Global Upstream Supply Initiative

Welcome to our Global Upstream Supply Initiative Working Group Area.

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Our Next Meeting: 18 SEPTEMBER 2008

Please click here to get the details.

Please mark your calendar for the upcoming US/CAN GUSI Implementation Team Kick-Off Meeting on Thursday 18 September 2008!

What is the 'The Global Upstream Supply Initiative' ?

At the end of 2004 the Global Commerce Initiative, located in Cologne, Germany, initiated a new Working Group and incorporated the already-active Global Upstream Supply Initiative (GUSI). Since then GCI, together with the Working Group and GS1, has successfully designed a process model and supporting XML message standards for manufacturers of consumer product goods and suppliers of packaging, ingredients and raw materials. The aim of this model and message standards is to provide tighter integration of supply chains without the need for costly and time-consuming IT integration projects with every partner, and both the model and messages are now being implemented across multiple countries across the world by many companies.

Companies who are actively implementing GUSI include Unilever, Smurfit Kappa, P&G, Nestlé, Crown Europe, IFF, Danisco, Novozymes, National Starch, Tetra Pak, Quest, Loders Croklaan, Symrise, Givaudan, Firmenich, Alcan and many more.

The central product of GUSI is its process model, known as the Upstream Integration Model (UIM 2.2). This model defines a range of common business processes and supporting technical standards and information flows for various scenarios. The model, being built in a modular way, offers a collaborative approach to both supplier- and manufacturer-initiated ordering processes and addresses the most common variants of them (SMI - Supplier Managed Inventory, TOM - Traditional Order Management, and synchronised planning).

Since the beginning of 2005 the first pioneers have been aligning their processes according to the UIM and have been using the GS1 XML messages. They have shared their experiences with the wider GUSI team and these have formed the basis of an Implementation Guide (UIM Guide). The guide instructs companies on how to adopt and use the various UIM process variants in connection with the GS1 standard messages in an optimum way.

Now, the GUSI Business Case Document has been produced to publicise the benefits of GUSI and UIM, so as to encourage more companies to adopt the UIM and thereby amplify the benefits to be derived by everyone.

For more information on GUSI, please either contact Ruediger Hagedorn or any of the names mentioned in the Contact List.

In case you are interested in participating in the Working Group please refer to the co-chairs of the group:

Roland Dachs, Crown Europe
(Roland.Dachs@eur.crowncork.com)
or
Garry Haworth, Nestlé Group
(Garry.Haworth@nestle.com)

or contact us directly
gci-info@gci-net.org