The Australian Railway Industry has been called to adopt GS1 standards to identify materials used across the industry by 1 January 2019. The first stop is to invest in GS1 standards and new technologies to improve reliability and quality across the value chain. Read article to find out what you need to know.

1. Call to Action
Industry wide Parts and Components
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automation of manual processes
Download the Call to Action
www.gs1au.org/ARA-GS1-call-to-action/
More information
GS1 Australia
Bonnie Ryan
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Transport Heavy Industry
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Australasian Railway
Association (ARA)
Phil Allan
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Build the tracks and the train will come
THE AUSTRALIAN RAILWAY INDUSTRY HAS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE
in the rail transport story with many significant rail innovation
advancements. However, the Australian rail network still has
many chapters ahead as it works toward the next major
milestone.
Milestone station: GS1 standards and new technologies
Our rail industry today is large and complex, causing
challenges with cost, safety, visibility, logistics, efficiency and
customer service. To alleviate these, the industry is at an
important crossover point on the tracks to set the direction it
needs to take.
The direction is an investment in GS1 standards and new
technologies to improve reliability and quality across the
value chain. This industry initiative is under way and will be
ready for implementation as soon as we all get on the train
to the next milestone station.
The context of this story is like the Semmering railway
track, which was built before a train had been engineered
to traverse over the Alps to connect Vienna and Venice.
Eventually the train did come and today this achievement is
recognised as an outstanding technological solution.
In the case of the Australian railway industry, GS1 standards
and the new technologies have been “built” and are ready
to go. The next step is to get industry passengers on the
“train” by responding to the call to action to implement GS1
standards by 1 January 2019.
Phil Allan, chief operating officer at the Australasian Railway
Association, said: “The Australian rail industry has been
called to adopt GS1 global standards to identify materials
used across the industry. The call to action that was released
earlier this year is the first major step towards standardising
the way materials are identified to support supply chain best
practice and effective asset management.”
Next stop – workshops
Representatives from Australian Rail Technology, Austbreck,
Bombardier, Cold Forge, Knorr-Bremse, Gemco, Pandrol,
Siemens, Timken, UGL and many more attended the
workshops from May through to August 2017 to learn about
the call to action initiative.
Bonnie Ryan, senior manager – trade, transport heavy
industry, GS1 Australia, said: “If you didn’t make the first series
of workshops, the second series is in the pipeline for early
2018. Keep an eye out for communication to secure a seat
to learn about the range of tools available to assist you with
the implementation of GS1 standards.”
GS1 Australia on board at AusRAIL PLUS 2017
GS1 Australia is participating at AusRAIL PLUS 2017 in Brisbane
from 21 to 23 November at Stand No 378. Ms Ryan is
also speaking in the rail suppliers’ stream on Day 1 about
the benefits of standards for identification of parts and
components.
For more information or to register for the 2018 rail
industry supplier workshops, contact Bonnie Ryan at
bonnie.ryan@gs1au.org.