DALLAS (FNS) -- A new generation of bar code capable of accommodating variable-weight products will undergo a store-level test that could accelerate the adoption of category-management practices in supermarket fresh-foods departments, according to experts working on the technology.
The in-store pilot will be launched in the fourth quarter of this year at Dorothy Lane Market, Dayton, Ohio, said Gregory Rowe, manager of industry initiatives for the Uniform Code Council, Lawrenceville, N.J.
"We are proceeding with caution," he said. Initially, one checkout lane in the store will read the new bar code, called Reduced Space Symbology, or RSS. The stickers will be applied to produce first, followed by meat items. The test will undergo review with the users before further applications are introduced, said Rowe, during the annual, industry-sponsored Category Management for Perishables conference.
The RSS prototype is designed to carry far more data in a smaller print than the current inch or so required by regular Universal Product Code symbols. The bar code is stacked and omnidirectional, offering space for up to 14 data lines. Consequently, more complete product identification would be available at the point of sale, including supply-chain details, sell-by dates, weight and value over the current $99.99 limit, explained Rowe.
"The new RSS is the enabler to full category management, through the use of unique item numbers," he noted of the technology. "It has the ability to encode up to 74 characters of data, which can be captured at the point of sale. Any information you had ever hoped to track about your random-weight product can now be retained."
While obviously enthusiastic about the new system, the UCC is determined to approach implementation of RSS in a careful, measured and methodical fashion, he said. The questions and concerns raised within the industry are being addressed through advisory panels of various categories of users around the country and overseas.
"I certainly invite representatives of all user categories to contact us; there are opportunities for input and we're actively looking for pilot partners who will take part in testing, refining and benchmarking the project," he said. Currently, joint meetings of retailers, suppliers and trade associations are held every two months, with participants such as Tyson Foods, Kroger Co., Winn-Dixie Stores, Barton Foods, United Fruit Co. and the Food Marketing Institute, among others.
David Sefcik, manager of corporate scanning at Giant Food, Landover, Md., sits on the UCC's Variable Measures User Group. Although it's still in the developmental stages, he said he believes RSS is the way of the future, and actively supports the new technology.
"One of the reasons progress in the perishables category has been impeded is the current UPC coding structure used in the grocery industry to capture point-of-sale movement for variable-measure products -- NSC2 -- is patently insufficient," he said. "It does not provide us with sufficient information to optimally track and manage our business and this will remain so without an advancement by our industry."
Sefcik added that this new approach is a major initiative that will challenge and change the current infrastructure for variable-measure product. "It has the potential to create process efficiencies leading to multiple benefits."
What's more, the benefits go far beyond the obvious -- reductions in losses from shrink and cashier errors pertaining to random-weight items -- to the heart of the best practices promoted by category management, according to the retailer.
"The new symbology allows computer-assisted ordering, which is a novel idea for perishables; better retailer and supplier management of inventory; closer trading relationships with key partners; enhanced item quality through supplier evaluations -- that's the power of branding; and improved profitability through better analysis of data," he said.
Sefcik quoted a recent study by the Grocery Manufacturers of America, Washington, showing data-managing/sharing partnerships could lead to a 10% increase in brand sales. With perishables accounting for 50% of store sales in 1999 and 70% of that involving variable-measures product, the need to better manage this sector is crucial, he said.
There are three primary data elements the Variable Measures User Group has determined will be needed for effective category management:
Complete product identification showing the brand and supplier and whether the item is bio-engineered or irradiated.
Exact weight information, in addition to count and price.
Ability to retrace the supply chain, including country of origin.
"Obviously, this is no easy undertaking," Sefcik continued. " We are talking about a new primary bar code symbology for application at the point of sale. This has not occurred since the UPC was created."
The current symbol was created in the 1970s and has become a fixture in the industry, but it has only 11 items of data and its limitations in the fresh-foods departments have been frustrating, officials pointed out. "A product has to be traced for recall, for instance," Rowe said. The RSS would simplify such operations, at great savings to stores, he added.
The costs involved in upgrading or replacing equipment currently in use both in the back room and at the POS are also being carefully considered. New software development, mainframe installation, scanners and associate retraining all represent major investments, and are part of the entire test phase.
"We realize not everyone will effect a change overnight and the new technology will not immediately replace the old," said Rowe.
According to Sefcik, the UCC Variable Measures User Group has stressed that "we must develop a sound business case alongside a voluntary approach. This means finding a path that will leverage today's technology without excluding anyone who does not wish to take advantage of it."
The UCC is not giving any timeline for the introduction of RSS, which is still an emerging technology. Rowe said the user group's discussions and pilot project's experiences will be carefully analyzed before progressing, but noted the technology thus far has been built on sound science and practical goals.
"Operation of the grocery industry today would be inconceivable without the information derived from tracking UPC-coded merchandise," agreed Sefcik. "I hope we will be saying the same thing about RSS in relation to perishables in the years to come."
