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GS1 Upstream Integration

 

GS1 Upstream Integration is the GS1 Solution to address the challenges in the supply chain integration between manufacturers and their suppliers. Upstream Integration is about improving the processes by sharing information and improving visibility of demand, demand changes and inventory. This will increase responsiveness to the manufacturing requirements and ultimately to the final consumers.

 

In 2003, a group of manufacturers of Consumer Packaged Goods and their suppliers decided to define a common way to provide tighter integration of their supply chains. Their objective was to avoid costly and time-consuming IT integration projects with every manufacturer or supplier. At the end of 2004, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) - currently known as The Consumer Goods Forum (TCGF) - initiated a new working group which incorporated the already-active GUSI (Global Upstream Supply Initiative) members. The GUSI Working Group was born. It developed and maintains the Upstream Integration Model (UIM) - the standardized processes and data interchanges underpinning upstream integration.

 

For the Consumer Packaged Goods industry, the GUSI working group supported by GS1 has successfully designed a business model known as the Upstream Integration Model (UIM), and adopted the GS1 XML message standards to exchange information between the trading partners in support of these supply chain processes. The UIM creates a common approach and language for the business processes and data interchanges between manufacturers and their suppliers. It has been designed to cover the following business areas: Procurement, Material forecasting, Inventory management, Dispatch, Receipt, Consumption of Materials and Financial Settlement. The UIM is a modular solution which covers the "plan to cash" process for the two most used procurement scenarios:

 

  • "Traditional Order Management (TOM)" is the "manufacturer-driven" scenario. The demand line is initiated by the manufacturer and sent to the supplier.
  • "Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI)" is the "supplier-driven" scenario. The supplier recommends or establishes the deliveries to the manufacturer based on the manufacturer inventory data and or consumption forecast.

The concept of the model is based on six building blocks. Together, the six building blocks create a modular solution to assist defining and driving the implementation of upstream integration.

 

The UIM establishes clear links between each group of business processes of each trading partner and the interchange of the relevant data for these processes for each of the building block.

 

 

 

GS1 standards for identification (GTIN, GLN, SSCC, GS1 Logistic Label) support the UIM model. From the eCom Standards only the XML syntax is supported in the exchange of information between the trading partners in support of these supply chain processes. To cover all upstream transactions, 15 messages have been selected from the GS1 XML standards (see figure below).