PMA Helps Industry Transition to Company-Specific UPCs

NEWARK, Del.On June 1, the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) will launch a migration toolkit to help the industry transition to company-specific universal product codes (UPC) in order to improve category management while enhancing traceability and business efficiencies.

On the more specific UPC, the prefix is assigned by GS1 US, a global standards organization for multiple industries. It will identify the item and the company origin, enabling retailers to differentiate between different brands of product in the same category which allows them to determine sell-through and shrink data by brand. Currently, the UPC numbers begin with a generic, PMA-assigned prefix, followed by an item reference number and check digit to identify packaged produce.

PMA and GS1 will host a webinar, "Transitioning from Generic UPC to Brand Owner UPC in produce," on May 7, at 1 p.m. EST to address questions about why and how this transition will take place. The topic also will be addressed during the GS1 Connect 2013 Conference on June 13.

PMA has also made several other tools available to the industry including, Databar Online, initially implemented in 2009, created to allow distributors to communicate their item numbers to buyers, and allow buyers to download the information into their point-of-sale systems for loose and bulk items. The tool recently underwent improvements, it's now more user-friendly and is available to the industry at large.