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Business Printing Technologies Report
CHECK 21: IT WON'T ELIMINATE THE PAPER; IT WILL ELIMINATE THE
“PUSH”
The crux of the Check 21 Act creates a new, negotiable "substitute check" that allows traditional paper checks to be truncated at any point in the presentment process. The source document still exists but the physical transportation of the original is no longer necessary. Truncation means the paper check is cut short from completing the forward collection path to the payer bank. The original check is held in place at the bank of first deposit or any subsequent clearing bank. Presentment occurs by transmission of an electronic image, rendered from the original item, or by transmission of the MICR-encoded information. The "substitute" contains the same information, front and back, as the original check and has the same legal status, according to the new law. The substitute must also contain these words: "This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check." Under this legislation, a bank can truncate a check, make an image of it, use
the image to create a substitute piece of paper, and then process it just as
though it were the original. The new system emerging from the Check 21 Act will
provide greater efficiency over the traditional way of transporting paper checks
from bank to bank. More checks still being produced today The enactment of Check 21 does not negatively impact the production of paper
checks. Wandling’s research indicates that, despite the decline in the use of
personal checks, the U.S. check market continues to grow, albeit leveling off at
one billion checks per year. This information supports the viability of the
paper product for some years to come. Design checks for the process change
2005 SUNRISE Since the introduction of the 12-digit Universal Product Code (U.P.C.) more than 30 years ago, the use of the European Article Numbering/Uniform Code Council (EAN/UCC) System has expanded rapidly to facilitate global commerce. To meet the need for improving commerce efficiency, the Uniform Code Council, Inc. has announced that by January 1, 2005 all U.S. and Canadian companies must be capable of scanning and processing EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols, in addition to 12-digit U.P.C. symbols, at point-of-sale. This includes the system to scan, as well as the printed labels on products and containers. The UCC announced this initiative, named 2005 Sunrise, in 1997 to allow U.S. and Canadian companies ample time to address all conversion issues. Why is 2005 Sunrise important? The number of products identified with EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols will increase quickly after January 1, 2005 because UCC company prefixes will no longer be issued to new companies based outside of the U.S. and Canada. Therefore, these new companies will be marking their products with EAN-8 or EAN-13 symbols. In addition, some U.S. and Canadian companies will be assigned UCC company prefixes with lead digits of 10 to 13. These Company Prefixes can only be used to create EAN-13 symbols, and not U.P.C. symbols. UCC company prefixes are no longer issued as just 6-digit numbers; they now vary between 6 and 10 digits in length. Additionally, the company prefixes encoded in EAN-13 and EAN-8 symbols also vary in length. This is important should companies have systems or applications that incorrectly assume all company prefixes are 6-digit numbers. The UCC has opened new UCC company prefixes with lead digits of 1, 8 and 9 for assignment to new companies. Companies that are erroneously using these lead numbers in their internal systems will have them clash with valid U.P.C.s assigned by other companies.
* Ensuring systems and applications are able to scan and process EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols in addition to the 12-digit U.P.C. at point-of-sale. * As a best practice, the UCC has always recommended that the product identification numbers scanned from EAN-8, U.P.C., and EAN-13 symbols be processed and stored in their entirety. Note: these product identification numbers are properly referred to as Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs). This is important because companies that change the GTIN risk storing and sharing bad information with their trading partners. Erroneous practices include dropping check digits and extracting the UCC Company Prefix to identify the supplier. Companies who change the GTINs must discontinue this practice. * Companies that erroneously assign numbers in their internal applications using lead digits of 1, 8, or 9 must discontinue this practice. What are the topics related to 2005 Sunrise that companies should
consider? * Reduced Space Symbology® (RSS) symbols bring bar code marking to items that are too small for the traditional U.P.C. or where there is a business requirement to scan additional data at point-of-sale. RSS is currently being applied to produce, fresh meat, pharmacy, and medical/surgical products. Other RSS business applications, including greeting cards and serialization, are receiving industry consideration. * Data synchronization using the GLOBALregistry™ of UCCnet requires the identification of products at all levels of packaging. * GTIN Compliance is required for both Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) and data synchronization using the GLOBALregistry of UCCnet. What does it mean to be GTIN Compliant? * GTIN is an umbrella term used to describe the entire family of data structures that identify trade items (products and services). GTINs consist of four data structures that are 8, 12, 13 and 14 digits in length. For example, the EAN-8, EAN-13, U.P.C., and RSS symbols on products all encode GTINs. * To be GTIN Compliant, a company must be 2005 Sunrise Compliant plus be able to process and store 14-digit GTINs. Therefore, a GTIN Compliant company will be able to process, store, and communicate with trading partners using all GTINs, whether 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits. The UCC recommends that GTINs are stored as 14-digit numbers by right justifying and zero-filling left, as appropriate. * GTIN compliance does not assume the ability to scan RSS symbols. Other recommendations: * A company that must upgrade its systems to become 2005 Sunrise Compliant should plan to become GTIN Compliant. For little or no incremental cost over becoming 2005 Sunrise Compliant, a company can be ready to use RSS symbols and/or data synchronization. * A company that is 2005 Sunrise Compliant but not GTIN Compliant needs to make a business decision whether to become GTIN Compliant. Remember that GTIN compliance is required to use RSS symbols and/or to pursue data synchronization. Delays can create consequences * The inability to share standardized information with trading partners. The UCC urges all companies that have not yet achieved 2005 Sunrise
compliance to begin system planning, testing, and update/conversion
activities. * The January 2005 date means that you will likely hear about the 2005 Sunrise effort in the near future. Prepare yourself by understanding the fundamentals of the change, and how it will impact your customers that utilize or print UPC bar codes. * The new standards mean fewer labels. This will directly impact any of your customers that re-mark EAN-marked goods. For imported goods, covering the EAN bar code with a UPC label is common practice. Those goods will no longer need a new UPC label to cover the EAN code. Sunrise compliant systems will be able to read the original EAN. * The new standards do NOT mean that the 12 digit UPC is being eliminated. Items currently marked with a 12 digit U.P.C. will still be valid. * The new standard does mean that any new items will employ the EAN-8 or EAN-13. * Distributors can remind clients that their UPC bar code systems need to be compliant, Point them in the direction of the Uniform Code Council’s resources. * Depending on the prefix for a new client item, the new bar code may be a 13-digit EAN and not a UPC. * For more information about UPC/EAN go to <http://www.uc-council.org> www.uc-council.org A special thanks to the Uniform Code Council for permission to reprint this article.
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