TABLE OF CONTENTS. Table of Contents

Fl or alGT I N I mpl ement at i onGui de S e pt e mbe r2008 TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Table of Contents Sponsors Foreword Executive Summary Visi...
Author: Helen Day
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Table of Contents Sponsors Foreword Executive Summary Vision of the GTIN Introduction Current State of the Industry Expected Benefits of GTIN The Cost of Implementing the GTIN Major Obstacles in Implementing the GTIN Basic GTIN Education Pilot Purpose / Objective Pilot Participants Pilot Findings Step 1: Obtaining your GS1-issued Company Prefix Step 2: Assigning 14-digit GTINs to boxes Step 3: Assigning 12-digit U.P.C.s to bunches and bouquets Step 4: Communicating numbers to your trading partners Step 5: Using the GTIN in Business Transactions Enablement of Supply Chain Tools/Practices ROI (Return on Investment) Figures Frequently Asked Questions Appendix A - References Appendix B - Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy Appendix C - Core Attributes Appendix D – Floral Attribute Worksheet Template Appendix E - Glossary

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Sponsors Wholesale Florist and Florist Supplier Association

Association of Floral Importers of Florida

Produce Marketing Association



California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers




California Cut Flower Commission

Society of American Florists

GS1 U.S.




Foreword Dear Members of the Floral Supply Chain: elcome inside the Floral GTIN Implementation Guide presented by the Floral Logistics Coalition, which is sponsored with financial support and with ongoing staff support by the six floral associations above.


The Floral Logistics Coalition was formed over two years ago and the Coalition immediately identified building 21st-century supply chain technology as an important core mission within the floral community. Over the past 10 months, the Floral Logistics Coalition has conducted a GTIN pilot among more than a dozen trading partners and summarizes the findings of this pilot in this Guide. Additionally, this Guide beautifully articulates the steps to take to join and engage in the use of 21st-century technologies no matter where in the floral supply chain your company participates. Whether your company is involved with growing, flying, trucking, selling to resellers, freight brokering, wholesaling, or selling floral product to the consumer, GTIN is for you, because GTIN represents the fundamental basis upon which all 21stcentury supply chain technology is built. As the volunteer Chair of the Floral Logistics Coalition, I, together with all members of the Coalition and all members of the floral GTIN pilot, have spent thousands of hours promoting the financial power of GTIN and the resultant ability to more broadly apply 21st-century supply chain technology for the benefit of all of us who are part of the floral supply chain that, ultimately, markets flowers to the U.S. consumer. Without the enormous capabilities of the sponsors and staff below and the members of the floral GTIN pilot, this Floral GTIN Implementation Guide and, for that matter, the Coalition itself would not be possible. Please join us of the Floral Logistics Coalition and the Floral GTIN pilot in learning about the enclosed information. We, as the Floral Logistics Coalition, stand ready to support much broader GTIN adoption within the floral community in every way we can. Thanks so much for your interest and your time. Clay Sieck The Sieck Wholesale Floral Group Chairman of the Floral Logistics Coalition




Executive Summary C

ompanies that buy, sell, pack, and distribute floral products have reached a crossroads in the way they conduct business. After increasing consolidation and expansion, companies are now finding that they must rely on boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of their supply chains to help drive continued growth. New technologies are making dramatic improvements in process automation and collaboration that the floral industry has yet to embrace. While many companies recognize the importance of such initiatives, many are uncertain how to proceed and where their efforts should be focused to achieve optimal benefit. One inescapable fact is that the floral industry has virtually stood still in its use of supply chain tools, while other industries have embraced their use and continue to benefit from their resulting efficiencies.

The implementation of the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN – pronounced “gee-tin”) is a necessary first step to using these supply chain tools, as each of these tools requires a number when referencing product. Because the floral supply chain does not currently have one standard numbering system, this problem needs to be addressed first. In order for the GTIN to work in and between trading partners of the floral industry, standard protocols have to be followed to ensure validity and consistency. The effectiveness of the standard protocols that govern the use of the GTIN is the reason why it has become the very foundation for supply chain tools such as electronic commerce, data synchronization, and tools to automatically capture data (e.g., barcoding, GS1 DataBar, and RFID) for more than 2 million companies in more than 25 industries spanning more than 145 countries worldwide. As the largest implemented standard in the world, the GTIN gives the floral industry the opportunity to have one numbering system that can be used by companies in most countries around the world. In addition, this standard is already being used by the large majority of supermarkets around the world, a very big segment of the floral industry. Even if a wholesaler or vendor never intends on trading with supermarkets, efficiencies can be gained through the incorporation of standards. The adoption of the GTIN aids all segments of the supply chain by enabling and positioning the floral industry to begin use of supply chain tools that other industries have used for quite some time to help automate processes, increase efficiencies, reduce errors, cut operational and administrative costs, and position companies for additional savings and a competitive advantage. It also allows for consistency and commonality on how these various supply chain tools are used both in and out of your own country. GS1, the global standards organization responsible for managing this standard, has offices in more than 145 countries, including virtually all of the key markets from where floral products are grown and shipped. In August 2007, more than 20 companies representing growers, producers, importers, wholesalers, and supermarkets piloted the use of the GTIN in four product categories: basic flowers, bouquets, specialties, and tropicals. Results of the pilot showed that the GTIN can work effectively on boxes of floral products. This document incorporates the findings of the pilot, as well as basic education and strategies on how to assign GTINs to box configurations and U.P. C.s (Universal Product Codes) to bunches and bouquets. As the use of the GTIN poses a change not only in how boxes of flowers are identified, but also in how they can be referenced on orders or invoices, members of the floral industry will need some guidance on the use of this number. The intent of this document is to do exactly that: serve as a guide. As the GTIN is being used in several different industries, we have a lot of information and guidance to pull from in addition to the floral pilot.




The floral industry is not alone in the adoption of the GTIN, with the supermarket community having already adopted the GTIN standard at the case level for their packaged goods segments and are now looking to the remainder of their businesses to begin use of these same standards. The movement to incorporate the standardized GTIN is also being done in other segments including produce, meat, dairy/deli, turkey, pork, beef, fish, and other segments. Floral brand owners will need to obtain company prefixes from their regional GS1 office, assign 14-digit GTIN numbers to their box configurations, communicate to their trading partners their new GTIN numbers and their corresponding information, show the GTIN numbers on the boxes and in barcodes, and begin using GTIN numbers on their purchase orders and invoices. This will position the floral industry to begin the use of more complicated supply chain technologies that pose the largest ROI. Simply put, the floral industry cannot effectively participate in supply chain technologies such as Electronic Commerce, Barcoding, GS1 DataBar, RFID, and Data Synchronization without the use of the GTIN. As the incorporation of this standard, and the use of the above-mentioned technologies, is new to the floral industry, we are at the very beginning of this cycle. Cultural change is painful, as people have to relinquish familiar habits and practices and adopt new ones. This will require a continuing investment in education and training at all levels and new performance measures for business units and individuals. As such, the sponsoring trade associations will spend a great deal of time and energy on educating the floral industry on the GTIN and then subsequently on its use in supply chain technologies. The incorporation of the GTIN is not without its challenges, nor without the cost of implementation, but there is an answer for every challenge presented. These standards are in use by other industries and we can learn from their successes, as well as their mistakes. Now is the time to address the wide gap that separates the floral supply chain from other supply chains. The longer we wait, the wider the gap, the more costly it becomes to do business with floral companies. In an era where efficiency not only affects your bottom line, but also becomes a decision point when selecting your business partners, we cannot afford to wait any longer.



Vision of the GTIN

Vision of the GTIN A

s the GTIN is necessary for the effective and efficient use of various supply chain technologies, it is the vision of the sponsoring trade associations to lead the industry in a logical, organized manner to ensure the critical mass needed for maximum return on investment and maximum benefit to the floral industry. This vision is based upon the experience garnished from other industries adoption of various supply chain standards and technologies. Phase 1- All supply chain members use the GTIN for referencing boxes of flowers and the U.P.C. for referencing consumer bunches and bouquets. These numbers will become the “common language” that automated tools (e.g., barcodes, electronic commerce, RFID) require when identifying an item. Phase 2 – Ensure that the information associated with the GTIN is communicated accurately between trading partners. Having this data synchronized between trading partners will ensure consistency and accuracy when the GTIN number is read and/or scanned by various members of the supply chain. Phase 3 – Employ the use of technology. If industry members opt to implement supply chain technologies on their own, the industry will move in different directions. This will prevent mass-adoption and the critical mass needed to maximize return on investment and efficiency for the industry. As such, subsequent meetings will be held to investigate which technologies would prove to be most beneficial for the floral industry and the priority given to their adoption and implementation.




Introduction T

he landscape of the floral industry is changing with continued consolidation of floral retailers, wholesalers, and growers, as well as the growth of on-line floral formats. These changes have motivated leading supermarkets to initiate cost-cutting measures and efficiency programs in order to remain competitive, such as RFID, data synchronization, barcodes, and electronic commerce, each of which were built around the use of standards. Adopting the GTIN will enable the use of these supply chain tools.

The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) is a term that was developed by the managing body of this standard, GS1, to describe all of the GS1 worldwide data structures. This umbrella term was designed to encapsulate all products at all levels in the supply and demand cycle (e.g., selling units, boxes, cases, pallets, etc.). Each level requires a unique GTIN to correctly identify products throughout the supply chain. For simplicity sake, and for the use of this document, we will refer to the GTIN (pronounced “gee-tin”) as the 14-digit number used to identify a box of floral products and a U.P.C. (also known as the GTIN-12) to identify an individual bunch or bouquet. Through the direction of the Floral Logistics Coalition, six key trade associations — WFFSA (Wholesale Florists and Floral Suppliers Association), PMA (Produce Marketing Association), AFIF (Association of Floral Importers of Florida), CAFGS (California Association of Flower Growers and Shippers), CCFC (California Cut Flower Commission), and SAF (Society of American Florists) — sponsored a pilot of more than 20 floral companies to begin use of the GTIN as the product identification number for four floral categories (basic flowers, bouquets, specialties, novelties) and the use of U.P. C.s on bunches and bouquets. The pilot kicked off on October 2, 2007. The purpose of the pilot was to test a strategy created at a June 2007 meeting of more than 150 floral companies and trade associations for assigning GTINs at the box level, and subsequently for U.P.C.s at the item level for bunches and bouquets only. This strategy was necessary to prevent a proliferation of GTINs and U.P. C.s, as well as providing some consistency as to what level of granularity is needed when assigning these numbers. As you will see in the information to follow, the results concluded that the basic GTIN assignment strategy (with little modification) can work for the floral categories piloted. Pilot members also believe the same basic strategy can work with other floral categories. This document serves as a comprehensive explanation of what the GTIN is, the benefits of using the GTIN, the steps needed to incorporate the GTIN, the challenges in doing so from pilot participants, and the use of the GTIN in various supply chain technologies. An Education and Outreach Plan will be executed by the sponsoring trade associations in order to further educate members of the floral industry and, through that plan, we will provide more resources, more opportunities to learn (e.g., webinars, town hall meetings, regional trade associations, road shows, etc.) and more discussions on best practices.




Current State of the Industry The floral industry is plagued with manual activity and a lack of information caused by a complex supply chain with multiple hand-offs. As a result, the floral supply chain acts more as independent silos and not as a cohesive supply chain. The most obvious gap in the industry is the use of product identification standards. There are no industry standards used for identifying boxes of flowers. It is very common to see a box that has made a trip through the supply chain with multiple labels on the box, each label having a different number, a different barcode, or proprietary information. In addition, little to no technologies are used between trading partners, as there is no unified direction to the industry on what technology should be used and what the guidelines are for using those technologies (e.g., barcoding, RFID, electronic commerce, etc.). The majority of the floral supply chain wishes to participate in various supply chain technologies currently being used in the supermarket industry, but is unable to do so. This is largely due to the perceived costs of implementation, as well as the absence of a standard numbering system needed by these technologies.

Expected Benefits of GTIN As noted above, the Global Trade Item Number is a foundational standard that, without its deployment, would exclude the floral industry’s ability to use proven supply chain tools and gain their accompanying benefits. Most buyers now recognize the benefit of deploying technology, as is the case with the consumer packaged goods (CPG) supply chain. Thanks to the CPG companies who have already paved the path over the last few decades, very little has not already been uncovered in the adoption of GTINs. This document takes advantage of those experiences to give the floral industry an even easier, already proven, path to adoption. It is important to understand that the primary benefit of the GTIN is to create a common language needed for the use of supply chain technologies. Although it does offer some additional benefits on its own, the large return on investment comes with the use of various supply chain technologies that use this standard. u One common language: Having one common protocol to identify, reference, and label boxes will: v Eliminate tedious and laborious cross references

v Streamline the ordering, invoicing, and reconciling process

v Allow for a one-to-one correlation between buyer and seller numbers

v Provide easy and consistent reference when discussing and/or referencing product v Consolidate various numbers for an item into one number

v Standardize the various product identification systems used in the supply chain by supporting one single, industry standard v Minimize the labels used when identifying product

u Cost reduction: Creating one system based upon a single standard for numbering products will minimize the costs of maintaining ordering, invoicing and inventorying systems both internally and externally with your trading partners. All of the activities eliminated by this streamlined approach, in addition to the enablement of the technologies that use these standards, 8



will significantly reduce the costs in this industry (see section entitled “ROI (Return on Investment) Figures” for more on costs).

u Use of technologies: Some of these technologies require the use of the GTIN, while others are used much more efficiently with a standardized number.

u Effective communication: Using one standard numbering system to reference a product, whether verbally or electronically, ensures accurate identification of an item. u Efficient data storage: Having numerical product identification that guarantees brand owner uniqueness anywhere in the world will allow for databases to be configured one way to accept one format, regardless of whose product it is (e.g., the GTIN will always and only be 14 digits long and will be numeric only). u Efficient programming: Programs can be written one way, without the need to accommodate a different sized number or different formats.

The Cost of Implementing the GTIN Nothing worth having is without cost, and the adoption of the GTIN industry-wide will have an impact in expenditures for a number of participants. However, the use of the GTIN will enable technologies that will provide companies with a foundation to gain tremendous cost benefits above and beyond those obtained from having a standard “language” with which to conduct business (e.g., automation, elimination of manual data entry, automated reconciliation, expedited receiving, real-time inventory counts, increased information flow, etc.). A choice can be made by companies to continue to ignore progress and innovation in the supply chain, only to find that they cannot compete with a more efficient competitor. The buying community is now demanding efficiency to help reduce their costs as well. When all things are equal, the buying community will be turning to those trading partners who will allow faster, cheaper, and more efficient access to their products. Those who choose to no longer ignore these innovations and embrace these technologies will not only enjoy the resulting savings of using these technologies within their own four walls, but will also gain a competitive advantage by providing a more efficient way to market. However, the question of cost must be addressed, whether directly or indirectly. So how much will this cost? The cost will depend on a number of variables. Obtaining a Company Prefix – If you are a brand owner and are the one who has to assign the GTIN number, you must get a Company Prefix from your regional GS1 organization ( If you already have a GS1-issued Company Prefix, you will not need to incur the expense. If you do not have a GS1-issued Company Prefix, you will have to obtain one. As each GS1 member organization (i.e., country office) has its own pricing scheme, nothing can be said that would be of value. Suffice it to say that it is a nominal fee per year. Assigning GTINs to your box configurations – This is simply an internal exercise and does not cost a thing. Storing GTINs – If you already have a database that can store a 14-digit number, you will not need to modify your databases to store this number. If you do not have the ability to store a 14-digit GTIN, you will need to modify your database and accompanying programs to store and access this information. 9



Communicating GTINs and their accompanying information to your buyers – If you already have a method for communicating new products to your buyers, this can be part of that process. Including the GTIN on a label on the box – If you are already using a label on the box, the cost of the label is not an additional cost. You would have to substitute the number you have been using with a GTIN. If you are not putting a label on the box, you would incur the cost to buy new label stock and the labor to put this onto the box. Including the GTIN inside a barcode – If you already are using barcodes, then you would not incur the costs of acquiring the hardware or software for barcodes. If you are not using barcodes, you need to obtain either a barcode printer and/or a barcode scanner. Note that the costs to use the GTIN as part of various technologies is a cost for implementing that technology, not a cost to incorporate the use of the GTIN. As you can see from the activities above, the costs are minimal for the creation and use of the GTIN. It is the technologies that use the GTIN that will require bigger investments in the form of hardware, software, and process changes.

Major Obstacles in Implementing the GTIN The largest obstacle to implementing the GTIN is not technological or financial, but organizational. First and foremost is that without strong leadership and commitment from senior management, the implementation of the GTIN will fizzle and companies will not move to the use of supply chain technologies that have moved other industries into a more efficient and profitable business. It takes senior management to understand the vision and to break down organizational barriers that impede progress. This will ensure rapid deployment of the GTIN and the next move into supply chain technologies. Secondly, the large variety of products and slight variances in the floral industry (e.g., new color combination) also make identifying items difficult, but not impossible. For this very reason, the Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy was created to help companies understand when creating a number is necessary or not. Companies are encouraged to use this strategy not only to assist them on numbering their products, but to also give some level of consistency across the industry on the level of detail needed when assigning numbers, as well as to minimize the amount of numbers that need to be maintained between buyers and sellers.

Basic GTIN Education The GTIN is one of many numbering protocols part of the GS1 numbering system. This numbering system is used to identify items, boxes, cases, pallets, assets, and locations. Most companies recognize as part of the GS1 standard the U.P.C. or EAN numbers that appear on virtually every item sold at retail around the world. As these numbers are used in 145 countries by over 2 million companies in 25 different industries, the GS1 standard is the single, most widely used standard in the world. As mentioned previously, the GTIN is one of many numbering protocols belonging to the GS1 numbering system, all sharing the same core components such as the Company Prefix and Reference Number (see below).




The GTIN (for our purposes used primarily to identify boxes) is a 14-digit number essentially having four parts: A. Country Code = indicates the *country in which the Company Prefix was assigned B. Company Prefix = uniquely identifies your company from any other company in the world C. Reference Number = assigned by the owner of the Company Prefix to number what is being identified D. Check Digit = a one-digit number that is a result of a calculation done on the preceding 13 digits NOTE: Each country has a GS1 Member Organization (e.g., GS1 Germany, GS1 China, GS1 United States, GS1 Columbia, GS1 Ecuador, etc.) that is responsible for assigning and managing the Company Prefix and corresponding Country Code. The GS1 main office works with countries that do not already have a Member Organization. The Country Code is hidden inside the Company Prefix.

GTIN-14 Format Position: 14 I

13 M

12 M

11 M

10 M

9 M

8 M

7 M

6 M

5 M

4 M

3 M

2 M

1 CD

Where Position 14 (I) is the “Indicator”: If I = 9, the case is variable measure or variable weight If I = 1-8, the Reference # on the case is different than the Reference # of the item inside If I = 0, the Reference # on the case is the same as the Reference # of the item inside Where Position 2 – 13 (MMMMMMMMMMMM) is the combination of Company Prefix (assigned by GS1) and the Reference # assigned by the owner of the Company Prefix. Where Position 1 (CD) is the Check Digit (a pre-defined algorithm whose result changes when any preceding digit is changed). The Check Digit is used as a “checks and balances” to ensure all of the preceding digits were entered correctly.

Country Code The Country Code uniquely identifies the GS1 Member Organization (“GS1 MO”) that assigned the Company Prefix. This code is embedded as part of the Company Prefix. Therefore, once you are given your Company Prefix, GS1 can ensure the uniqueness of the Company Prefix around the world. As the size of the country code can differ from one country to another, so too will the size of the Company Prefixes. This is what is known as a “variable-length” Company Prefix.

Company Prefix The Company Prefix can vary in length depending on (1) the size of the Country Code and/or (2) the size of the Reference Number. This allows flexibility for each GS1 MO when creating Company Prefixes and enables them to better manage their available range of Company Prefixes, while maintaining uniqueness of this number around the world. The Company Prefix is used for every numbering protocol part of the GS1 standard, including protocols for items, boxes, pallets, assets, and locations. 11



Reference Number The Reference Number is used for every numbering protocol part of the GS1 standard, including protocols for item, case, and pallet. It simply is a number used to reference what you are trying to identify (e.g., an item, box, case, pallet, location, asset, etc.). When using this on an item, the reference number becomes the item reference number and is the number assigned by the owner of the Company Prefix to identify the item. When using this on a box, the reference number becomes the box reference number assigned by the owner of the Company Prefix to identify the box and its contents. When using this on a pallet, the reference number becomes a pallet reference number assigned by the owner of the Company Prefix to identify the pallet. Although the reference number identifies what is being referenced, it should not be used without the GTINs remaining parts (e.g., Company Prefix, Check Digit), which gives the overall number its uniqueness.

Check Digit This is a one-digit number used as a “checks and balances” to ensure that the preceding 13 digits were entered correctly. The algorithm used to do this calculation can be obtained from GS1’s website at These four parts should not be parsed and will only have uniqueness when read and stored as one 14-digit number. When applying these rules, the GTIN will allow the marketplace to differentiate commodities from different companies.




Pilot Purpose/Objective T

he purpose of the GTIN Floral Pilot was to test the use of the GTIN at the box level for four major floral categories, test the use of the U.P.C. on bunches and bouquets, identify and assess the changes needed to incorporate both the GTIN at the box level and the U.P.C. for bunches and bouquets, and to test the GTIN Assignment Strategy created at the initial meeting of industry participants held in Miami in June of 2007.

Pilot Participants The success of this project was made possible by the commitment and vision of many companies and many people within each company. The following companies were involved in the development, review and implementation of the GTIN project: Offshore Growers: Plantas y Flores Ornamentales (San Jose, Costa Rica) Liberty Blooms/Uniflor (Antioquia, Colombia) Aphrodite Roses (Bogotá, Colombia) Agricola Papagayo S.A.C.I. (Bogotá, Colombia) Domestic Growers: Ocean View (Lompoc, CA) Sun Valley (Arcata, CA) Brand Flowers (Carpinteria, CA) Importers: Sole Farms (Miami, FL) Continental Flowers (Miami, FL) Dole Fresh Flowers (Miami, FL) Falcon Farms (Miami, FL) USA Bouquet (Miami, FL) Bouquet Collection (Miami, FL) Vistaflor (Miami, FL) Natural Flowers (Miami, FL) Wholesalers: Vans (Alsip IL) Sieck Wholesale Florists (NY and Wilmington, DE) 13



Seagroatt (Albany, NY) Greenleaf Wholesale Florists (Miami Springs, FL) Pikes Peak (Houston, TX) Pennock Floral (Philadelphia, PA) Hardin’s Wholesale Supply (Liberty, NC) Delaware Valley Floral (Sewell, NJ) Retailers: Wegmans Food Markets (Rochester, NY) Safeway (Pleasanton, CA) Walmart (Bentonville, AR)

Flower Types Piloted: The attributes developed by the trading partners and the methodology used to determine them can be applied to a much broader range of flower types that share similar characteristics. The following flower types were piloted: Bird of Paradise Carnations Delphinium Hydrangea Iris Larkspur Lilies Mixed and Rose Bouquets Pompons Roses Spray Roses Stock Tulips




PILOT FINDINGS The following pilot findings will be conveyed in the order by which most companies will need to implement each step when using the GTIN. As such, each step will be thoroughly explained, followed by the experience of pilot participants taking each step. This will give the reader a tangible path to follow, with practical experience on shortcuts, problems encountered, and solutions to those problems.

Step 1: Obtaining your GS1-issued Company Prefix What is a Company Prefix? A Company Prefix is a number assigned to you by your regional GS1 organization that uniquely identifies your company from any other company in the world. The advantage to using the Company Prefix is that GS1 manages these numbers to ensure uniqueness anywhere in the world. Used along with a “reference number,” your company can assign a number to your product (box, case, item, etc.) that is unique anywhere in the world. As the Company Prefix is assigned by each regional GS1 office (see for a listing of regional offices), the size of the Company Prefix could vary, even within your own country. For example, GS1-U.S. assigns Company Prefixes that are 6 digits, 7 digits, 8 digits or 9 digits in length. Therefore, you cannot count on the size of the Company Prefix being the same for all companies. This is especially important to know if you are storing GTINs from multiple companies (e.g., a buyer).

WHERE TO GET YOUR COMPANY PREFIX There are 108 GS1 regional offices (each called a “GS1 Member Organization,” or GS1 “MO” for short). To locate the GS1 MO in your country, visit and find the GS1 Member Organization location tool. Simply select your country from the drop-down box and the information for your regional office will be revealed. Each MO has a different pricing scheme for a Company Prefix.

WHO SHOULD GET A COMPANY PREFIX Generally speaking, any “brand owner” of a product will need to get their own Company Prefix. Therefore, if you are asking a grower to ship the grower’s product in your boxes with your brand, you will be the one that needs to get the Company Prefix and will also need to assign the GTIN to that box. In addition, any company that changes the content, mix, or packaging of the original product will need to get their own Company Prefix, as they become the new “brand owner” or “manufacturer” of that product (e.g., a bouquet manufacturer). If the content is never changed, then the originator will be the one that needs a Company Prefix.

PILOT CHALLENGES Challenge #1: Determining which of the trading partners is responsible for obtaining a Company Prefix. The grower isn’t always the company who has to apply for the Company Prefix. Solution: If the grower sells the product under their own brand or label to their customers, then the grower is responsible for acquiring their own Company Prefix. If the importer or wholesaler purchases the product from the grower under their own brand and is the supplier of record to their customers, then the importer or wholesaler must apply for their own Company Prefix, assign the GTINs, and then provide it to their grower to use on product shipped to the importer or wholesaler. Under this scenario, the grower may ship the same flower type with the same product attributes under multiple GTINs…one for their own label and one for their wholesaler or importer customers who buy a ‘private label/owned’ brand. 15



Challenge #2: As a buyer, how do I store the Company Prefix? Solution: : The simple answer is that you do not parse out the GTIN number into its individual components. You store the GTIN number as a 14-digit number, not as three separate fields (Company Prefix, Reference Number, Check Digit). Therefore, in your databases, you assign 14-digit GTINs to a specific supplier. It would be helpful for a company to have an idea of how many GTINs they will be creating prior to contacting GS1 to obtain your Company Prefix, as the length of the Company Prefix given to you will be dependent on that information. It is therefore recommended that you develop a product matrix, using the Fresh Cut Floral Attribute Worksheet (see Appendix D), listing all of the flower types and the various attributes and combinations (i.e., colors, box sizes, quality levels, box/pack quantities, etc.) that you currently ship. This will provide a good estimate on the number of GTIN items you will be assigning. In addition, make sure that when you determine the number of GTINs needed you anticipate future growth in the flower types and varieties you may be adding to your assortment over time. This will prevent you from running out of reference numbers and having to re-apply for a smaller Company Prefix (thereby allowing you more digits for your reference numbers).

Step 2: Assigning 14-digit GTINs to Boxes In order to prevent an explosion of numbers industry members will need to manage, and to provide some consistency on the level of granularity when assigning numbers to boxes, the pilot created and validated the Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy (see Appendix B). With the use of this strategy, floral industry members will be able to assign GTINs to their box configurations and begin using this number to reference and identify boxes of flowers. What is significant about the use of a number to identify a box of flowers (versus the description) is that it will now enable the use of technologies (e.g., electronic commerce, barcodes, RFID, data synchronization, etc.) that use a number, rather than a description. As you will see in Appendix B, the Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy, although apparently long in the way of a description, is a fairly simple process using the same considerations used when describing boxes of flowers today. For example, a buyer would not order a box of flowers without indicating to the seller the floral type, variety or color, box size, number, and size of stems, etc. All of these characteristics we call “attributes.” Some attributes are needed in order for a grower to ship the correct box of flowers to the buyer, while some attributes are not. Those that are needed we call “core” or “primary” attributes. Those attributes not always needed are called “secondary” attributes. These core and secondary attributes are the foundation of the Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy.

PILOT CHALLENGES Challenge #1: Understanding what the GTIN is and what it is not. When going through the pilot process, many pilot participants believed that the outcome of this process would be a common set of product attributes for each product and a common reference number that could be utilized by everyone in the industry. This is not the case. Solution: While we may be able to identify some products with common attributes that everyone can use, the GTIN is a 14-digit number that is completely unique to each brand owner, made up of a numerical combination of the GS1-issued Company Prefix, the reference number that the label owner assigns to the box, and a mathematically calculated check digit. As a result, every GTIN should be viewed as a unique 14-digit number, not as individual components. 16



Challenge #2: Does every company have to use the same, exact product attributes when defining their GTINs? Solution: As part of the GTIN Assignment Strategy, industry representatives worked diligently at creating a list of common product attributes for various floral types. The intent of these attributes was to give industry members some consistency when describing the box configuration and its contents. Having some consistency and guidelines to follow when assigning GTIN numbers to box configurations will minimize the number of GTINs a company will have to manage. The GTIN Assignment Strategy is simply a guideline. If your company has a need to define a GTIN using additional attributes outside of the Primary or Core Attributes, that is your decision. However, it would greatly increase the number of GTINs a buyer would have to manage. As we went through the pilot process, we found that we needed to modify some of the information in the Floral Attribute Worksheet because some of these fields were never used nor were considered important in the way business partners ordered or managed their inventories. The starting point, therefore, would be for the brand owner to create the Floral Attribute Worksheet (see Appendix D) for all items in their assortment using the GTIN Assignment Strategy (see Appendix B) as a guide. The second step is for the brand owner to review this completed Worksheet with their key customers to validate that all of the information listed is important to the buy/sell process and inventory management of the product. If the grower, for example, has multiple shades of red available, but the buyers only purchase and re-sell ‘assorted red’, then there probably isn’t a need to assign a separate GTIN to each individual red variety. Remember that because each GTIN is specific to an individual brand owner, the attributes that are deemed important in each company’s buyer/seller transaction process will determine the attributes that should be considered and in identifying the GTIN.

Step 3: Assigning 12-digit U.P.C.s to Bunches and Bouquets The pilot also tested the use of U.P.C.s on bunches and bouquets only, as these products are primarily designed for sale at supermarkets requiring the scan of these items at their registers. U.P.C.s (or Universal Product Codes) have the same basic components as the GTIN, use the same Company Prefix as the GTIN, and are managed by the same standards organization, GS1. In fact, both the U.P.C. used in North America and the equivalent number in the international marketplace called the EAN are in the standards world known as the GTIN-12 and GTIN-13, respectively (the GTIN-12 because the U.P.C. is 12 digits long, and the GTIN-13 as the EAN is 13 digits long). As the U.P.C. has the same protocols as the GTIN, the same strategy can be used for the assignment of the U.P.C. on bunches and bouquets as is used for the GTIN on boxes of flowers. The primary difference is in how you define which attributes are “core” when ordering bunches and bouquets versus which attributes are “secondary.” Other than that, the entire Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy can be used in exactly the same manner for the assignment of bunches and bouquets. PILOT CHALLENGES Challenge #1: Why do I have to put U.P.C.s on bunches or bouquets? Solution: Although product destined for traditional retail florists have not been marked with a U.P. C., the wholesale community strongly desires the need to have U.P. C.s on bunches and/or bouquets to 17



help track inventory in and out of their warehouses. The traditional retail channel can also benefit from the use of these U.P.C. numbers when ordering product as well. However, when selling to the mass markets and supermarkets that rely on U.P.C. barcodes on their items, the inclusion of a U.P.C. number inside a barcode becomes a necessity. By utilizing U.P.C.s, the traditional channel can gain many of the same benefits currently realized by the mass marketers. To visualize the process, when a box is labeled with a GTIN and its inner contents labeled with a U.P.C., it allows the receiver to scan the GTIN, systemically matching the received box against an open purchase order in his system. If the wholesaler has its data base loaded with GTIN information, when the GTIN is scanned, it can ‘explode’ the individual selling unit U.P.C.s into his inventory, placing it into an ‘available to sell’ category. When the individual selling units are sold to the retail florist, the wholesaler can scan the U.P.C. on the selling unit. This will enable multiple system activities, such as down posting available inventory and creating an invoice and shipping document. Challenge #2: Some packaging operations are not conducive to tagging with a U.P.C. In some situations, there is no place to apply a pressure sensitive sticker or to affix a hang tag with the U.P.C. printed. Another challenge arises for field packed product, where the bunches are assembled, packed, and labeled in the field. Additionally, the placement of the U.P.C. label or tag must provide protection and scannability when the products are placed into buckets. Solution: Operational and packaging changes to selling units may be required to provide the ability to affix U.P.C. labels and tags. Changes that may become necessary include: u product dropped into sleeves, rather than loose paper wrapped u product sleeved, rather than tied

u development of twist tie affixed labels where sleeves or closed paper wrap isn’t realistic u packaging and processing changes that will place the U.P.C. sticker/tag at the top of the sleeve/wrap or banding, rather than on the bottom

Field packaged product is an operational challenge, so as not to totally disrupt existing production efficiencies. One option could be to pre-print the U.P.C. labels/tags and provide them to the harvest crews before they go into the fields along with a cut order. They could then apply the labels/tags to the bunches as they cut. However, this method poses problems when the order calls for assorted colors and the product needed may be located in different areas of the farm, being cut by different individuals. Another option could be to have the bunches cut and assembled in the fields and then transported to a central location where the U.P.C. labels would be applied and then boxed. This could require significant changes in product flow and farm logistics. Because each grower has unique production operations, the decision on how to accommodate the application and type of labels must be made individually. Some of these changes required to affix U.P.C.s will have an inherent cost to the grower, whether in packaging materials used or in production/packaging operations. It is important for the customers—importers, wholesalers, and retailers—to recognize that the financial and operational benefits of the GTIN and U.P.C. processes will be largely realized by them, not the growers (growers are already affixing labels to boxes and packing selling units in some way, so there’s no significant operational savings to them). Customers should understand that to gain the operational benefits of the GTIN and U.P.C. processes, there may be a cost of product investment that must be made. 18



Challenge #3: How does one deal with assortments? A major goal of the pilot was to develop a process of assigning and using GTIN’s for boxes of flowers, and to develop a parallel process for the use of U.P.C.’s for individual selling units. Most wholesalers sell product both by box and by bunch to their retail florist customers. As brand owners assign attributes to GTIN boxes, they must also be cognizant of the need to include provisions for adding U.P.C.s to the selling units within those boxes. Solution: In the case of solid pack boxes, the process is straightforward. As a simplified example, a GTIN is assigned to a solid quarter box of bronze button pompons containing 12 consumer bunchselling units; in this case the brand owner assigns a U.P.C. to that selling unit of bronze consumer bunch. The same U.P.C. for the bronze consumer bunch will be used in all GTIN box configurations of bronze consumer bunch pompons, whether it’s a quarter box, a half box, or a full box. If the brand owner sells an assorted or mixed box of consumer bunch pompons, it will contain selling units of different colors of consumer bunches, each color identified with its own U.P.C. number within that box. If the percentage or bunch count is a constant, then the brand owner assigns a GTIN for each box configuration of the color assortment. So in summary, when the brand owner is assigning GTINs, it is important that they also assign U.P.C.s to the selling units within that box. And it’s highly likely that the same U.P.C. can be included within the boxes that have different GTINs assigned. There can, however, be exceptions to this. For instance, during buy/sell negotiations between a brand owner and a supermarket, the supermarket wants to purchase an assorted 1/4 box of Asiatic lilies, assorted 30% orange, 30% yellow, 30% red, and 10% white, but wants the same U.P.C. assigned to all four colors. In this case the brand owner may have two different U.P.C.s assigned to the 3 stem bunches of each color lily, one for use by this specific customer, and a different one for all other customers. This would also necessitate a separate GTIN for the assorted box contained individually U.P.C.ed bunches, and a separate GTIN for the box contained the single U.P.C. of multiple colors for the supermarket customer. As stated earlier, the assignment of GTINs and U.P.C.s is driven by the buy/sell relationship and negotiations between the buyers and sellers, not by hard and fast rules.

Step 4: Communicating Numbers to your Trading Partners As the GTIN is a 14-digit number that serves as a reference, by itself it has no meaning. As such, its accompanying data must be communicated to supply chain members ahead of time in order for them to know what information is linked to that specific number. Once that information has been sent by the brand owner and loaded into systems by the receiver, there will be no need to communicate all of the specifications again, unless those specifications change. NOTE: a change in price is NOT a specification change. As prices change continually on floral products, any price change will be communicated by the brand owner. The receiver then will update their database with the revised price. When communicating the GTIN with your trading partners, it is recommend that AT MINIMUM you communicate the core attributes (see Appendix C) associated with your GTIN, as these attributes helped define what the GTIN is based upon the Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy. However, the brand owner who created the GTIN can link as much information as they wish to their GTIN, as it was created by them. When the GTIN is communicated to their buyers, both buyer and seller will know precisely what is being ordered and subsequently shipped, a pre-cursor to any form of automation. 19



NOTE: The GTIN is not meant to replace basic, common references used between buyer and seller when talking about product. It is, however, intended to provide an accurate and specific reference for an item when getting to more detailed specifications typically needed for automated tools to ensure what was ordered will be precisely to the specifications attributed to that GTIN when initially communicated by the brand owner. Whether this information is communicated electronically or manually, the receiving trading partner should load this information in their product databases. Once this information has been loaded, subsequent transactions involving the box of flowers can reference this number and look to your product databases to reveal the information behind the number. These transactions include, but not limited to, purchase orders, invoices, advanced shipping notices, claims, and many others. Now that this number is added to you and your trading partners’ databases, it is now accessible to other applications. For example, this GTIN can now be included in barcodes or RFID tags or used electronically in EDI or some other form of electronic commerce, all of which are already being used in multiple industries across the world. PILOT CHALLENGES Challenge #1: Synchronizing the sellers GTIN information with the buyer. Solution: For the limited pilot program, most of the transfer and communication of data base information was communicated on hard paper and hand entered into each trading partners system. However, in a rollout environment, this would not be time or economically feasible. As the program rolls out, the brand owner must identify a systemic method of communicating their GTIN information to their trading partners to expedite the information transfer and eliminate data input errors. Likewise, customers must have the systems to accept the systemic download of information into their systems and integrate it into their operating systems.

Step 5: Using the GTIN in Business Transactions This is where the incorporation of a GTIN begins to have benefits. In most scenarios today, the communication that takes place between buyer and seller when ordering product is rather generic (and thus incomplete), perhaps citing Floral Type, Floral Variety, Stem Length, and Box Size. As there are many more characteristics that separate one box of flowers from a very similar box, there is a good chance that what was assumed to be ordered, and thus subsequently shipped, turns out to be the wrong box or item. Using a GTIN on a purchase order will unambiguously identify precisely what is being ordered. Using a GTIN on an invoice will unambiguously identify what was shipped. Therefore, there should be no failed expectations from what was ordered versus what was shipped versus what was received. In addition, having a GTIN on these documents will allow for easy and automated reconciliation between purchase order and invoice. Additionally, it is much easier to have a number shown on a purchase order rather than a long and inconsistent description. Descriptions are never the same between buyer and seller. Some descriptions include abbreviations, which differ from one trading partner to another. However, having a number allows for consistency on what is shown. It will also allow for the efficient and automated transmission of data, as computers can handle a number that is based on standards far more efficiently than a description.




PILOT CHALLENGES Challenge #1: No purchase order numbers used to identify products shipped. For many companies, purchase order numbers are not pre-assigned and communicated between trading partners at time of order placement. Therefore, it becomes difficult to systematically reference what GTINs were on what order. Solution: To realize the transactional efficiencies the GTIN offers, purchase order numbers must be assigned by the buyer at the time the order is placed and subsequently referenced on all business documents in order to know which GTINs were ordered and subsequently shipped. In a computerized integrated process, a purchase order is generated that contains specified quantities of GTINs. This purchase order number is linked to the GTINs that are ordered and are then entered into the computer system. When an order is shipped or received, the shipper or receiver must enter the purchase order number into their system, and the computer can then identify exactly what is supposed to be shipped or received on that order. The purchase order number becomes the ‘anchor’ in the system that drives the other information shown on that order. In an integrated system, when a shipment is scanned into inventory, it can feed the information linked to that purchase order number to its payables system for processing. Again, the anchor to knowing what was received vs. what was ordered in order to process the payment is the purchase order number (for the brand owner, entering the purchase order number and scanning the outbound GTIN boxes drives their receivable system processes). Challenge #2: Individual trading partners must invest in the software and hardware to derive financial operational and inventory management benefit from the automated processes enabled by the GTIN. u Most companies do not have transactional links between their receiving, accounts payable and inventory management systems that allow for an integrated system u Most trading partners do not have computer connectivity between them (i.e., EDI) to allow for electronic communication of ordering and shipping activities u Many companies do not currently have the hardware for scanning that can interact with integrated internal systems

Solution: While there’s no standard in use for either hardware or software within our industry, in many situations existing systems can be modified to accommodate the use of the GTIN. Therefore, it is not necessary for companies to have the same software system. The use of standards facilitates data to be transmitted electronically between different software languages and programs. Therefore, the changes become minimal. In the pilot, once we developed the product attributes and assigned the GTIN numbers, the critical work was done by the IT teams, with both trading partners working together to ensure system adaptation. Getting the IT teams involved at the very beginning of the implementation process is critical to the success of this program. In some supermarket chains, internal inventory management systems must be changed to accommodate the use of GTINs. There are some that only manage their inventory on a SKU basis (managing the same product from multiple suppliers by their own internal SKU number) and currently do




not have the capability to accommodate multiple GTINs from multiple suppliers for the same item/internal SKU. For the purpose of the pilot, some were unable to convince their management to make this systems change until such time they have critical mass to effect this change.

Enablement of Supply Chain Tools/Practices As mentioned previously, the GTIN has a monumental role in various supply chain technologies. The following section gives a brief preview of what each of these supply chain technologies and practices are, as well as the role the GTIN plays in each.

Data Standards If every company used their own proprietary way to identify and reference products, our industry will be hampered by numerous cross-references, extra labor to maintain these-cross references, and their resulting errors and inefficiencies. Based upon a recent survey done by PMA, only 4% of floral industry suppliers use a standard for the pallet level, only 6% at the box level, and only 30% at the item level. Every supply chain initiative hinges upon the use of data standards. These standards have to be applied before participating in any of the supply chain initiatives to follow.

Data Synchronization Once a “global language” has been created in the form of data standards, companies will then be able to effectively synchronize their data. This ensures the data that resides in the seller’s database (e.g., item information, item specifications, pricing information, promotional information, etc.) is the same data that is entered in the buyer’s database. The key to synchronizing your data is the GTIN, as that will be the number recognized by both the buyer and seller. The seller will use the GTIN and its accompanying specifications to send to the buyer. The buyer will then store the GTIN and its accompanying specifications in their database. Once this occurs, purchase orders pulling information from this synchronized database can be assured to have accurate data; thereby minimizing invoice deductions resulting from bad data. The balance of supply chain initiatives involves some form of automation. Remember, if your data is bad to begin with, you are simply automating the transmission and reception of bad data. This will only serve to stop the automation process and require manual intervention to fix the bad data. Note that in some “data synchronization” models, the GTIN is a mandatory requirement (e.g., 1SYNC).

D ata Synchro niza tio n: Ea ch pa rty references a box o f flo wers using G TIN Sta ndard Pro duct ID (G TIN )











Bar Coding Once you have incorporated the use of the GTIN in your organization, you are ready to begin the use of barcodes. Barcodes simply allow the receiver to automatically capture the information contained inside the barcode; hence, barcodes are referred to as a type of “automated data capture”. Certainly there are applications of this at all levels of packaging, including the pallet, box, and item. The de facto industry standard for identifying boxes in the CPG industry has always been the 14-digit GTIN. The use of the GTIN inside barcodes at the box level is so widely used in the CPG industry that many buyers have automated their receiving process, saving them warehouse labor and congestion at the dock. As the large majority of floral boxes do not have barcodes with the GTIN encoded inside the barcode, floral boxes have to be treated as an exception to this automated process; thereby requiring the receiver to perform manual activities to handle floral products. This is a very burdensome and costly activity to the receiver.

Electronic Commerce Once your company has incorporated the use of the GTIN and you have synchronized your data, you can use some form of electronic commerce to automate the exchange and loading of the data. Various companies have identified a savings of almost $10.00 per transaction (i.e., purchase orders or invoices) by using some form of electronic commerce rather than manually keying in the data from these transactions. The most widely known form of electronic commerce is EDI (or Electronic Data Interchange). EDI, or its counterpart XML, are simply ways of structuring the data that resides in the transaction so that the receiver of that transaction can know what and where each piece of information resides in the transaction. This will enable the receiver to integrate (automatically feed) the transaction into their systems, thereby eliminating the manual entry of these transactions and the high error rate and costs associated with manual input. The GTIN serves as the standard number for boxes of product, and as the box is the most common unit of measure for ordering, this number will be used on virtually every business transaction between trading partners. Common transactions include purchase orders, invoices, advanced ship notices, price changes, item maintenance, etc.




Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) A lot of press has been given to RFID as a result of large retailer and governmental mandates around the use of RFID. RFID is simply another form of “automated data capture,” as is barcodes. However, RFID has the ability to do it faster, more efficiently, and from greater distances. RFID, however, is not without its challenges or costs. A big misperception of RFID as it is being used in North America is around the data contained inside an RFID tag. Although RFID does have the ability to store a lot of information, this is not how the tag is currently being implemented in the industry. The RFID tag holds a number called the EPC (Electronic Product Code), analogous to the U.P.C. (or Universal Product Code) seen on items that sell directly to the consumer. The EPC number is a reference number that has four major parts. Without going into a great amount of detail, one of these parts is the GTIN. Simply put, without a GTIN, you cannot use an EPC. Without an EPC, you cannot participate in the RFID applications being mandated in our industry today.

MP9320 UHF Reader Portal Configuration




ROI (Return on Investment) Figures I t is important to recognize that the GTIN has not yet been implemented in the floral industry and therefore it is difficult to talk about ROI at this stage. However, the GTIN has been implemented in other industries, and so too has the technologies that use the GTIN. Therefore, the information that follows is combed from other industries use of the GTIN and various supply chain technologies. It is also important to understand that the incorporation of the GTIN is truly a means to an end. Although the large majority of ROI comes from the actual use of various supply chain technologies that require the GTIN, you cannot effectively (nor efficiently) jump to one of these technologies without the GTIN (or its equivalent) without hitting a brick wall, as any technology requiring some form of automation uses standards and also a number to serve as the primary means to identify an item. Some of these technologies specifically require the use of the GTIN. As such, we start with the GTIN and then we move as an industry to the use of technologies. Although there are numerous studies done on the advantages of standardization and technologies, we are pulling from some of the more noteworthy studies that are closely related to industries that share similar activities (e.g., ordering, invoicing, shipping, inventorying, receiving, packaging, billing, reconciling, etc.). Therefore, extrapolations, estimations, and comparisons can be made to fit similar activities within the floral industry without a great degree of effort or misrepresentation. First Study: PriceWaterhouseCoopers in 1999: 17 Billion Reasons to Say Thanks: The 25th Anniversary of the U.P.C. and Its Impact on the Grocery Industry This study was done to evaluate the performance of scanning U.P.C. barcodes at point of sale. u Over $17 billion dollars in savings are being generated by manufacturers, retailers, and consumers u Soft savings estimated at .92% of store sales u Hard savings estimated at 3.13% of sales

u All totaled, hard costs were estimated to be 2.36% of sales u All totaled, soft costs were estimated to be .55% of sales u 87% of products are scanned with a barcode at POS

u Cost for scanning hardware has dropped 85% from 1974 to 1999 u Savings of 15 - 35% of the warehouse, transportation, and order processing costs u Realized net hard savings of 2.76% of revenues u Realized net soft savings of 2.89% of revenues




Second Study: Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) A study was done in 1993 by Kurt Salmon Associates that cited savings for the warehouse-supplied dry grocery segment to be no less than $10 billion dollars by employing the use of various supply chain tools, and upwards of $30 billion. The study was done in order to address stiff competition from the alternative format stores and warehouse clubs. In lieu of raising prices, the dry grocery industry had to find other ways to protect their margins. The study identified ways with which to cut costs, increase efficiencies, reduce errors, increase consumer value, all while protecting their margins, through the execution of four strategies: 1. Efficient Assortment 2. Efficient Product Introductions 3. Efficient Replenishment 4. Efficient Promotions Of these four strategies, we will focus on the ROI and benefits from Efficient Replenishment and Efficient Promotions, as each of those strategies addressed activities present in the floral industry as well. As part of the Efficient Replenishment and Efficient Promotions programs– u Distributors will realize 46% of the overall cost savings while incurring 30% of the investment

u Suppliers will realize 54% of the overall cost savings while incurring 70% of the investment u Some companies realized savings of up to 0.3% of sales

u 41% reduction in inventory, with an average inventory from 104 days to 61 days

u Administrative cost savings from use of Electronic Commerce for a single manufacturer amounted to $860,000 per year u Elimination of 36 headcount due to automation for a single manufacturer

u 50 – 80% reduction in the time it takes to handle and process new item maintenance

u 0 - 10% reduction in the number of item invoice discrepancies between buyer and seller u Elimination of one to two weeks in the time it takes from new item approval until new product is on the shelf

u Sales productivity increased by 20% due to less time spent on administrative functions u 15% less time spent on administrative personnel working with deductions due to item information errors As a percentage of average consumer prices: u 1.5% total savings from increased sales and gross margin

u 4.1% total savings from automation and warehouse savings 26



u 4.3% total savings from warehouse, transportation, administrative, and manufacturing efficiencies Third Study: Efficient Foodservice Response This study was done by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in 1995, following the ECR study and found $14.3 billion in industry-wide savings for the foodservice industry. The purpose of this study was to find ways to eliminate inefficiencies and wasteful practices, thereby enhancing the ability of each party to compete fairly and vigorously. The mission of the study was completed using five key strategies: 1. Equitable Alliances 2. Supply Chain Demand Forecasting - $2.9 billion in industry savings 3. Electronic Commerce - $6.6 billion in industry savings 4. Logistics Optimization - $2.7 billion in industry savings 5. Category Management - $2.1 billion in industry savings Savings by segment = 36% Manufacturer, 35% Distributor, 28% Operator Industry inefficiencies addressed by these strategies: – Excess inventory

– New product introductions

– Expedited transportation

– Product, price, promotion data

– Out-of-stocks/substitutions

– Lumpy production scheduling

– Inefficient plant scheduling

– Excess handling

– Paper based revenue cycle

– Excess transportation

– Unauthorized deductions

– LTL transportation

– Manual receiving and check-in

– Transactional inefficiency

– Re-delivery of items

– Overhead to maintain programs

– SKU duplication

– Inefficient pricing/buying practices

– Unfulfilled consumer demand

– Backroom labor

Of these five strategies, we will focus on Supply Chain Demand Forecasting and Electronic Commerce, as activities addressed by these strategies are also prevalent in the floral industry. Supply Chain Demand Forecasting = $2.9 billion in industry savings As part of this strategy, standard product identification, barcoding, and common product information databases were considered the cornerstones of EFR and were the enablers that led the industry to the remaining $11.3 billion. Benefits to standardizing how products are identified: v Product number is unique anywhere in the world v Product number is tied to the brand owner




v No duplicate numbers

v No cross-referencing needed

v No unnecessary database management and maintenance v No misordering or misbilling due to wrong numbers v No need to re-sticker product with internal number v Communications are made to be more accurate

v All members of the supply chain reference the product using the same number v Timely information of product dissemination

v Number used for ordering is the number used for invoicing is the number used for inventorying is the number used for receipt Benefits to barcoding (represents $847 million in annual savings alone): v $395 million in transportation v $265 million in handling

v $187 million in administration v Savings by segment:

o 18% manufacturer o 55% distributor o 27% operator

v Automatically capture information contained in the barcode with a simple scan v Reduce manual labor v Expedite receiving v Control inventory v Reduce spoilage v Track product

v Significantly reduce errors v Reduce mis-shipments

Electronic Commerce = $6.6 billion in industry savings v Savings by segment:

o 27% manufacturers o 41% distributors o 29% operators

v 89.4% of savings comes in the form of reduced administrative costs, paperwork reduction and elimination of manual labor, first and foremost. v 9.6% of savings comes from the use of Electronic Commerce in expediting handling (i.e. the Advanced Ship Notice process) and reduction of inventory caused by cycle time reduction. v Invoice errors caused by mis-keying information:




FOR MANUFACTURERS: o 11% wrong item

o 18% wrong price

o 5% item not delivered o 2% wrong substitution o 7% wrong quantity

o 16% quality problem

o 34% miscommunication on promotion FOR DISTRIBUTORS:

o 6% wrong item

o 15% wrong price

o 9% item not delivered

o 44% wrong substitution o 18% wrong quantity o 9% quality problem

v An estimated 80% of all orders are processed manually with an estimated 215 million orders placed per year. v Distributors place 26 million orders per year

v 4.7% of shipments from distributor to operator are refunded/returned due to errors v Benefits to Electronic Commerce include: o Simplified business processes

o Streamlined business processes through technology o Substantial reduction in errors

o Paper based forms no longer needed

o Substantial reduction in manual labor

o Information is more accurate, consistent, reliable and timely

o A system of checks and balances on information being sent/received is inherent o Storage of data allows electronic access/analysis to the information o An audit trail exists for all parties

o No paper, no postage, no data entry o Which leads to:

v Reduced labor for sender and receiver

v Reduced number of paper-based processes v Better utilization of people’s time v Better tracking

v Better decision making

v Reduced administrative overhead v Improvement in the bottom line




Frequently Asked Questions 1. Is the GTIN a single number given to an item that every company growing that item can use? No. The GTIN is a standard protocol that gives flexibility to the brand owner assigning the number. When used, the GTIN links the item with its brand owner, thereby allowing information on that item to be tracked by brand owner. It also ensures global uniqueness, so that there are not any duplicate GTINs in the industry. 2. How is the GTIN different than the U.P.C. (Universal Product Code)? The U.P.C. is used exclusively to identify an item (e.g., bunch or bouquet) sold to the consumer. The GTIN, for our purposes, is used to identify the box. 3. How much does it cost to implement the GTIN? The cost to create GTIN numbers is limited to the licensing of your Company Prefix from GS1. This licensing fee varies country to country, as well as determined by your annual gross sales (see However, the cost of using the GTIN in business transactions depends on the database and program changes needed to use and store a 14-digit number, which differ company by company. In addition, if the GTIN is encoded in a barcode, the cost is associated more with the acquisition of hardware and software needed for barcodes. The GTIN is simply the number that is encoded inside the barcode. 4. What is the ROI (return on investment) for the GTIN? This will largely depend on how your company uses the GTIN. If used solely as a way to number your boxes of flowers, you will get increased accuracy in ordering, shipping and inventory position. However, the real ROI comes with its use in automated tools. As stated in this document, automated tools (e.g., barcodes, RFID, electronic commerce and other supply chain efficiency tools) need a number to reference an item, not a description. Therefore, once the GTIN is in place, it enables you to begin use of these automated tools to eliminate and/or reduce manual labor, as well as dramatically increase productivity and information flow. 5. What information is associated with the GTIN? The GTIN is a number that is assigned by the brand owner to reference their box of flowers. What information is tied to that reference number is completely up to the brand owner. As such, when a GTIN number is created, the information that is linked to that reference number is also communicated to the buying community. In that fashion, any number of attributes can be tied to a GTIN. 6. What is the GTIN Assignment Strategy? In order to ensure some consistency with the granularity by which floral companies assign GTINs to their box configurations, the GTIN Assignment Strategy was created. It should be used as a guide when creating GTINs that will help ensure that we minimize the amount of GTIN numbers that have to be maintained between buyer and seller. 7. How long will it take to implement the GTIN? The first step is to obtain your Company Prefix from GS1. This will take less than 72 hours. The next step is to use the GTIN Assignment Strategy to create GTINs for all of your box configurations. This will take less than a week. The next steps are the most time consuming, depending on how your company uses the GTIN. If used in business transactions (e.g., purchase orders, invoices, etc.), you will need to make program and database changes. If used in barcodes, you will need to obtain the hardware and software for the use of barcodes. 30



Appendix A - References GS1 Main Office GS1 U.S. GS1 Application Identifiers identifiers.html 10 Steps to Bar Code Implementation bcec/Standards/BarCodes/10StepstoBarCodeImplementation/tabid/300/Default.aspx Bar Code Glossary Intermec (BarCode Manufacturer) Symbol (BarCode Manufacturer) An Introduction to the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) – GS1 US Guidelines for Bar Code Symbol Placement – GS1 US Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) Allocation Rules Made Even Easier – GS1 US Guidelines for Producing Quality Symbols – GS1 US Efficient Consumer Response: Enhancing Consumer Value in the Grocery Industry Efficient Foodservice Response




Appendix B - Floral GTIN Assignment Strategy The following is a strategy recommended by the Floral Logistics Committee for floral companies to assign GTIN numbers at the box level. It is important that you read this in its entirety, and then ensure understanding. Most likely, your IT staff will initially have a better understanding of this; however, it is important for the business people (salesmen and buyers) to also understand this strategy because it will affect what numbers you place orders with, send invoices with, and use as a reference when discussing issues. The examples used are fairly simple to allow for clarity and understanding of the basic concept. If you follow the basic concept of this strategy, it should address the majority of your products. Please note, however, that as with most strategies, it does not address every situation or exception that arises. As is the situation today, you have to plan for exceptions and this strategy offers a method to deal with these as well. The ultimate goal of this strategy is to minimize the exceptions not covered by this strategy; thus, minimizing the work to handle these exceptions.

Assumptions for Example A A GTIN number used on a box is 14 digits long (see example below) - The first digit is the packaging indicator, which in this example and for simplicity, will be a “0”. - The second digit in this GTIN is a ”0” which in this example and for simplicity, will be a “0” as well. - The supplier in this example was issued a 6-digit GS1 Company Prefix=123456 - Because of this supplier having a 6-digit Company Prefix, the supplier has 5 digits left over to assign an item reference # for that product - The last digit is a single digit “check digit” Example A: Comp Prefix 0 + 0 + 123456 +

Item Ref # 00001

Check Digit + 3 = 14 digits

Putting these pieces together you get one 14-digit GTIN: 00123456000013

Buyer Database In the current process, buyers typically order flowers from a more macro view than how the supplier actually stores information for that product. For example, most buyers would order Lilies using the following attributes of the product:




Example B: Floral Sub Cat Lilies

Variety Asiatic

Size 2/3 Bloom

Color Mixed

Shipping Box Half

Supplier Database Following the same example, the supplier might include several additional attributes when storing information on that item that the buyer would not care to have distinguished. These additional attributes we will call “Secondary Attributes,” as they are not considered relatively “important” from the standpoint of the buyer when ordering an item. In the fictitious example below, ‘Color Breakdown’ are secondary attributes that would remain on the supplier’s database, but would not be used to define the GTIN box code given to the buyer. Those attributes used to define the primary GTIN box codes are named “Core Attributes.”

Example C (fictitious example): For Asiatic Lilies Mix 2/3 bloom For Asiatic Lilies Mix 3/4 bloom

GTIN = 0 0 123456 00001 4 GTIN = 0 0 123456 00002 7 SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES



Sub Cat



00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014 00123456000014


Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies

Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic

2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom


8 bu 8 bu 8 bu 8 bu 8 bu 8 bu 8 bu 8 bu

2 wh, 2 yel, 2 or, 2 3 wh, 2 yel, 2 or, 1 2 wh, 3 yel, 2 or, 2 2 wh, 2 yel, 3 or, 2 Fall Pack Spring Pack Holiday Pack Wedding Pack

rd rd rd rd

00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027 00123456000027


Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilie Lilies Lilies Lilies Lilies

Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic


bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom bloom

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8


rd rd rd rd

bu bu bu bu bu bu bu bu

Color Breakdown

In the fictitious example above, only two primary GTIN box codes will need to be communicated to the buyer (provided they do not care about ‘color breakdown’), in lieu of 16 GTIN box codes if there were a number assigned for every minor difference of these boxes of lilies. These two primary GTIN box codes were created using the following “CORE” attributes: Origin, Floral Sub-Category, Variety, Size, and Pack. NOTE: that the supplier could potentially have hundreds of product codes, with several attributes beyond ‘color breakdown’, as in the above fictitious example. Yet only two primary GTIN box codes 33



would be required to be communicated and used by the buyer in Example C. This will minimize the numbers that need to be communicated and maintained between trading partners.

What are the RECOMMENDED “CORE ATTRIBUTES”? Based upon the GTIN Floral Pilot, participants agreed that the cumulative list of CORE attributes needed to sort boxes of flowers for the purpose of GTIN assignment are as follows (please ignore the CORE and SECONDARY attributes used in Example C above): 1. Floral Category 2. Floral Subcategory 3. Floral Type 4. Country of Origin 5. Variety/Cultivar 6. Color 7. Color Mix 8. Size Description 9. Shipping Box 10. Inner Pack Quantity 11. Inner Pack Count NOTE: With few exceptions (e.g., contract prices), if there is a different price point between two similar boxes of product, each box should have a different GTIN. This is true because there is something of significance (i.e., a different core attribute) that is different between the two similar cases that would warrant a different price. The same concept generally holds true with this strategy. If there is enough of a difference between two similar boxes of product that would cause the buyer to consistently want to order them separately, they both should have their own GTIN. The RECOMMENDED CORE attributes above should be used to sort your item information in a fashion similar to Example C. In other words, take the RECOMMENDED CORE attributes above and make them column headings on an Excel spreadsheet. Keep the RECOMMENDED CORE attributes as the first 11 columns, and then add additional columns that would be labeled SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES (e.g., color breakdown, etc.). Then, fill in the spreadsheet with all of your products (see Floral Attribute Worksheet - Appendix D). Once this is done, sort your list using the RECOMMENDED CORE attributes as your primary sort keys. You will then see which boxes share the same CORE attributes. Those boxes having the same CORE attributes can share the same primary GTIN number. We are not done yet, so please read on.

IDENTIFYING PRODUCTS WITH SECONDARY ATTRIBUTES A logical question at this point should be: If the GTIN takes care of items with similar CORE attributes, how do I identify those products that have the same CORE attributes (and thus same primary GTIN), but different SECONDARY attributes? This will be needed if you have a buyer that wants to order boxes with more specificity than the CORE attributes allow.




In order to minimize the number of GTINs created (and thus its accompanying maintenance), the GTIN assignment strategy above was created with a way to handle items with SECONDARY attributes without creating even more GTIN numbers that would need to be shared between buyer and seller. In Example C above, two GTIN numbers were created: For Asiatic Lilies Mix 2/3 bloom For Asiatic Lilies Mix 3/4 bloom


Although most buyers would most likely order product using the core attributes, some buyers want more specificity when ordering. For example, what if a buyer wanted to order a specific variation of GTIN 00123456000014, specifically a “Brunella only” for red version of this GTIN? Rather than creating yet another GTIN number for Brunella only, we can incorporate the use of “Exception Codes” that are used internally to differentiate items sharing the same primary GTIN number, yet having a different secondary attribute. This would allow the same primary GTIN to be communicated to all of your buyers, while managing a “profile” of preferences internally within the suppliers system to handle buyerspecific requests. To illustrate, let’s look at an example: In Example C above, the SECONDARY attribute was “COLOR BREAKDOWN.” If a supplier was to assign “Exception Codes” to this SECONDARY attribute, such as COLOR BREAKDOWN, it would look something like the following (NOTE: in this example, a 3-digit number was used for the exception code. It could be whatever number of digits you desire). Exception Code 001 002 003

= = =

Color Breakdown Fall Spring Wedding

The supplier can now attribute an Exception Code to each primary GTIN that has “Fall” or “Spring” or “Wedding” as a Label by adding some separator between the primary GTIN and its accompanying Exception code. 00123456000014_001 = CO Lilies Asiatic 2/3 bloom Fall 00123456000014_002 = CO Lilies Asiatic 2/3 bloom Spring 00123456000014_003 = CO Lilies Asiatic 2/3 bloom Wedding A “profile” would be created for each buyer that indicates any pertinent Exception Codes required by the buyer. This process is actually already being done in the floral industry by your Sales Representative. If an item is not available, those receiving the order will call the Sales Rep and ask them “What product should I substitute?” They would also call the Sales Rep to find out if a “special” pack should be shipped in lieu of the “generic” pack. “Profiling” does the same thing as the Sales Rep, but rather stores these preferences in a profile so that systems can use this in an automated fashion. Once an order is received from a specific buyer, the supplier’s system can recognize who the buyer is (when using a form of electronic commerce, your computer system uses the Global Location Number (GLN) or the Dunn & Bradstreet number to identify who the buyer is). Your system can then go to that buyer’s profile to determine if there are any Exception Codes for that buyer or for the item being ordered by that particular buyer. The profile is typically created by the sales rep and then maintained (as preferences for the buyer change). 35



NOTE: You can also configure your profile to indicate permissible substitutions for this buyer as well. *The profile could look something like this: Buyer: Jack’s Wholesale

Buyer Number: 0001234561111


Exception Code

00123456000014 00123456000027 00123456000032

001 002 002

NOTE: The profile above is one example of how a profile might look. Pilot participants had different solutions employing the same methodology. Remember that using this strategy of “profiles” only includes exceptions and/or possible substitutions. If the buyer in the above example ordered boxes of Lilies as defined by the CORE attributes alone, and from the perspective of ordering, did not care about the secondary attributes, there would be no reason to have exceptions for this buyer. Therefore, any order that comes in from Jack’s Wholesale having any of the GTINs indicated in their respective profile, will have the corresponding Exception Codes appended to the primary GTIN when routed to the supplier’s shipping facility. The added Exception Code is only used internally by the supplier and will therefore be stripped off prior to the invoice being generated. In addition, only the primary GTIN number will appear on the case to ensure what is shown on the case will match what is on the purchase order and on the invoice. SUMMARY OF SCENARIO: Step 1: Jack’s Wholesale submits a Purchase Order with GTIN 00123456000014 Step 2: Supplier receives Purchase Order and determines the buyer to be Jack’s Wholesale Step 3: The system searches for the profile for Jack’s Wholesale Step 4: The profile for Jack’s Wholesale has an entry for GTIN 00123456000014, indicating that Jack’s Wholesale wants the Fall Label, and therefore the Exception Code of 001 is appended to the GTIN. Step 5: Supplier routes order to shipping facility with the Exception Code of 001 appended to the GTIN (00123456000014_001). In this example, the Exception Code is appended to the GTIN using an “_”. Step 6: Shipping facility notes that the “Fall” Label of Lilies Asiatic should be shipped to Jack’s Wholesale. Step 7: After product is shipped, supplier strips Exception Code off of product in their system before generating the invoice. Step 8: Invoice is created using just the primary GTIN 00123456000014 (thus matching what was on the purchase order) Step 9: Jack’s Wholesale receives box with GTIN 00123456000014 appearing on the case Step 10: Receipt of product matches Purchase Order which matches the Invoice 36



NOTE: If an item does not require any Exception Codes, there is no need to include it in the buyer’s profile.

BUYER: Which GTIN to Store In the above example, the buyer would have to store the GTIN box code as follows:

Buyer Option 1: If the buyer wants a specific breakdown of Asiatic lilies (e.g., Fall vs. Spring vs. Wedding), then the buyer would have to store the corresponding three GTIN box codes differently: Example GTIN Box Code =

Floral Sub Cat



Color Breakdown

00123456000014 00123456000057 00123456000093

Lilies Lilies Lilies

Asiatic Asiatic Asiatic

2/3 bloom 2/3 bloom 2/3 bloom

Fall Spring Wedding

NOTE: This is for one supplier. If the buyer uses multiple Asiatic Lily suppliers, they would have to store each additional suppliers’ GTINs for other boxes as well.

Buyer Option 2: If the buyer does not care about the specific breakdown of the Asiatic Lilies and only wants “mixed,” then the buyer needs to store only one of the possible three “mixed” Lily box configurations. The buyer or the seller can determine which GTIN should be stored: GTIN Box Code =

Floral Sub Cat



00123456000014 OR 00123456000027 OR 00123456000032



2/3 bloom

SUPPLIER: Which GTIN to Share with the Buyer The supplier has the following options:

Supplier Option 1: The supplier could provide an item list with the following choices and ask the buyer to choose a GTIN. If the buyer does not care about the color breakdown (e.g., in the example below), the number chosen by the buyer would be the primary item shipped to the buyer, and the remaining box configurations can be set up as “possible substitutions” for the primary item. The primary number will become the number the buyer uses to order, synchronize data, expect on an invoice and reference. GTIN Box Code =

Floral Sub Cat




00123456000014 00123456000027

Lilies Lilies

Asiatic Asiatic

2/3 bloom 3/4 bloom

Mixed Mixed 37



Example: If BUYER A chooses GTIN 00123456000014, then the supplier could store the following: For Buyer A:

Primary GTIN Possible Substitute

00123456000014 00123456000027

Supplier Option 2: The supplier could choose a GTIN for the buyer and only send them that particular GTIN. The remaining two item numbers could be stored internally as possible substitutions. The GTIN given to the buyer would become the number the buyer uses to order, synchronize data, expect on an invoice, and reference. NOTE: Unless the purchase order is changed to reflect the substituted item, it is important to note that the GTIN that appears on the purchase order must be the same as the GTIN that appears on the invoice. Otherwise, the invoice will not reconcile with the purchase order, thereby causing a possible invoice deduction. This utility would have to be dealt with systematically or manually.

OTHER SCENARIOS Scenario A: Buyer orders product using ‘primary GTIN’ and supplier has no inventory. Option 1: Supplier notifies buyer to revise Purchase Order with new GTIN. This is the cleanest option, but also the most time-consuming and difficult. Option 2: : Supplier substitutes GTIN B for GTIN A The invoice will have to reflect what is on the purchase order. Otherwise, at the time of reconciliation, the items will not match and most likely will result in an invoice deduction. Although this will allow the invoice to match the purchase order, it will not address the GTIN that actually appears on the box. If receiving is using the GTIN that physically appears on the box to match against the purchase order, there will be a mis-match. Option 3: Supplier procures product from another grower/importer Same scenario as in Option 2 above. The supplier can use the same GTIN as what was shown on the purchase order, but the GTIN appearing on the box itself will not match the purchase order. NOTE: If an ASN (Advanced Ship Notice) or ASN equivalent is used, the problem of substitution in Options 1 and 2 above will be solved, as the supplier will be letting the buyer know of a change when the ASN is sent. That change could then be applied to the purchase order before receiving the product. This will not, however, address Option 3 above as the supplier will not always have the opportunity to control what GTIN appears on the box procured by an outside source. The GTIN Assignment Strategy as articulated above might be difficult to fully understand unless you go through the exercise of laying your products across a spreadsheet using the CORE attributes (see Appendix D – Floral Attribute Worksheet). In any event, if you have any questions, please contact Gary Fleming at PMA ([email protected]) or Christine Boldt at AFIF ([email protected] ).




Appendix C - Core Attributes Floral Classification Attributes used to describe floral products, as delineated by its sub attributes: floral category, floral subcategory and floral type.

Floral Category A way to categorize typical floral items. Examples: fresh cut

Floral Subcategory Floral subcategory is the next level within the category. Examples: flowers, greens

Floral Type Floral type is a further refinement of floral sub category. Examples: rose, carnation, bouquets, greens

Country of Origin Floral type is further refined by the country of origin. Examples: Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Holland

Variety/Cultivar Name of the specific sub-species of the floral type. Examples: Charlotte, Sahara, Leather Leaf, etc.

Color Describes the color category for the product inside the case. For some fresh cut flowers, the variety also defines the color. If that is the case, there is no need to include “color” as an attribute. Examples: red, pink, white, yellow, novelty, bi-color




Color Mix If a case contains items with multiple colors, the color mix will contain the various colors in the case and its percentage compilation, as delineated by its sub attributes: color breakdown and mix percentage.

Color Breakdown Describes the colors of each item that make up the assortment. Examples: red, pink, white, yellow, novelty, bi-color

Color Mix Percentage Describes the color ratio within the case. Examples: 30%, 40%

Color Recipe Describes the makeup of the flower bunch. Examples: V-Day, Spring, Fall

Size Description Length/Height Stem length is from the cut end of stem to the base of head of flower (never includes head of flower). Example: 60

Length/Height UOM Length/Height Unit of Measure (UOM) is used as an attribute to further clarify the numeric value in the length/height field. Examples: “cm” = centimeters

Size/Grade When the flower type is not measured by length in centimeters, use SIZE to refer to the grade of the flower. Examples: Select, Fancy, Standard, 2 Bloom, 4+ Blooms




Weight The weight of the individual bunch. For example, when ordering Gypsophila, use Example: 280

Weight UOM Weight Unit of Measure (UOM) is used to further clarify the numeric value in the Weight field. For example, when ordering Gypsophila, use Examples: grams

Shipping Box Describes the shipping container used to hold floral products or packaged units in a fixed count format. Example: Full box, half box, quarter box, procona, wet pack, etc.

Inner Pack The Inner Pack describes the contents found within the given Shipping Box (e.g., full box) and uses the sub-attributes to define what is inside the Shipping Box. Example: There are 12 bunches in a full box. Each bunch contains 25 roses. The total number of stems in the box would be 300 (12 X 25 = 300).

Inner Pack Quantity The number of packaged format units (e.g., bunches) within the box. How many of the pack style do you see? This will be a quantity. Example: There are 12 bunches

Pack The packaging style of the units held within the box. When the box is opened what would you see inside. (i.e. bags, bunches, pots, etc.) This would be a descriptive word not a quantity. Examples: Loose, bunch, tray, each, etc.




Inner Pack Count The number of units held within a packaged format (e.g., bunch). What is the number of units within the packed style? If there is more than one within the pack style you will need to tell how many. This will be a quantity. Example: 25 stems per bunch

Total Pack Count The number of individual units in a box. This is sometimes used when there are just loose stems inside a box (e.g., no bunches). Example: 300 stems in a box




Appendix D – Floral Attribute Worksheet Template




Appendix E - Glossary Advance Ship Notice (ASN)

The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transaction that provides the receiving company notice of shipping changes



Bill of Lading

A legal contract between a carrier and a shipper that provides shipment details for the movement of freight.

Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)



The conversion of application data to and from an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) transaction format.

Global Location Number (GLN)

(GLN)A 13-digit data structure to identify physical, functional, or legal entities. The Global Location Number uniquely identifies each location in a Trading Partner’s Enterprise. Supply-Side trading partner locations generally include corporate HQ, regional offices, warehouses, plants and distribution centers, demand-side (retail) trading partner locations generally include corporate HQ, divisional offices, stores and distribution center

Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)

An umbrella term used to describe the entire family of GS1 data structures for trade items (products and services) identification. The family of data structures include: GS1-8, GS1-12, GS1-13, and GS1-14. Products at every level of product configuration (consumer selling unit, case level, inner pack level, pallet shipper, etc.) require a unique GTIN. In addition to manufacturer and product category, GTIN also includes shipping, weight, and other information. The EPC is designed to provide continuity with GTIN. GTIN is a new term, not a standards change.


GS1, based in Brussels, Belgium, is an organization of GS1 Member Organizations that manages the GS1 System and Global Standards Management Process (GSMP).

GS1 U.S.

GS1 U.S. manages the promotion and adoption of the GS1 standards in the United States. It assigns GS1 Company Prefixes to those firms and organizations headquartered in the U.S.

Identification Number

A numerical designation that uniquely identifies an object in the supply chain. Identification numbers are used to retrieve information previously exchanged between trading partners and stored in their computer database files. 44



Point of Sales

Refers to a retail checkout where bar code symbols are normally scanned.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

A method of identifying unique items using radio waves. The big advantage over barcode technology is that lasers must see a barcode to read it Radio waves do not require line of sight and can pass through materials such as cardboard and plastic.

Supply Chain Management

The delivery of customer and economic value through integrated management of the flow of physical goods and associated information, from raw materials sourcing to delivery of finished products to consumers.

Trading Partner

A party to transactions in the supply chain, such as a supplier (seller) or a customer (buyer).

Universal Product Code (U.P.C.)

The barcode standard used in North America, administered by the Uniform Code Council.


See eXtensible Markup Language.



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