| To meet the need
for improving commerce efficiency with the use of UPC codes,
the Uniform Code Council has announced that by January 1,
2005 all U.S. and Canadian companies must be capable of
scanning and processing EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols, in
addition to 12-digit U.P.C. symbols, at point-of-sale. This
2005 Sunrise initiative allows U.S. and Canadian companies
ample time to address all conversion issues.
2005 Sunrise:
Currently, only the United States and Canada do not mark
their products with EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols. U.S.and
Canadian manufacturers are mandated to update their12-digit
UPC symbols with the new Sunrise 2005 standard of 13-digit
UPC character system. Expanding to the 13-digit Sunrise
standard will allow U.S. and Canadian companies to handle a
wider range of products and meet the international standards
for UPC use.
Importance of 2005 Sunrise:
- With the exception of the U.S. and Canada, retail
products from around the world are marked with EAN-8 and
EAN-13 symbols. To sell those products in the U.S. and
Canada, manufacturers must re-label with a 12-digit UPC
symbol. This creates additional expense and time to
market issues. Expanding system capability to scan and
process EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols, as well as UPC symbols
will allow companies to handle a greater range of
products in the future.
- The number of products identified with EAN-8 and
EAN-13 symbols will increase quickly after Jan. 2005.
This is due to the fact that UCC company prefixes will
no longer be issued to new companies based outside the
United States and Canada. Therefore, these new companies
will be marking their products with EAN-8 or EAN-13
symbols. In addition, some U.S. and Canadian companies
will be assigned UCC company prefixes with lead digits
of 10 to 13. These prefixes can only be used to create
EAN-13 symbols, and not UPC symbols.
Who Will Be Effected by 2005 Sunrise:
- Any company that currently uses or will use UPC
codes for product identification and labeling.
- Manufacturers, Printers, Graphic Artists and
Advertising Firms, and Printers
- Stores that scan UPC codes such as retailers,
distributors, warehouses, etc.
What Needs to Be Done to Be Compliant:
Don't be fooled when someone suggests that you need new
hardware to be Sunrise compliant. Many barcode scanners in
use will work with the new standard. However, it does depend
on what you are using and the current database structure
under which a company is working. Many applications and
databases in North America are designed to process and store
on 12 digits, so even though your scanner might be
compliant, your back-end systems are not. This could be a
large problem all up and down the supply chain, as well as
retail. To be fully Sunrise 2005 compliant, it is best that
you actually contact a technical representative at
Barcode4Less for a free evaluation of your systems to
make sure they are compliant. The call and advice is free
and could save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
Call toll-free 1-866-318-1773.
GTIN Compliant:
GTIN is an umbrella term used to describe the entire
family of data structures that identify trade items
(products and services). GTINs consist of four data
structures that are 8, 12, 13 and 14 digits in length. For
example, the EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC, and RSS symbols on products
all encode GTINs.
To be GTIN Compliant, a company must be 2005 Sunrise
Compliant plus be able to process and store 14-digit GTINs.
Note: you should plan to be GTIN compliant soon,
although it is not necessary to be fully GTIN compliant to
be 2005 Sunrise compliant.
Recommendations:
- Contact Barcode4Less to find out what your
specific needs are to become Sunrise Compliant.
- See also what is necessary to become GTIN compliant
and what it takes to read RSS symbols for the future.
- Do so soon. Not making these changes in a timely
fashion can cause serious problems including:
- The inability to share standardized information
with trading partners
- Additional product marking costs for trading
partners and the consumer
- Consumers will experience problems due to
improper marking
- Inefficiencies including delays shipping and
market delays
Call toll-free 1-866-318-1773 for a free analysis of
your compliance needs. |
