Four new industry execs join GS1’s US board

GS1 US’ board of directors has appointed four new members, hailing from healthcare group Johnson & Johnson, grocery chain Kroger, retailer Target and Wakefern Food Corp.

The new appointments are: Pavan Heda, head of global trade controls and enterprise supply chain at J&J; Todd James, chief data and technology officer at Kroger’s data science unit 84.51°; Kraig Narr, Target’s senior vice president, global supply chain and logistics; and Mike Stigers, president of Wakefern Food.

The executives will “help guide the GS1 US strategy to drive the adoption and use of GS1 Standards as a common foundation for retail commerce, consumer experiences and supply chain management,” said the standards organisation.

Bob Carpenter, president and chief executive of GS1 US, said the new board members will make a valuable contribution to the organisation’s work in helping the world adapt to the digitalisation of the global economy.

“Unique identification of products, entities, locations, and more will remain critical to connecting physical and digital channels to create a seamless shopping experience for consumers and also to provide deeper levels of visibility for all stakeholders in supply chains,” he said.

Sara Ford named chair of GS1 UK’s healthcare advisory board

Meanwhile, Sara Ford, executive director for strategy, marketing and change at NHS Supply Chain, will replace Duncan Eaton – former CEO of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Authority (PASA) - as chair of GS1 UK’s healthcare advisory board.

Prior to her role in NHS Supply Chain, Sara spent more than 20 years at Accenture supporting clients across private and public sectors to improve their supply chain and commercial operations. As a managing director within Accenture, she established and ran the UK & Ireland healthcare consultancy business focused on supporting NHS acute trusts.