Case Study: Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC) achieves end-to-end supply chain traceability and $1.3M annual cost avoidance with Trustwell

Delivering the Promise of End-to-End Traceability Throughout the Subway System

Independent Purchasing Cooperative (IPC), the franchisee-owned purchasing arm for Subway restaurants globally, needed end-to-end supply chain visibility to improve food safety, cut costs, and eliminate operational inefficiencies across more than 43,000 restaurants. To meet this challenge, Trustwell was engaged to deliver a standards-based traceability solution centered on GS1 identification (GTINs, GLNs, SSCCs) and synchronized product data via the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), integrated with traceability technology such as the FoodLogiQ Connect platform.

Trustwell helped onboard suppliers and distributors to uniquely identify products and exchange high-quality data, deploy GS1-128 barcode scanning at distribution centers and restaurants, and roll out an inventory/scan app for franchisees. As a result, 99% of suppliers adopted GS1 Standards, product traceability reached 99% by volume, distributors sending ASNs rose to 94%, GTIN accuracy hit 93%, and scanning reached ~9,300 restaurants (31%). Trustwell’s solution delivered measurable impact including an estimated $1.3M in annual cost avoidance, a $61,000 savings from a single recall response, and potential annual labor savings of more than $110K through faster, more precise recalls and reduced waste.

Independent Purchasing Cooperative

Lucelena Angarita

Director of Supply Chain Systems and Standards