The Australian rail industry is large and complex, causing challenges with cost, safety, visibility, logistics and efficiency. To address these issues, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) board announced the support for adoption of GS1 open global standards for identifying and marking (barcoding and/or tagging) components used across the industry.
This initiative is aligned with a parallel EU program involving rail operators and network managers.
The rail industry in Europe is already using and developing a common standard, therefore, global GS1 standards will be a critical enabler for the effective implementation of ISO 55000 Asset Management Standards.
GS1 Australia’s Senior Manager – Trade, Transport and Heavy Industry, Bonnie Ryan, said, “Calling on industry players to work with us gives the Australian rail industry a unique opportunity to collaborate with a standardised approach for consistently identifying and marking components and assets.
“Standardising the way materials are identified will bring industry-wide efficiencies which will help reduce costs and inventory; improve safety, maintenance and traceability, and eliminate unnecessary manual tasks using automation.”
To prepare the industry for the adoption of GS1 standards, a second series of Rail Industry Supplier Workshops are in the pipeline for early 2018.
GS1 Australia is also participating at AusRAIL PLUS 2017 in Brisbane from the 21 to 23 November at Stand No 378. Ms Ryan is speaking in the Rail Suppliers Stream on Day 1 about the benefits of standards for identification of parts and components.
Chief Operating Officer at the ARA, Phil Allan, said, “The Australian Rail Industry has been called to respond to a call to action to improve reliability and quality across the supply chain using GS1 standards.
“The objective of the call to action initiative is to implement GS1 standards by 1 January 2019.”
