GM mandates new global shipping label

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2000

General Motors (GM) Corp. of Detroit has issued a new compliance mandate for shipping labels that is being considered for standard use by automotive industry groups in North America, Europe, and Asia. GM has ordered its 11,000 suppliers to use a two-dimensional (2-D) bar code, in addition to standard linear bar codes, on shipping labels by Dec. 1. The new standard-known as GM-1724-supplants an earlier version adopted in 1997 and could become an industrywide practice. In fact, GM designed the new label so it could be used by other companies, according to John Sakulich, the company's manager of business processes.

The new GM-1724 shipping label, which uses the 2-D symbology PDF 417, offers several advantages over linear bar codes, says Sakulich. For example, it allows more data to be compressed in a smaller area-something that's especially useful with global shipments. Sakulich also says that the 2-D labels are less prone to reading errors and that bar-code readers can interpret a damaged 2-D label. "There's error correction in the 2-D," he notes. "If you deface the bar code, you can still read it."

The label, which will be placed on all container and truckload shipments, can provide a breakdown of a shipment's contents. It could, therefore, eliminate the need for multiple manifests that typically accompany shipments, says Sakulich.

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), which sets standards for North American carmakers, is working with its counterparts in Asia and Europe to finalize the GM-1724 label specs. "We want to standardize on a global shipping label," says Ron Tillinger, program manager for materials management at AIAG. "Because GM was the first one out with it, we're using it as a guideline [for a global label]."