Macy’s and P&G Executives Join GS1 US Board of Governors

gs1 us logoLAWRENCEVILLE, N.J., Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- RB Harrison, chief omnichannel officer of Macy's, Inc., and Alfredo Colas, global business services (GBS) director at Procter & Gamble (P&G), have been appointed to the GS1 US® Board of Governors. Both executives will help guide the GS1 US strategy for driving adoption and usage of GS1 Standards within the retail industry as it faces new opportunities in the age of digital and physical store convergence. GS1 Standards are used to uniquely identify products, services and locations globally, and are the most widely used information standards in the world.

RB Harrison has been Macy's chief omnichannel officer since January 2013, overseeing the company's strategy to fully integrate store, online and mobile activities. He is also responsible for managing Macy's systems and technology, Website development and experience, logistics, and related operating functions.

Since 2008, Mr. Harrison has held several executive leadership roles at Macy's, including executive vice president for omnichannel strategy, executive vice president for finance, president for stores, and president and chief operating officer of Macy's West. Prior to joining Macy's, Mr. Harrison served as chairman of Robinsons-May, as well as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

Alfredo Colas is the global business services (GBS) and IT director for Procter & Gamble in North America, as well as the global director for sales technologies, leading an organization of almost 200 IT professionals. He oversees the digitization of the company's sales processes, including powering them with analytics. He is also responsible for P&G's Trade Promotion Management & Optimization solutions.

Mr. Colas joined Procter & Gamble in 1996 in Spain and, over the years, led various local, regional, and global organizations across the U.S. and Europe. He has extensive experience in transforming and enabling the sales organization at P&G, and has led the integration of multiple acquisitions into P&G GBS structure, commercial and supply chain redesigns, and e-business initiatives.

Mr. Colas started working with GS1 Spain (AECOC) almost 20 years ago and was the president of its e-commerce committee in the early 2000s. He is currently a member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association's Information Systems Committee, and the IT Share Group Committee of The Global Consumer Forum.

"RB and Alfredo are seasoned leaders and their experience in retail industry transformation will lend tremendous perspective to our innovation at GS1 US," said Bob Carpenter, president and CEO of GS1 US. "The retail landscape is changing dramatically with growing digital and data-driven business needs. Both of these gentlemen's insights will inform GS1 US initiatives, helping leverage the power of standards to address consumer demand for seamless shopping experiences across all channels."  

The GS1 US Board of Governors includes executives from 20 leading organizations including: Campbell's Soup Company; The Coca-Cola Company; eBay Inc.; The J.M. Smucker Company; Johnson & Johnson; Macy's, Inc.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; McKesson Corporation; Procter & Gamble; Publix Super Markets; PVH Corp.; Quality Supply Chain Co-op, Inc.; QVC, Inc.; Sysco Corporation; Wakefern Food Corporation; Walmart; and Wegmans Food Markets. The full list is available at www.gs1us.org/about-gs1-us/corporate/board-of-governors.

About GS1 US
GS1 US®, a member of GS1®, is an information standards organization that brings industry communities together to solve supply-chain problems through the adoption and implementation of GS1 Standards. More than 300,000 businesses in 25 industries rely on GS1 US for trading-partner collaboration and for maximizing the cost effectiveness, speed, visibility, security and sustainability of their business processes. They achieve these benefits through solutions based on GS1 global unique numbering and identification systems, barcodes, Electronic Product Code (EPC®)-enabled Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), data synchronization, and electronic information exchange. GS1 US also manages the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code® (UNSPSC®). www.GS1US.org