Australia launches leading-edge supply chain location directory
Press Release
17 March 2010
Download press release here.
The first electronic location directory, connecting purchasers and suppliers around Australia, was officially unveiled in Melbourne and Sydney this week.
The central registry, known as GS1Locatenet, will improve the speed and accuracy of supply transactions and build traceability in the supply chain.
Recognised as a best-of-breed model of its kind internationally, the service is now available to all users of Global Location Numbers (GLNs) across all industries. A GLN is a unique 13-digit reference number used to identify legal entities, like a registered company, and physical entities, such as a warehouse or a particular room in a building. A GLN is automatically assigned by GS1 Australia to a business when it joins as a member.
The system was developed for Australia's healthcare sector, to facilitate direct electronic communication between organisations wanting to source, supply and trace medical goods, equipment, devices and pharmaceutical suppliers from the National Product Catalogue (NPC).
The service is the result of an ongoing partnership between the National eHealth Transition Authority, which built the National Product Catalogue (NPC), with support from public sector health authorities and GS1 Australia, a member of an international not-for-profit standards and services organisation. GS1 Australia hosts the NPC.
Similar to a telephone exchange, the database provides a definitive index of unique GLNs which are used to identify all legal, physical and operational entities in a supply chain, with unique identifiers to distinguish between locations such as purchasing and billing locations, shipping destinations, eMessaging addresses and hospital locations.
GS1 Australia Chief Executive Officer Maria Palazzolo said the application is the most advanced of its kind in the world. "GS1Locatenet provides the foundation for the continued growth of the use of GLNs in Australian supply chains. For Australian businesses it will improve the speed and accuracy of their supply transactions, reduce operating costs and build traceability," she said.
At the launch in Melbourne today, NEHTA's Head of Strategy Andrew Howard said GS1Locatenet was a major breakthrough in the development of Australia’s national e-health system replacing current manual processes with a quicker, more accurate method of transacting with suppliers.
"Receiving the right products, at the right time and in the right location has enormous safety benefits for patients, as well as massive savings for the healthcare businesses involved," he said.
"Every year, a number of patient deaths result from incorrect prescribing. Correct ordering and timely delivery can significantly reduce this risk."
"The electronic system also has major benefits inside a hospital making inventory management and distribution easier and improving traceability and recall procedures for sensitive goods, such as drugs."
