FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE CONTINUED BY MINISTRY OF SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES, GOVT. OF INDIA, FOR USE OF INTERNATIONAL NUMBERING STANDARDS IN BAR-CODING AND E-COMMERCE APPLICATIONS
The Small Scale Industries (SSI) sector has emerged as a dynamic and vibrant sector of the Indian economy. Its contribution to industrial production, export and employment generation has been very significant over the years. The pace of economic liberalisation and market reforms has however thrown up various challenges for this sector and they are now getting increasingly exposed to global competition.
Adoption of IT tools which can enhance the efficiency/productivity, market acceptability and cost effectiveness of SSI companies is a business imperative today. This is even more so for SSI units which have resource constraints but need to compete for domestic and global business opportunities with larger companies.
Barcoding using International Numbering standards represent a small but significant step in reaching some of these stated objectives through increased efficiency of supply chains, elimination of wastages, reduction in logistics/inventory management costs, facilitating E-commerce over B2B exchanges, product track & trace etc. They are extensively used for past 25 years worldwide and are being used increasingly in India as well across industry sectors.
Used as an IT tool, barcoding facilitates automatic data capture as opposed to manual recording or keying in information through computers. They enable 100% accuracy of data capture at high speeds and can be integrated directly into in-house software applications. When used in conjunction with the EAN identification system, barcodes enable easy, unique and universal identification of products in the total supply chain, right from the point of production to the point of sale/consumption.
EAN standards are the de-facto global standards for identification of products at retail outlets worldwide. These standards are used by more than 900,000 companies in 24 different industry sectors. The Electronic Commerce/Electronic Data Interchange Council of India, under the Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India, has endorsed EAN standards as the national standards for barcoding and EDI.
Additional benefits to SSI/ Tiny sector units:
One of the services available to global buyers/sellers/logistic providers etc. to source for business contacts is through use of International Numbering standards used in barcoding. SSI/ Tiny sector companies opting for this facility stand to expand their market exposure globally by hosting their company/product information on the GEPIR (Global EAN.UCC Party Information Register) service of EAN International.
Financial Assistance for use of International Numbering Standards notified by Ministry of Small Scale Industries, Govt. of India
Due to the above mentioned applications and benefits of International Numbering Standards (EAN.UCC), the Office of the Development Commissioner (SSI), Ministry of Small Scale Industries, Govt. of India, has continued the financial assistance scheme for registered Small Scale Industries for adoption of International Numbering standards in barcoding and E-commerce applications.
As per the scheme, SSI/tiny sector units shall be reimbursed 75% of the one time registration fee payable to EAN India for allocation of the unique EAN/UPC company prefix which is used in barcoding and E-commerce applications.
Since this scheme is available on a first come first serve basis only till the apportioned funds are exhausted, SSI units are encouraged to avail of this at the earliest.
For further details, please contact:
Director (EP&M),
Office of Development Commissioner (SSI),
Ministry of SSI, Govt. of India, 7th Floor,
Nirman Bhavan, Maulana Azad Road,
New Delhi- 110011
Tel: 011 3019197 and/or
EAN India (under Ministry of Commerce),
502-503, Arunachal Building, 19 Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi – 110001;
Tel: 011 3719638/ 3713117; Fax: 011 3719626;
Email: saurabh@eanindia.com ; Website:
www.eanindia.com.
