Newsflash: The latest United Nations Standard Products and Services Code® (UNSPSC) codeset version 24 has been published at www.unspsc.org and Prodigo Solutions has been analyzing the impact on its Data Repository and Data Hub customers. Supply chain decision makers also need to begin the analysis process to help plan for any category changes across their ERP and various supply chain systems.
Background
The UNSPSC product classification codeset has four levels of hierarchy – Segment, Family, Class, Commodity – and is formatted as an eight-digit number. It has been managed by GS1 US since 2003. According to the 2015 GS1 Product Classification in Healthcare whitepaper, there are more than 20 different systems used across the world for the classification of healthcare products.
UNSPSC Importance
The UNSPSC global classification system is the first taxonomy available to the healthcare industry that is an open standard – and not proprietary – in addition to being comprehensive for all product types, free, and hierarchical, per the GS1 Healthcare Provider Tool Kit.
External product classification is critical when working with product master data management (MDM). Even though UNSPSC is just one among several other product coding systems in healthcare – such as Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN) or Global Product Classification (GPC) – it is becoming one of the most widely adopted. In response to demand for additional classification coverage, the United Nations has increasingly developed its codeset for medical devices and pharmaceutical products as well as other categories. As a result, many countries require UNSPSC use as part of their government procurement systems, including the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). Currently, “GS1 Healthcare US recommends the use of UNSPSC for the classification of products in the U.S. market,” according to a GS1 Product Classification in Healthcare whitepaper.
Healthcare providers reap multiple benefits from using the UNSPSC classification system, including:
- Purchasing Control
- Identification of Suppliers
- Leveraging Supplier Relationships
- Improved Bargaining Power
- eProcurement Efficiency
- Strategic Supply Chain Management
Being able to source products faster and gain insights into spending patterns will help your organization create a more cost-effective procurement system.
Benefits to Prodigo Customers
Within healthcare, there is increased demand for item attributes, classification, and device identifiers to help improve traceability and cost capture. Having the most current enriched product attributes, including the UNSPSC, will help to ease integration of new manufacturer items into the health system sourcing and procurement workstream. Having the latest UNSPSC codeset associated with a company’s product inventory is the foundation to identifying sourcing gaps and monitoring budgeted spend.
Prodigo sources data on behalf of its customer community to provide maximum coverage for the items they are required to manage. Prodigo’s Virtual Item Master maintains item formularies, item metadata attributes, and item prices for items approved for use in the client’s system. Providing accurate and enriched data enhances the end user experience while improving the accuracy and completeness of data across the supply chain and clinical enterprise.
Prodigo’s Commitment to UNSPSC
When we’re able to better categorize organizational ERP system inventories, we can focus our attention on sourcing gaps and monitoring spend to ultimately improve the supply chain and better meet the needs of patients.
Prodigo Solutions maintains more than 14 million UNSPSC item categorizations and it is dedicated to 100% coverage of all managed healthcare items.
Marketplace and Xchange customers benefit from UNSPSC inclusion on many of their items and Data Hub customers receive UNSPSC attribution as part of the product.
If you want to optimize your electronic commerce capabilities, boost operational efficiency, and better understand your supply chain spend analysis, contact Prodigo Solutions to learn more about our ability to add UNSPSC categorization to your inventory.