GS1 is a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

, international organization developing and maintaining its own standards for barcodes and the corresponding issue company prefixes. The best known of these standards is the

barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

, a symbol printed on products that can be scanned electronically. GS1 has 118 local member organizations and over 2 million user companies. Its main office is in Brussels (

Avenue Louise The (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch) is a major road, thoroughfare in Brussels, Belgium. It is located in the southern part of the City of Brussels, on the border with the municipalities of Saint-Gilles, Belgium, Saint-G ...

History

In 1969, the retail industry in the United States was searching for a way to speed up the check-out process in shops. The Ad Hoc Committee for a Uniform Grocery Product Identification Code was established to find a solution. In 1973, the

Universal Product Code The Universal Product Code (UPC or UPC code) is a barcode#Symbologies, barcode symbology that is used worldwide for tracking trade items in stores. The chosen symbology has bars (or spaces) of exactly 1, 2, 3, or 4 units wide each; each decimal ...

(UPC) was selected by this group as the first single standard for unique product identification. In 1974, the Uniform Code Council (UCC) was founded to administer the standard. On 26 June 1974, a pack of Wrigley's chewing gum became the first ever product with a barcode to be scanned in a shop. In 1976, the original 12-digit code was expanded to 13 digits, which allowed the identification system to be used outside the U.S. In 1977, the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) was established in Brussels, with founding members from 12 countries. In 1990, EAN and UCC signed a global cooperation agreement and expanded their overall presence to 45 countries. In 1999, EAN and UCC launched the Auto-ID Centre to develop Electronic Product Code (EPC), enabling GS1 standards to be used for RFID. In 2004, EAN and UCC launched the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), a global, internet-based initiative that enables trading partners to efficiently exchange product master data. By 2005, the organisation was present in over 90 countries, and it started to use the name GS1 on a worldwide basis. Whilst "GS1" is not an acronym, it refers to the organisation offering one global system of standards. In August 2018, the GS1 Web URI Structure Standard was ratified, allowing unique ID's to be added to products by storing a URI (a webpage-like address) as a QR code.

Barcodes

Barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...

s defined by GS1 standards are very common. GS1 introduced the barcode in 1974. A barcode encodes a product identification number that can be scanned electronically, making it easier for products to be tracked, processed, and stored. Barcodes improve the efficiency, safety, speed and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels. They have a crucial role in the retail industry, including today's online marketplaces, moving beyond just faster checkout to improved inventory and delivery management, and the opportunity to sell online on a global scale. In the UK alone, the introduction of the barcode in the retail industry has resulted in savings of 10.5 billion pounds per year. Some of the barcodes that GS1 developed and manages are: EAN/ UPC (used mainly on consumer goods), GS1

Data Matrix A Data Matrix is a two-dimensional code consisting of black and white "cells" or dots arranged in either a square or rectangular pattern, also known as a matrix. The information to be encoded can be text or numeric data. Usual data size is fro ...

(used mainly on healthcare products), GS1-128, GS1 DataBar, and GS1 QR Code. Notably, GS1 barcodes can hold more than just a single numerical identifiers, as GS1 has defined a modular & arbitrarily combinable semantic encoding of defined data within GS1 barcodes through the publication of over 150 "Application Identifiers" (AI). These AIs allow encoding of details such as the GTIN - AI:(01), the "Country of Origin" - AI:(422), and the "Expiration date" - AI:(17), amongst many other possibilities, including URLs - AI:(8200).

Standards

The most influential GS1 standard is the GTIN. It identifies products uniquely around the world and forms the base of the GS1 system. Main GS1 standards are as follows: * Application Level Events (ALE) * Core Business Vocabulary (CBV) * EAN/ UPC barcodes * EPC/RFID tags *

EPCIS Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS) is a global GS1 Standard for creating and sharing visibility event data, both within and across enterprises, to enable users to gain a shared view of physical or digital objects within a releva ...

* GEPIR * Global Data Model * Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) * Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI) * Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI) * Global Identification Number for Consignment (GINC) * Global Location Number (GLN) * Global Product Classification (GPC) * Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) * Global Service Relationship Number (GSRN) * Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN) * Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) * GS1-128 * GS1 DataBar * GS1 DataMatrix * GS1 Digital Link *

GS1 EDI GS1 EDI is a set of global electronic messaging Technical standard, standards for business documents used in Electronic data interchange, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). The standards are developed and maintained by GS1. GS1 EDI is part of the o ...

* ITF-14 * Low-Level Reader Protocol (LLRP) * Object Name Service (ONS) * Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) Many GS1 standards are also

ISO The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ; ; ) is an independent, non-governmental, international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Me ...

standards, including the GTIN, GLN, and SSCC. GS1 also acts as the secretariat for ISO's Automatic identification and data capture techniques technical committee ( ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 31). GS1 standards are developed and maintained through the GS1 Global Standards Management Process (GSMP), a community-based forum that brings together representatives from different industries and businesses.

Industries

Retail and marketplaces

Retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

was the first industry that GS1 began working with and has remained their primary focus. Today, GS1 operates in four retail sub-sectors on a global level:

Apparel Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

, Fresh Foods, CPG and General Merchandise. Key focus areas in retail include

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

data quality Data quality refers to the state of qualitative or quantitative pieces of information. There are many definitions of data quality, but data is generally considered high quality if it is "fit for tsintended uses in operations, decision making and ...

, compliance with regulatory requirements,

traceability Traceability is the capability to trace something. In some cases, it is interpreted as the ability to verify the history, location, or application of an item by means of documented recorded identification. Other common definitions include the capa ...

of products from their origin through delivery, and upstream integration between manufacturers and suppliers. As consumers are recurring to

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

more often throughout the years, GS1 has developed standards that uniquely identify products for the benefit of consumers and for search engines, providing accurate and complete product information digitally. Major e-commerce companies such as eBay, Amazon and Google Shopping require companies to use a GS1 GTIN to sell on their websites.

Healthcare

Since 2005, GS1 has operated in

Healthcare Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

with the primary objective to enhance patient safety, and to drive supply chain efficiencies. More than 70 countries have healthcare-related regulations or trading partner requirements where GS1 standards are being used for the above reasons as well for medicines as medical devices. Members of GS1 Healthcare include more than 140 leading healthcare organisations worldwide.

Other industries

GS1 operates three other key industries globally: Transport & Logistics,

Food service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British and Commonwealth English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, grocery stores, school and hospital cafeteri ...

and Technical Industries. GS1's 118 Member Organisations in 150 countries around the world collectively focus on dozens of industry sectors.

References

External links

www.gs1.org
{{Authority control Organisations based in Brussels Organizations established in 1974 Standards organizations es:EAN