A question of quality

Semir Bojcic

Senior Data Governance Consultant, Salling Group

Text:

Casper Hindse

Photo:

Kasper Løftgaard

How do you use GS1 in your daily operations?

– We use GS1 in several different internal processes. This applies both to the logistical data intended to ensure a product's journey through our value chain, and to the more customer-facing data and images we display on our various websites. The quality of the data and images we receive from GS1 is therefore absolutely vital. Our various warehouses, stores, and other internal departments rely on accurate master data, and if you as a customer shop on one of our websites, it is absolutely essential – and a legal requirement – that you can see, for example, ingredient lists and nutritional declarations. Without GS1, it would be more difficult and expensive to provide this service.

How does the collaboration with GS1 contribute to and develop within your company?

– In the past, we didn't have a standard way of obtaining data and images. In practical terms, this meant there were a lot of Excel files circulating via email whenever we were in contact with our suppliers. It was difficult to keep track of everything because many things can go wrong when one Excel sheet says one thing, while another might not match it. With GS1, there is now a common platform.

– I can clearly feel that it is crucial for our suppliers – and for us as data recipients – that there are standards that are easy to access. Today, you fill out the same information for Coop and Dagrofa as you do for us, which saves you time as a supplier. Daily life has simply become easier and more transparent.

– It is one thing to be able to register and retrieve product data easily and efficiently. It is quite another to ensure the data quality of the products. That is why we also require our suppliers to purchase GS1's validation service, GS1Trade Exact, where GS1 checks the physical packaging against what has been entered into the GS1 database. This is, of course, absolutely essential for both quality assurance and the various legal requirements – and ultimately for the customer, who must be able to trust the data we display.