What is its function in the regulation and use of barcodes? We will be explaining it in this article.
GS1 is an international organization that manages and promotes global standards for the coding and exchange of business information. One of its best-known standards is the EAN-13 (European Article Number) barcode system used to uniquely identify products and consumer goods worldwide.
The global organization GS1 plays a crucial role in standardizing and managing barcodes and other product identification systems. Its main goal is to facilitate the exchange of information between companies, simplifying the processes of traceability, inventory management and product identification throughout the supply chain.
Imagine being at the supermarket and noticing barcodes on the products you are buying. These barcodes follow a standard set by GS1, which means that each product has a unique code that can be read by any scanner anywhere in the world. This standardization allows retailers to easily track and manage their inventory, knowing exactly how many products they have in stock and when it is time to reorder.
Moreover, GS1 is not limited to barcodes only. It also handles other unique identifiers, such as serial numbers, which can be used to track individual products along the supply chain. This is especially important for industries where it is crucial to track the provenance and history of a product, such as in the food or pharmaceutical industries.
In addition to barcode standardization, GS1 also provides guidelines and best practices for the effective use of its standards. This helps companies implement identification systems consistently and maximize the benefits of using these standards.In summary, GS1 plays a key role in facilitating the exchange of information between companies through the standardization of barcodes and other unique identifiers. This helps improve efficiency and transparency along the supply chain, benefiting both manufacturers and end consumers.
Summarizing the main functions and structure of the GS1 standard:
- GS1 National Organizations:
GS1 is a global organization that coordinates the activities of numerous national organizations, of which there are 116 worldwide. Each of these national organizations is responsible for managing and assigning barcodes within its own country. - Assignment of Number Intervals:
GS1 assigns each national organization a specific number range, known as the “GS1 business prefix.” This prefix is unique to each organization and is used as part of the barcode to identify the geographical origin of the manufacturer. - Assignment of GS1 Company Codes:
National GS1 organizations then assign GS1 company prefixes to companies within their country that wish to use GS1 barcodes to identify their products. These GS1 company prefixes allow companies to create their own unique barcodes, called GTINs (Global Trade Item Numbers), which uniquely identify their products. - GTIN and barcode Creation:
Using the assigned GS1 company prefix, the company can then create its own GTIN for each product. The GTIN is a number that uniquely identifies a particular product or sales unit. Next, the company can generate the full barcode for the product using the GTIN, which can be printed on the product’s packaging. - Use in Stores and Online:
Once the company has obtained GS1 barcodes for its products, it can use them to sell the products in large-scale retail (GDO) stores and online. GS1 barcodes provide unique and standardized identification that enables efficient and accurate tracking of products throughout the supply chain, benefiting both companies and end consumers.
To recap, the GS1 system standardizes barcode assignment globally, enabling companies to uniquely identify their products and simplifying traceability and inventory management processes throughout the supply chain.
It establishes global standards for unique identification and data exchange among commercial organizations.
These standards are used in various industries, including retail, logistics, health care, agriculture and others.
GS1 manages a number of barcode standards, including EAN-13, EAN-8, GS1-128 (formerly known as UCC/EAN-128) and many others.In particular EAN-13 is a widely used standard for encoding information such as country of origin, manufacturer, and product identification number.
The worldwide importance of EAN-13
- EAN-13 consists of 13 digits.
- The first three digits represent the country or geographic area code assigned by GS1.
- The next nine digits are the manufacturer and/or product identification code.
- The last digit is the check digit, used to verify the correctness of the code.
