This process has enormous implications for links across the supply chain. With each retailer having a range of suppliers and each supplier servicing a number of retailers there is the need for common bar-code standards across the industry. The retailer needs to have a scanning and data capture system to identify the item being sold. It will need to have a reordering system that links the item to its manufacturer, and which places an order. Information needs to be exchanged between the parties in a common data format, which can be read by different IT systems. The high volume of transactions means that the systems handling the data exchange need to be robust and reliable. Having been informed of the sale, the supplier inputs this information to its manufacturing planning system in order to schedule production and the ordering of supplies.