GS1 Germany supports roll-out of new SA2 services

SA2 Worldsync and CS Compliance offer services for the implementation of the REACH regulation

In order to be able to offer the trade the compliance services required for this, SA2 Worldsync and CS Compliance decided to work together at the end of October.

The background to the cooperation is the European regulation on chemical substances, REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals). Commercial enterprises must register substances in certain products imported from outside the European Economic Area with the European Chemicals Agency (EChA). This includes, for example, dyes and varnishes. If pre-registration is not completed by 1 December 2008, marketing prohibitions can be threatened by law. Additionally, since the end of October 2008 there has been an obligation to provide consumers with information about the contents of a number of non-food products, including textiles, toys, electrical appliances and furniture.

In order to offer the trade efficient compliance management, SA2 Worldsync, the leading provider of master data services and CS compliance, a joint venture between the German Retail Federation (HDE) and the Federal Association of German DIY, Construction and Garden Stores (BHB) are entering into a strategic partnership. The basis is formed by the “REACH-Solution” developed by CS Compliance with the involvement of trade and industry and technologically implemented by its partner TechniData BCS. This IT solution allows chemical law requirements to be satisfied effectively and efficiently, in particular those from the European regulation on chemical substances, REACH.

Within the framework of the partnership, the master data expertise of SA2 Worldsync will be combined with the know-how of CS Compliance and its technical partner, TechniData BCS. Users of SA2 Worldsync will now receive compliance services to meet materials law requirements in addition to support for master data management. Close cooperation with the standardisation organisation GS1 Germany ensures the best possible safeguarding of the services offered through recourse to international standards. GS1 Germany will support the roll-out of the overall solution.

“The competences of both systems complement each other ideally”, says Nihat Arkan, CEO of SA2 Worldsync. “Our customers can access an even wider choice of services in future.” Jörg Pretzel, Managing Director of GS1 Germany adds: “A further important advantage of this offering is a high level of investment security for users, since the solution is based on global and established GS1 standards.”

The trade associations involved have also been persuaded by the benefit of the cooperation: “It is our objective to create a standardised REACH solution for the entire supply chain and thereby achieve synergies in the interaction of individual systems and standards for all parties involved”, highlights Stefan Tromp, the Deputy Managing Director of HDE. Frank Michel, Managing Director of BHB says: “The basis of the REACH solution is being widened so considerably that the effectiveness and efficiency of the solution for trade and industry are further increased.”


About CS Compliance
CS Compliance is a joint venture between the German Retail Federation (HDE e. V.) and the Federal Association of German DIY, Construction and Garden Stores (BHB e. V.). CS Compliance is the operator and provider of the REACH solution, an IT system solution to efficiently and cost-effectively satisfy product-related chemical law requirements for trade and industry. More information can be found at www.reach-solution.org


About GS1 Germany
GS1 Germany supports companies from all sectors in the adoption and practical implementation of modern communication and process standards, in order to improve the efficiency of their business processes. Within Germany, the company is responsible for the maintenance and continued development of the GS1 article numbering system for globally unique identification, which in turn serves as the basis for bar codes. Moreover, GS1 Germany supports the application of new technologies for fully automatic object identification (EPC/RFID) and offers customer-orientated solutions (ECR - Efficient Consumer Response).

Based in Cologne, the private sector company is organised in accordance with anti-trust legislation, and belongs to the international network ”Global Standards One“ (GS1) as the second largest of more than 100 national GS1 organisations worldwide. The German Markenverband and the EHI Retail Institute hold equal shares in GS1 Germany.

About SA2 Worldsync
SA2 Worldsync, headquartered in Cologne, Germany, represents the interests of more than 50 of the world's leading retailers to ensure systems operate with accurate, up-to-date item information from suppliers. The company helps more than 2,600 suppliers align and synchronize master data (such as product, case and pallet information) with retailers through the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN).

SA2 Worldsync offers a range of services and supports new industry directions, such as price and product image synchronization. With operations in 15 countries and extensive multi-language capabilities, SA2 Worldsync has the largest global footprint to help suppliers and retailers from virtually everywhere integrate smoothly and efficiently. The company also offers the only data pool operational on three continents: Europe, North America and Asia. Customers of SA2 Worldsync include leading international retailers, such as Tesco, Ahold, METRO Group, Markant, Best Buy and COOP Suisse as well as many large suppliers, including SCA Hygiene, Sony Home Video and Dr. Oetker.

SA2 Worldsync, a joint venture of shareholders Pironet NDH AG, Agentrics LLC and GS1 Germany, was formed by the combination of SINFOS GmbH and the Agentrics data synchronization business unit in 2008.