MHD SUPPLY CHAIN
The National Location Registry will go live in mid-August.
THE NEW NATIONAL LOCATION REGISTRY This August GS1 is launching a National Location Registry to streamline transport operations and boost supply chain efficiency. MHD talks to Bonnie Ryan, GS1’s Director of Freight, Logistics and Industrial Sectors, to find out more.
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or too long Australian supply chain industry has been hamstrung by insufficient information about important physical locations, says Bonnie Ryan, Director Freight, Logistics and Industrial Sectors at GS1. “In order for a transport operator to execute a delivery, they not only need to understand where they are picking up something from and where they are delivering it – but they require knowledge about specific parameters around the location,” Bonnie says. While a driver might know a site’s address, the main entry point for deliveries is not always the same as the entry to the main office, she says. There may also be other constraints
– such as safety requirements and complex OH&S regulations – and further complications when dealing with complex construction sites, in the CBD for example. Operators need to know these things, and to that end GS1, in collaboration with industry and Government has spearheaded the creation of a soon-to-be-launched National Location Registry (NLR), where attribute information about physical pickup and delivery locations is digitally stored and accessible to authorised users. “The NLR is basically a digital registry that enables the storage, enrichment, and retrieval of information about physical locations,”
Bonnie says. “The NLR will contain up-to-date information that will streamline transit of goods between major supply chain and logistics operations – whether it’s information about new road accessibility, where receivers want goods put, the opening hours of particular locations, or health restrictions in force at a location.” Bonnie says that a major frustration for truck drivers is when they turn up to a location to make a delivery only to find the location isn’t open yet. Schedules are disrupted, and there are knock-on effects throughout the supply chain. “Before the NLR there has been no place where transport companies can get this information,” she says. MHD AUGUST 2021 | 45