, in extreme
circumstances.
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4. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
“In 2010, approximately 3,000 people died in
the USA from eating contaminated food. With
around 48 million cases of food borne illnesses
and 150,000 hospital admissions per year and
an annual cost in excess of $100 billion for foodborne illnesses, the industry faced a significant
challenge; how to enhance traceability and
improve product recall efficiency whilst
satisfying regulatory requirements.”
– John Keogh Global director, product and consumer safety, GS1 Global Office
The challenge:
Speed up recalls
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Accounting for difference
As a not-for-profit, non-partisan
body operating across 150 countries
and a membership totalling 1.5
million organisations, there is
huge variation in capabilities,
infrastructure and operating
environments.
Firstly, debates about which
technology solution to use could
get in the way. Each organisation
has its own preferences and wants
the solution that is simplest for
its teams to implement. This can
also lead to concerns about the
accuracy and completeness of the
information passed along during the
recall process.
Secondly, there are problems with
compliance. Laws and regulations
about food quality, safety and
recall differ between countries and
regions, causing another headache
for any business trying to instigate
a worldwide recall. It also makes
it tough to standardise forms,
as they must meet government
requirements internationally.
There was also a practicality problem a large scale IT project, with worldwide
implications, could mean a lot of
money upfront on obtaining hardware
and licenses. As a non-profit body,
this presented a significant financial
challenge for GS1.
The challenge:
Standardise the process
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The solution
Meeting all of these requirements was a
challenge, but a solution was found in taking
a cloud-based approach. The system was
successfully piloted in the Canadian food
industry, from the growers and manufacturers,
all the way along the chain to retailers.
As a secure and compliant solution
hosted in a central location, the use
of cloud services eliminated the
problems caused by the diversity
of systems. Instead, a web-based,
uniform system could be accessed
remotely by GS1 members,
simplifying and speeding up the
product recall process.
The project was a resounding
success. The entire end-to-end
recall process was reduced from 42
days to just one hour. On top of that,
the new notification tool, based on
GS1 standards, was able to reduce
ambiguity in the process and improve
accuracy when identifying and tracing
contaminated products. Finally,
with the system built to comply with
the law, risk was feduced for all the
businesses involved.
There was a cost benefit too. GS1
were able to move away from a
CAPEX model to one based on
regular OPEX costs instead. For
a non-profit organisation that
is not an IT specialist, paying for
computing as a managed utility suits
its needs perfectly and provides a
predictable monthly accounting cost.
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7. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
Cloud: A standardised solution
By providing a neutral platform,
putting standards into effect across
entire industries was made much
easier. A standardised form for the
recall process was developed and all
stakeholders were quick to agree on
what it needed to include, helping
to build trust and improve trading
relationships.
Not only that, but it was flexible enough
to accommodate differences between
regions - 90% of the form stayed the
same, but the rest could have small
alterations made to it in order to ensure
compliance with a variety of legal and
regulatory frameworks.
The final product was easy to use.
Brand managers simply needed to
log on to a self-service web portal,
which could be accessed on demand.
As a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
solution, extra resources could be
provided as needed, scaling capacity
up or down to cope with demand.
Global deployment
The success of the pilot in the
Canadian food industry spurred
GS1 to roll out the service to other
industries and other countries.
In Canada, the solution was quickly
extended to cover the merchandise
sector, with plans to move it into
the healthcare and pharmaceutical
sectors too.
A number of businesses in Australia
are using the service too, including
the grocery, merchandise and liquor
industries.
In India, a pilot was completed in
the food industry in 2012, with the
input of representatives from the
industry and from government.
Following successes in these
countries, the service has recently
been piloted in New Zealand,
Germany, Poland, South Africa,
Mexico and Chile.
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8. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
“Global supply chain standards are the
foundation to effective product recall. GS1
global standards are used by millions of
companies worldwide to enhance the safety,
security and efficiency of their supply chains.
By integrating GS1 standards with HP’s cloud
computing platform, we’re reinventing the
way recall information is exchanged between
businesses and further supporting industry
efforts to improve consumer safety.”
– Arthur Smith President and chief executive officer, GS1 Canada
The solution:
Standardised recall tools
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9. Business Value Exchange presents HP Enterprise Services case studies
Our new case study series looks at the real benefits
that organisations have gained from modernising
their IT systems - not just estimates and predictions.
Accurate planning and careful risk assessment
need real data, not guesswork.
Your organisation can benefit from the example of others. That’s why we’ve
provided case studies from a cross-section of industries and sectors, from
supply chain management and high fashion, to benefit provision and education.
Take a look at more of our resources on the
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