In a supply chain milestone, Kraft Foods and Shaws Supermarkets of East Bridgewater, Mass., have successfully communicated standardized product life-cycle information. These two companies are the first manufacturer and retailer team to become product certified by UCCnet, a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council (UCC).

By utilizing UCCnet services, Kraft and Shaw's will be able to reduce costly errors and decrease lead-time requirements for new product introductions and changes to item information.

Shaw's will subscribe to receive information on Kraft products that they currently sell or that they are interested in selling in the future. When Kraft updates product information or introduces a new item, the information is communicated to Shaw's via UCCnet, which acts as the industry checkpoint, ensuring that all product information is standards compliant.