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Many manufacturers are visiting how they are managing their GDSN data to ensure data quality. This has become more important in the past year as many Retailers and Distributors have aggressively started to measure and rank suppliers based on the accuracy of data provided via GDSN.  Here are five steps for manufacturers to improve the quality of data you are providing to GDSN:

1. Understand the GS1 Package Measurement Rules and Tolerances
2. Identify when to re-measure and audit product data
3. Assign responsibility for content
4. Use the same data internally and with the same timing
5. Communicate internally on how your trading partners use the GDSN information

Understanding the GS1 Package Measurement Rules and Tolerances. At a high level, these guidelines define the rules for measuring the different levels of packaging of a product – rules for consumer items which take into account how the product is normally presented on a shelf and rules for logistics units (cases, pallets, inners) that reflect warehousing and shipping considerations.  The guidelines have many examples covering a range of different products. In addition, the guidelines specify suggested tolerances which vary based on the nature of the product – for example products in flexible packaging or frozen products.

Identify when to re-measure and audit product data. It is common to find that measurements provided to trading partners are initial based on either pre-production specifications or pre-production samples of new products and that the product dimensions and weight may be different on the actual production product. Therefore it is important to have a procedure to re-measurement products once they go into production and also ongoing when changes to production processes are made. Ideally all product changes are propagated automatically to your GDSN data but if this is not the case, it is prudent to periodically audit a portion of products to determine if specs have changed and further re-measures are required.

Assign Responsibility for Content. GDSN contains many different data attributes which may be managed by different groups within your organization. Leading organizations have looked at each data attribute to determine who within their organization should be responsible for the final value of that data attribute and who has the responsibility of approving any change to the product that affects that attribute (i.e. they have visibility to changes and can ensure that the changes are communicated).

Use the Same Data Internally and with the Same Timing. Having clean and accurate GDSN data is a great first step, but nothing erodes a trading partner’s confidence more than when other paper and non-GDSN information sources have data that differs. So it is important to ensure that these other data sources have the exact same information. In addition, timing of changes has to be coordinated so that trading partners are receiving the same information from the Customer/Sales team as they are via GDSN.

Communicate How Trading Partners Use the Data. Retailers and distributors have good business reasons on how they use the various GDSN data attributes and the impacts that poor quality data has on the efficiency of their operations and compliance with state and local regulations. By sharing these details internally, those individuals or departments that are responsible for the various data attributes will have a better understanding of why data accuracy is important.