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In his first year as chief operating officer at GS1 US, Charles “Chip” Lloyd has overseen the creation of two major initiatives that leverage the organization’s traditional standards — and create some new ones — to address serious industry issues.
Lloyd, who joined GS1 US, Lawrenceville, N.J., in June 2007 after 16 years with Unilever Foods, is responsible for the organization’s day-today activities. He reports to its chief executive officer, Miguel Lopera, who is based in Belgium, where he also serves as CEO of GS1, the parent organization of GS1 US and 107 similar country-based organizations around the world. They all manage the standards such as bar codes and electronic data interchange that form the foundation of commercial operations in the modern world.
As head of GS1 US, Lloyd oversees several divisions within the organization, three of which have a direct impact on food retailing: BarCodes and eCom; 1SYNC, a data pool supporting data synchronization; and EPCglobal North America, which manages the standards supporting RFID implementation using the electronic product code (EPC).
This year, a new initiative has emerged — dubbed New Ways of Working Together — that builds on key GS1 US standards like data synchronization and bar codes. The New Ways program aims to make the supplier-retailer relationship a more harmonious and productive one by eliminating disruptions and focusing on sales growth. It is based on pioneering work done by Wegmans Food Markets and Coca-Cola, J.M. Smucker, Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Frito-Lay.
To help retailers and manufacturers rank their performance in the New Ways program, GS1 US is helping to develop a new standard called Trading Partner Performance Management (TPPM). A TPPM working group has come up with definitions for 16 commonly used measures encompassing sales, operations, supply chain and data accuracy.
GS1 US sees the New Ways program as “the next stage in [the industry’s] evolution,” Lloyd said. “We’re using this as the rallying point for everything we do and as a way to make ourselves more relevant to the marketplace.”
In another major development, GS1 US and the Food Marketing Institute, Arlington, Va., announced plans last month to launch an online portal — the Product Recall Collaboration Zone — designed to allow manufacturers to readily communicate standard recall information to retailers. Developed by FMI, GS1 US and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the portal is expected to go live in early fall.
“This is the first time we’ve pursued the opportunity with partners such as FMI and GMA to build a recall portal using GS1 standards and addressing the needs of government and trading partners,” said Lloyd.
Tim Hammonds, CEO of FMI, credited Lloyd with helping GS1 “make a successful transition to being more cooperative in developing industry solutions with a variety of partners.” This, Hammonds added, “opened the door to enable us to go to them about [developing] the recall portal.”
GS1 US will also be working on an ongoing initiative to prepare the industry to use a new bar code — the GS1 DataBar — on coupons and fresh products like loose produce and fresh meat and poultry.
— MICHAEL GARRY
