2005 deadline on global barcodes will be extended, analyst predicts
Retailers and manufacturers are expected to comply with the January 2005 deadline for accepting global barcode standards under a schedule set by the Uniform Code Council Inc. and its European counterpart, EAN International--a deadline that would leave retailers that are not in compliance unable to scan products labeled with globally accepted barcodes. But there is no reason the January 2005 deadline needs to be imposed, and an extension is likely, Gene Alvarez, vice president of technology research services for the retail industry at META Group Inc., tells InternetRetailer.com.
The January 2005 deadline, known as Sunrise 2005, requires companies to amend their product codes to comply with the global trade item number system, or GTIN, which can have as many as 14 digits in a barcode. But traditional U.S. barcodes handle 12 digits, so U.S. companies must add two digits to their product code systems. This can be a complicated project for retailers with large numbers of SKUs.
Fred Geiger, senior vice president of UCCnet, a unit of the UCC that plans to begin accepting GTINs in its Internet-based global data registry in January 2005, says Sunrise 2005 is intended to promote global trade through Internet commerce. Retailers, for example, will be able to view and pull product data out of UCCnet`s GlobalRegistry from suppliers they want to do business with. "If you`re not ready, you won`t be able to scan GTIN products at the POS terminal," he says.
But Alvarez contends that, unlike the earlier Y2K data synchronization problem, which required companies to amend their back-end systems so they wouldn`t confuse 1900 with 2000 and possibly shut down computers at the beginning of 2000, the Sunrise 2005 project carries no hard requirement to stick to the January 2005 deadline. "I think there will be an extension of Sunrise 2005," Alvarez says.
Moreover, he adds, the GTIN synchronization effort will be more complicated for most retailers than Y2K. "The GTIN effort is much broader than Y2K was for retailers, because it can impact so many products," he says.
UCC and EAN officials, however, have not indicated room for flexibility in the Sunrise 2005 deadline.
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