ECR Barcode
Sub-Committee
Tom McAllister
Senior Manager, Graphics , Promotions & Packaging
Quaker Oats Company of Canada
Co-Chair ECR Barcode Sub-Committee
Universal
Product Code
7
12345 12345
9
Shipping Container
Code 14 in
Interleaved 2 of 5
Shipping Container
Code 14 in
UCC/EAN-128
( 01) 90614141000418 ( 15) 991230
( 00) 0 0413245 123456789 4
Serialized Shipping
Container Code
18 in UCC/EAN-128
ECR Sub-committees
ECR Steering Committee
ECR
Collaborative
Forecsting
Committee
ECR
Unexplained
Deductions
Committee
ECR
Unsaleable
Products
Committee
ECR
Education &
Communications
Committee
Unsaleable
Advisory
Sub-Committee
Standards
(Group 1)
ECR
Scorecard &
Benchmarking
Committee
EDI
Sub-Committee
Small Company
Solutions
(Group 2)
ECR
Technology
(Executive)
Committee
Barcode /
Scandata
Sub-Committee
ECR
DSD
Committee
Furture
Tech & Trends
Sub-Committee
ECR
Case
Sizing
Committee
Education &
Communications
Sub-Committee
Cost Benefit
Analysis
(Group 3)
Mandated to address
Barcode Issues
Committee Membership
Bradley Jardine - Sobeys
Tom McAllister - Quaker Oats
Karon Darbyson - AC Nielsen
Jeannie Jarvie - A&P
John Herzig - Barcode Graphics
Pierre Veilleux - CSDF
Derrick Jones - Cadbury
Ratna Jani - ECCC
Sally-Ann Hinton - Effem Food
Christine Hade - H.J. Heinz
Gerard Ladouceur - Hudon Deaudelin
Hokan Wallenius - Intermec Systems
Rich Mondoux - JM Schneider
Gottfried Hasse - Kraft Canada Inc.
Lilian McGrath - Loblaws Co. Ltd.
John Gallo - Longo Bros.
Serge Viau - Metro-Richelieu
Frank Scali - Nestle
Bud Babcock - Procter & Gamble
Michel Provencher - Provigo
Ed Teague - Overwaitea
Rick Zeller - Shoppers Drug Mart
Elaine Zablotny - Shoppers Drug Mart
Lesley Rodenhiser - Smithkline Beechum Bob Crawford - McCormick Canada
Steve Loveday - TGB
Issues Resolved
•SCC-14 (Shipping Container Code) Implementation
Timeline
•76% U.P.C. resolution
•U.P.C. Compliance Timelines and Certification
Process
•Industry Recommendations for the Barcoding for
Floor Ready Display Pallets.
•Broad Industry Representation.
•Interim Compliance Certification Process.
And More…..
Other Accomplishments
•Education Sub-Group Formed.
•Coast to Coast Communication/Education Seminar
Series.
•Uniform Code Council Linkage and with Europe.
•Position Paper on EAN 13/U.P.C 12 Digit Codes.
•Resolution of U.P.C./SCC-14 Codes on Resale Cases.
ECR Barcode Successes
• 50% rise in first Pass Scan Rate resulting in
tens of millions of dollars of savings.
UPC POS First Pass Scan Rates 1995-1998
120%
FPSR
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
1995
1996
1997
1998
% FPSR
Year
99% Target
Rate
SCC-14
• Defined deadline and implementation
momentum of SCC-14 moving
toward critical mass.
%
SCC-14 Implementation in the Grocery Industry
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
1995
1996
1997
Year
1998
Benefits of SCC-14
•
•
•
•
•
Simplifying Case Identification
Better Inventory Control
Significant Error Reduction
Speeds up Receiving Process
Simplifies Database Management
What's Coming Next to
a Store Near You!!!
•
•
SSCC-18 Pallet License Plates
Agreement of Understanding to Listing-Fee
Issue.
—What’s New/What’s Admin/What’s Switch
•
•
•
•
•
Policy on DSD Codes
Variable Weight Code Guidelines
Produce Barcode Guidelines
Returnable Container Policy and Guidelines
SCC-14 Compliance Process
Standards for Shipping
Container Codes
Ratna Jani
Director, Industry Relations
Electronic Commerce Council of
Canada
The Learnings
 About
ECCC
 Industry Implementation
timetable
 Standards Issues & compliance
 Number structures & Packaging
Indicators
 Obtaining Resources
Electronic Commerce
Council
Mission Statement
The Mission of ECCC is to take a Leadership Role
in Establishing and Promoting Multi-Industry
Standards for Product Identification and related
Electronic Commerce Communications
Other Industry timelines for
suppliers
GROCERY INDUSTRY
SCC-14 on Cartons
Pallet license plate
September 1998
To be established
FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY
Assignment of U.P.C./SCC-14 numbers
Apply scannable barcodes on cases
October 1998
October 1999
ECRx TIMELINES
Will be announced shortly for OTC, Cosmetics and
Pharmaceutical products
Objective of the Strategies are
to build partnerships
Having the right product
 At the right time
 At the best possible price
Result is improved trading
partner relationship

Business concepts built on

Movement of product, information and
funds through the supply chain:
rapidly, accurately, efficiently
U.P.C. standards are globally
compatible and harmonized



Uniform Code Council (UCC)
and International Article
Numbering Association (EAN)
establish the standards jointly
Canada adopts the established
standards
The standards are endorsed by
ISO and IEC
Standards vs Guidelines
Standards are established by the
American National Standards in the U.S.
and adopted by the UCC and ECCC
 Standards undergo a six year review
process and cannot be changed.
 Guidelines are established based on the
business needs and within the confines
of the standards.

Inconsistencies identified in
standards application
Lack of understanding the standards
 Ignorance to compliance factors
 Poor quality compliance
 Technology unable to meet the symbol
quality demands
 Internal resources lacked expertise
 Lack of information integrity
 Data unusable to monitor industry
performance

14 Digit Global Structure & Data base
alignment
14 13 12 11 10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 N9 N10 N11 N12 C
U.P.C.
0
EAN-13
0 N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 N9 N10 N11 N12 C
SCC-14 PI N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 N6 N7 N8 N9 N10 N11 N12 C
Global migration to an expanded
number structure
Need identified to increase number
capacity to fulfill rate of growth
 New industry sectors coming on board
 Unlimited use of application:

– Returnable asset number
– Individual asset number
– Location number
– Service relation number
ECR Committee set mandate &
timelines
– ECR Steering committee endorsed
September 1998 for case barcoding
– CCGD Survey shows across Canada
by1998/1999:
47 grocery
 18 frozen

14 produce
10 meat
Warehouses will be ready to scan
cases
There are two types of shipping
cases

A STANDARD CASE CONTAINS LIKE UNITS
(SCC-14)
Units share the same attributes; product
description, size weight and price
Variable case

A VARIABLE CASE CONTAINS AN
ASSORTMENT OF UNITS (SSCC-18)
Attributes vary from unit to unit
SCC-14 is created from the item
ITEM
U.P.C.
SCC-14
PACKAGING
INDICATOR
012345
P 0 012345
FILLER
ZERO
SUPPLIER
ID. #
67890 C
67890 C
ITEM
#
CHECK
DIGIT
PACKAGING INDICATOR (PI)
RULES FOR SCC-14
APPLY PI:
0
1
2-8
9
Where shipping container holds one
consumer product or
Shipping container holds multiple U.P.C’s
Only one shipping container size
For the first level of case configurations
For additional case configurations
Where additional information on variable
weight or quantity follows
There are two approaches to applying
packing indicator rules
Item Packed in different case sizes

ITEM
0 67123 55555 CD

CASE OF 8
0 00 67123 55556 CD

CASE OF 15
0 00 67123 55557 CD

CASE OF 24
0 00 67123 55558 CD
Item packed in inner packs,
intermediate packs and shippers
ITEM
0 67123 55555 CD
INNERPACK
(ITEM X 12)
1 00 67123 55555 CD
INTERMEDIATE PACK
(2 x INNERPACKS)
2 00 67123 55555 CD
MASTERPACK
(4 X INTERMEDIATE PACK)
3 00 67123 55555 CD
SCC-14 can be represented in
two symbologies
•INTERLEAVED 2 OF 5 ( ITF or, I 2 OF 5)
•UCC/EAN - 128
NOMINAL SIZE OF SCC-14 IN
I 2 OF 5
6.0”
1.25”*
* 1.25” = Bar height excluding bear bars
Minimum allowable size 70%
for direct print
62.5% for labels
SCC-14 PRINTED IN UCC/EAN-128
AI (01)
=SCC-14
ENCODED NUMBER
Cases sold at point of sale should be
marked with a U.P.C. symbol
ITEM U.P.C = 0 55000 00001 C
X 12
CASE U.P.C. =
0 55000 00002 C
Numbering the hierarchical levels For POS
Scanning & shipping
For POS & Shipping
 Item
0-55000-00001-CD
 12 pack
0-55000-00002-CD
 24 pack case
0-55000-00003-CD
For Shipping only
 48 pack case
100-55000-00003*-CD
* Item number built into the SCC-14 should be
for the pack size most frequently shipped and
largest volume sold.
Specifications for Case
markings

Cases sold at Point-of-sale require a 12
digit U.P.C code:
– the Case item number will be different
from the unit item number
– the U.P.C. code should be printed at a
160% - 200% magnification factor
– the U.P.C. code should have bearer bars
– the U.P.C. code should be placed in the
same location as a Shipping container code
Scanning systems at POS can
read U.P.C. symbology only
Scanning Systems at D.C. can
scan all symbologies
Brand X
Information
Systems
UPC Code
Brand X
Weight
UCC Case
Code or
UPC/EAN 128
(SCC-14)
Date
etc.
UPC/EAN 128
w/ AI’s
UPC/EAN 128 Serial
Shipping Container Code
(SSCC-18)
Implications

Scanning Systems at the distribution
level can read all symbologies ~
– U.P.C., Interleaved 2 of 5, UCC-EAN/128

Scanning systems at POS can read
U.P.C. only
– Having both symbologies on the case will
confuse the scanner at POS
SCC-14 is created from the item
ITEM
U.P.C.
SCC-14
PACKAGING
INDICATOR
012345
P 0 012345
FILLER
ZERO
SUPPLIER
ID. #
67890 C
67890 C
ITEM
#
CHECK
DIGIT
Location Specifications for
case markings
Symbol Location:
Symbol must be placed on any side
panel
 One symbol is sufficient

SYMBOL LOCATION
0.75”
1.25”
1.25”
(NOT TO SCALE)
Two adjacent sides preferred
ANSI Specifications for case
marking
Minimum allowable grades are:
 Symbols printed using contact based
process requires an ANSI D grade
 Symbols printed with non contact
process must meet an ANSI C grade
 Validation on shipping cases will be
conducted at Distribution centers
 Recommend internal verification of
symbols
Size Specifications for case
marking
Minimum allowable size when printing
using non-contact process or on labels
is 62.5%
 Minimum allowable size when printing
directly onto corrugate is 70%

ECR requirements - next steps
Target to achieve a 99% scan accuracy
at distribution facility
 To ensure compliance to Standards
audit procedures will be established



3rd party validation companies
Measure Industry Performance

Data will be gathered and compiled to ensure
quality compliance and set performance targets
Developing validation procedures
Objective:
 To
establish an industry endorsed
validation process to evaluate and
monitor the accuracy of symbol
quality on cases.
Developing validation procedures
Purpose:
– to raise the awareness for quality
compliance
– to encourage suppliers to comply with the
dates for SCC-14 implementation
– to introduce a comprehensive audit process
– to monitor:
industry progression
 quality performance

Developing validation procedures
Issues & concerns
Mix of print technologies:
– online, pre-printed, print on demand
 Wear and tear associated during
package handling leading to symbol
degradation at DC
 Number of codes on the cases


Non-technical
manual
– Barcoding Basics for
Shipping Containers

Technical Manual
– Application
Standards for
shipping Containers
Electronic Commerce User
Knowledge Network
Provide accessibility through website to:
– EDI and Product ID Standards
– Implementation Guidelines
– Participate in User Committees
– Education Programs
– Industry Supply Chain Updates
– UCC/EAN Activities
Web site address: www.eccc.org
ECCC continues to service all
Industries
Offering interactive workshops
in-house
 Providing consultation on site to
companies
 Publish newsletters
 Information on latest trends contained
on web site

ECCC Can be reached at:
Call 1-800-567-7084
 Web sites:
www.eccc.org

– ECR :
– EFR :
– ECRx :

www.ecr.ca
www.efrcanada.org
www.eccc.org/ecrx/
E-mail RatnaJ@eccc.org
Application Considerations for
Shipping Container Codes
Rich Mondoux
Director, Customer Service and ECR
J. M. Schneider Inc.
BARCODING CARTONS:
WHY DO IT?



No choice if you supply the major retail distributors…
Food Service is about one year away.
BENEFITS:
– Data Collection in Manufacturing
– Supports Auto-palletizing
– Warehouse Management Systems….





Receiving
Pick Verification
Weight Capture
Tracking Information
Enhanced, Faster Cycle Counting
BARCODING CARTONS:
WHY DO IT?


Can reduce labor:
– Manufacturing Staff: stamping / marking cartons
– Much faster and more accurate picking of variable
weight items.
Simplifies Creation of SSCC-18’s and ASN’s,
particularly for mixed pallets.
When the SCC-14
is not enough…...

Encoding additional data:
– Required information
– Application-related additional information
– Limitations
APPENDING OTHER DATA
TO THE SCC-14

THE SCC-14 MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO FULLY
IDENTIFY A CARTON:
– Necessary qualifiers

YOU MAY WANT TO INCLUDE OTHER
INFORMATION, EITHER FOR INTERNAL USE
OR FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS:
– Optional qualifiers
THE PERISHABLE VARIABLE
WEIGHT MEAT BAR CODE
FOUR DATA ITEMS
ARE ENCODED

(01) 90062000530584
The SCC-14

(3102) 000887
Its Weight

(15) 970804
Its Best Before Date

(21) 003535
A Carton Serial Number
APPENDING OTHER DATA
TO THE SCC-14

OTHER USAGES:



Product Variant…. e.g. couponing
Count:…. Variable number of inner items
Batch or Lot Number… internal / external
tracking
Limitations



Maximum number of characters:
48
Maximum bar code length:
6.5 inches
All-numeric data results in a shorter barcode
Pre-Print vs.
Print on Demand

Print at point of carton manufacture:
– Interleaved 2 of 5 symbology: no additional data
needed
– Product-specific carton
– Very inexpensive; as many panels as desired

Label vs. direct carton printing:
–
–
–
–
UCC-128 Symbology?
Other concurrent printing needs?
Operating environment?
Equipment availability and costs?
When to print
and apply?


Use engineering and production staff to link the
business needs to the process needs
As simple as possible!
– At point of carton manufacture
– During carton assembly process
– On the production line….
 upstream
 at point of fill
 downstream pre-palletizer
GETTING HELP

On-demand / online printer suppliers will
come in to your plant and test their
equipment in your environment and
application…
– You don’t need to make decisions in a vacuum!

Packaging design people have also developed
much knowledge… link them to your QA and
Production team to develop layouts &
processes
– Caveat: You will find that biases and misinformation abound, so look for second opinions if
you’re not convinced.
WATCH-OUTS!


How many carton panels? As many as is costefficient….
– except for pre-printed, cost per extra panel is high
– Minimum standard is 1 side only
– Allow for 2-side printing in any production line
changes
Placement and accuracy:
– rules are geared to conveyorized scanning….
– consider your customer base as you decide how
accurately you apply a bar code, both location and
orientation.
WATCH-OUTS!

The X-dimension…
– generally, the larger the bars and spaces, the
better it reads. UCC-128 bar codes are inherently
more difficult to read than I 2/5…. require crisp
transitions.
– You will likely be trying to read the bar code in a
warehouse environment, and often many weeks
after the label was first printed.
– In UCC-128, the minimum X-dimension of 10 mils
will work only in ideal conditions; a good rule of
thumb is a minimum of 15 mils.
Additional factors affecting
implementation

TIMING:
– Planning:
 Can be several months….
 Need to assess fixed vs. variable data;
information required; other concurrent print
needs; where in the production process to
apply barcodes
 Team can include production managers, work
teams, maintenance, engineering, your label
specialist
 Select an outside supplier early (who will end
up as part of your planning team).
Additional factors affecting
implementation
– Implementing:
 Database creation and maintenance
 Physical production line changes, installation,
and testing
 Training: operators, supervision, maintenance
 Testing and Tuning
– While simple applications can be developed and
implemented over a few weeks, anything involving
production line modifications will often take 90
days per application… after the first one!
Additional factors affecting
implementation

Budgets:
– Varies a great deal with the application
– Some Rules of Thumb….
 very easy to exceed $50,000 per application;
equipment such as scales are additional.
 a carton can be ink jet sprayed for 1 to 2 cents,
including equipment lease and consumables;
when printing on labels, expect about 3
times the cost.
Additional factors affecting
implementation

Confirmation and Verification:
– in any automated environment, include a simple
scanner to confirm the presence of a readable
correct bar code… they are inexpensive and very
worthwhile.
– shipping container bar codes must meet an ANSI
grade of ‘D’ on corrugate and ‘C’ on labels when
scanned… set standards high enough to ensure a
‘C’ at the end of the carton’s useful life.
– develop a verification program which tests
samples of bar codes regularly during the
production day… and empower your production
workers to shut down the line if they fail.
Verification procedures

Our Verification Program:
– Scan completed cartons (online) to confirm that a
bar code is indeed there, and that its content is
correct.
– Team leader or QA person verifies a sample at
least twice per shift, and after each change in
label roll; maintains a QA log.
– Weekly samples from every line at every plant are
randomly selected and sent to central QA for
verification and logging.
– Spot checks are done in the warehouse in addition
to scanning during the receiving process.
BAR CODE QUALITY DETERIORATES
AT A SURPRISING RATE!

Training and Maintenance:
– cleaning and tuning print heads and mechanisms
must be part of daily Standard Operating
Procedures
– lead hand or maintenance person must
understand print quality issues, know how to spot
a problem, measure and adjust equipment
– all labels are not created equal! Find a label stock
which works with the particular printer in the
operating environment… and stick to it. The 1/4
cent per label your buyer can save will be wasted
many times over in the plant!
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR
IMPLEMENTATION!