Articles
Take an EAN Health Check™ to get more out of EAN•UCC standards (June 2005)
Whether you need to find out what your business could gain from EAN•UCC implementation or just want to fine tune your operations, the EAN Health Check is fast, simple and affordable.
Offered by the EAN Professional Services team, the EAN Health Check includes a review of the EAN•UCC system's use throughout the business and provides a roadmap for implementation or expansion. The operational areas addressed by the EAN Health Check include:
- Ordering and receiving stock or raw materials from suppliers
- How stock and raw materials are put away
- Tracking raw materials into production
- Tracking work-in-progress inventories
- Transferring finished goods into storage
- Receiving and processing orders from customers
- Stocktaking
- Product traceability and product recalls
The EAN Health Check begins with a preengagement questionnaire to determine business requirements and priorities for the analysis. Because nothing can replace first-hand observation, the questionnaire is followed up with a one-day site visit by an EAN Professional Services Advisor experienced in supply chain management, automatic data capture and electronic messaging. At the end of the day's site visit, the advisor presents a diagnostic report based on an assessment of the nominated business operations.
If your business is preparing to implement EAN•UCC systems, the report will also outline the steps needed to progress your implementation. For businesses already working with EAN•UCC system, the EAN Health Check report highlights opportunities to leverage the benefits of the system further.
EAN Professional Services in conjunction with Alliance Partners have also developed some optional modules companies can undertake after an EAN Health Check is completed. For example, these modules will include an inventory and warehouse optimisation module and a demand forecasting module offered by Business Alliance Partner, Right Online.
General Manager of Professional Services and Business Development John Hearn said the EAN Health Check was a great way for companies of all sizes to evaluate the performance of their current operations or identify potential savings before committing to new supply chain management systems.
"The EAN Health Check is a great stepping stone," John said. "It's a worthwhile investment in terms of time and money as an independent expert opinion can be invaluable during decisionmaking and planning."
The EAN Health Check has a fixed cost of $1500 plus GST and any travel costs outside metropolitan Melbourne and Sydney.
