HP cloud service ecosystem for manufacturing improves supply chain visibility

HP cloud service, developed with GS1 Canada, aims to enhance product recall process, to remove potentially harmful food products from the supply chain.

August 26, 2009

HP and the Canadian arm of GS1 – a leading global nonprofit organization dedicated to improving supply chain efficiencies – announced a cloud-based recall service that traces and removes potentially harmful food products from the supply chain.

HP Labs says, "Cloud research is focused on delivering an application and computing end-state of Everything-as-a-Service : billions of users, accessing millions of services, through thousands of service providers, over millions of servers, processing exabytes of data, delivered through terabytes of network traffic."

The GS1 Canada Product Recall service will run on the HP cloud computing platform for manufacturing, which allows companies to see and share information across the supply chain. Food and consumer products organizations can use the service to reduce errors, decrease the amount of time it takes to respond to a recall, and mitigate the costs associated with managing the recall process. The companies made the announcement

"Global supply chain standards are foundational to effective product recall," said Art Smith, president and chief executive officer at GS1 Canada. "GS1 global standards are used by millions of companies around the world to enhance the safety, security and efficiency of their supply chains. With the integration of GS1 standards and HP’s cloud computing platform, we are reinventing the way that recall information is exchanged between businesses, and further supporting industry efforts to improve consumer safety."

The GS1 Product Recall service will offer businesses:

– Clear handling, disposal and reimbursement instructions to speed the recall process;

– The ability to customize alerts and target specific retailers with relevant information;

– A traceable security and audit trail to ensure compliance; and

– Built-in security that sends notifications to authorized users and targeted retailers.

"The ability to mitigate consumer safety concerns around product recall is extremely important for manufacturers and retailers," said Russ Daniels, vice president and chief technology officer at EDS, an HP company. "By simplifying the product recall process, we can demonstrate how cloud services add real value to our everyday lives."

Developed in conjunction with HP Labs, the company’s central research arm, GS1 Canada Product Recall service consists of HP software, services and infrastructure as well as the Microsoft .NET Framework.

The initial rollout for the GS1 Canada Product Recall service targets the Canadian food industry. It is expected to extend to other industries and regions that require similar processes and services in the future. The HP cloud computing platform for manufacturing is available now.

An HP blog posting offers more on HP cloud service information and a graphic .

MBT offers related information:

– Above the cloud: Strong focus on quality evolves in SaaS-enabled supply chain software ;

– Food Safety and the Global Supply Chain: The Black Hole? and

– Four pillars: GMA offers food safety action plan , a 2007 story that recommends modernizing U.S. food imports.

– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, electronic products editor, MBT www.mbtmag.com