GS1 is an international non-profit standards body that develops and maintains its own standards for automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) in the supply chains of multiple industries worldwide. GS1 allocates and manages company prefixes for use in UPC, EAN, and JAN barcodes. Its member organizations are located in over 110 countries. GS1 US is the United States member organization.
GS1 Identification Keys
The GS1 system consists of a recurring set of globally unique identification (ID) keys that are encoded by barcodes (or radio frequency identification [RFID] tags). The company prefix forms the basis of the ID keys that a company can use. To obtain a company prefix, an organization must become a member of GS1.
The GS1 ID keys that can be encoded by barcodes are as follows:
- Global Trade Item Number (GTIN): Identifies products, inner packs, cases, and pallets at the point of sale or in a distribution or warehouse environment.
- Global Location Number (GLN): Identifies locations (such as place of delivery, point of storage, or store location) and can be used as a reference to retrieve information from databases.
- Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC): Identifies logistics units, such as cases, cartons, pallets, or air cargo containers of trade items, and enables these units to be tracked individually.
- Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI): Identifies documents and is commonly used when a master copy of a document must be maintained.
- Global Service Relation Number (GSRN): Identifies the relationships of service organizations to service providers (such as doctors who work for a hospital) and to service recipients (such as members of frequent flyer or retailer loyalty programs).
- Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI): Identifies a company’s fixed assets and property, such as office equipment, furniture, computers, and manufacturing equipment.
- Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI): Identifies reusable packaging or transport equipment (such as pallets and beer kegs) that are considered assets.
- Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN): Identifies a shipment that is composed of several logistics units that are delivered together.
- Global Identification Number for Consignment (GINC): Identifies a consignment shipment that is composed of several logistics units that are transported together.
- Global Coupon Number (GCN): Identifies digital coupons that are processed at the point of sale.
- Component/Part Identifier (CPID): Identifies components and parts that are used to assemble a final product (such as a jet engine).
- Restricted Circulation Number (RCN): Identifies numbers that are restricted to internal use by companies based on their business needs.
GS1 ID Keys give companies efficient ways to access information about items in their supply chains, and share this information with trading partners.
| ID Key | Used to Identify | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) | Products and services | Can of soup, chocolate bar, music album |
| Global Location Number (GLN) | Parties and locations | Companies, warehouses, factories, stores |
| Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) | Logistics units | Unit loads on pallets, roll cages, parcels |
| Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) | Returnable assets | Pallet cases, crates, totes |
| Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI) | Assets | Medical, manufacturing, transport and IT equipment |
| Global Service Relation Number (GSRN) | Service provider and recipient relationships | Loyalty scheme members, doctors at a hospital, library members |
| Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI) | Documents | Tax demands, shipment forms, driving licences |
| Global Identification Number for Consignment (GINC) | Consignments | Logistics units transported together in an ocean container |
| Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN) | Shipments | Logistics units delivered to a customer together |
| Global Coupon Number (GCN) | Coupons | Digital coupons |
| Component/Part Identifier (CPID) | Components and parts | Automobile parts |
| Global Model Number (GMN) | Product model | Medical devices |
GS1 standards are a common language to identify and exchange information globally
