GTIN in your industry

All companies that provide products and services identify their products in a uniform way, regardless of the industry they operate in. Assigning a GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) to a trade item makes it globally identifiable at all stages of the supply chain. This makes the exchange of information between different trading parties both more efficient and cost-effective. GTIN is also used for post-purchase processes such as repair and recycling, and by linking GTINs to additional information, such as date, batch and serial number, your company can track products at the level needed to meet both legal requirements and customer needs.

Read more below about how GTINs are used in different industries.

Various tools lying on a table.

Why GTIN in the construction industry?

For construction products, unique identification is crucial to effectively share information between stakeholders and ensure smooth supply chains. Additionally, it is also necessary to comply with global regulatory requirements. Identifying and communicating product changes is particurlarly important to ensure that the right products reach the right market and end customer. Construction products often have a long lifespan, sometimes up to 50 or even 100 years. Factors such as construction techniques, regulations and the properties of materials over time affect the use and value of a product. This requires effective tracking throughout the life cycle of the product.

Alternative solutions

The construction industry has traditionally faced challenges in finding an effective solution for traceability. Alternative solutions have been manual systems and various identification methods that have proven to be inefficient and increased the risk of errors and delays in information flow.

GS1’s solution

For property owners and managers, it has always been difficult to have a full overview of what a building contains. The rapid development of new materials and the growing focus on sustainability and circularity increase the need for efficient tracking throughout the life cycle. GTIN offers a solution for parties involved in maintenance, repair, upgrading, reuse and recycling of construction products.

Benefits

  • Globally unique identification: GTIN offers a standardised and globally recognised solution for the unique identification of construction products.
  • Compliance: By using GTIN, you can be sure that you are at the forefront of meeting the increasing demands for a transparent and sustainable construction industry.
  • Effecient communication: GS1 standards enable consistent and efficient communication between different stakeholders throughout the supply chain.
  • Established standards: Globally recognised standards ensure accurate traceability and offer a standardised approach, consistent with international demands and expectations.

 

Read more about GS1 and the construction industry

 

Why GTIN in the retail sector?

Retail is a fast-paced industry, in-store and online, making accurate product identification more important than ever. Retailers across different channels often require unique identification of products and as trade becomes increasingly global, a universal and unique identifier is essential to provide accurate product information worldwide.

Alternative solutions

Historically, many companies have used internal codes for product identification and some companies still use GTIN-like numbers for internal identification. These numbers may work for products sold in the company’s own channels, but may conflict with other companies’ products in external channels and risk being rejected on online platforms.

GS1’s solution

GTIN is a globally unique that identifies trade items and can be used at all packaging levels. It serves as a universal language for identifying products and share product data. GTIN helps address retail challenges, such as inventory management and optimised order fulfillment, enabling you to meet new consumer demands and navigate the modern and increasingly complex retail landscape. By using GTIN, your business can be flexible, efficient and future-proof in a dynamic market.

Benefits

  • Precise identification: GTIN improves global product recognition and ensures accurate and unique identification.
  • Inventory visibility: Improved accuracy in stock levels and real-time data during inventory management enhances the customer experience.
  • Optimised fulfillment: Efficient order and delivery processes reduce the risk of dissatisfaction, cancellations and additional fees.
  • Interoperable standards: Global standards simplify supply chain management making it more efficient and consistent.

 

Read more about GS1 and retail

A data matrix on a medicine package is scanned with a hand scanner.

Why GTIN in the healthcare sector?

To ensure that the right healthcare product reaches the right patient, in the right place, at the right time and with the right dosage, unique identification of healthcare products is essential. GTINs, combined with batch and serial numbers, provide traceability of medicines, medical devices and other healthcare products from production to patient.

Alternative solutions

In the past, NTIN (Nordic Trade Item Number) and product codes were used in healthcare. However, NTIN had some limitations, including the inability to uniquely identify different packaging variants of the same product. This, together with changing market conditions such as mandatory package leaflets, parallel imports and the digitisation of the entire prescription and dispensing process, made a switch to GTINs necessary.

GS1’s solution

GTINs identify healthcare products and medical devices and make them visible throughout the supply chain, all the way to the patient. This visibility enables the traceability of both medical products and medical devices, which is necessary for evalutation outcomes and improving safety. Additionally, GTIN serves as an authentication of the product. It reduces the risk of counterfeit healthcare products infiltrating the supply chain and protects patients from potential harm.

Benefits

  • Prevents counterfeiting: helps reduce or eliminate counterfeit healthcare products, protecting patients from potential harm.
  • Efficient product recalls: In the event of a product recall, GTINs enables swift and precise tracing of products, facilitating the quick removal of the product from circulation.
  • Post market monitoring: Products can be systematically monitored while they are on the market, allowing healthcare providers to track patient outcomes and quickly respond to adverse events.
  • Accurate records: Easier to record products used on or in a patient, resulting in better and more reliable patient records.

 

Industrial robots welding on a piece of metal.

Why GTIN in the technical industry?

Privatisation, global sourcing of materials and increased customer demands for better reliability and quality have made the engineering industry and its supply chain more open and competitive. At the same time, regulators are placing higher demands on safety and sustainability. These developments have resulted in a complex and increasingly international environment for manufacturing and MRO processes (Maintenance, Repair and Operations). To address this, interoperability between stakeholders and their systems needs to be improved, requiring a reliable solution to track components over longer periods.

Alternative solutions

Meeting the challenges of increasingly complex manufacturing and MRO environments requires a comprehensive solution. Traditional methods such as manual handling or disparate identification systems risk creating errors, delays and inhibit interoperability. An alternative solution must offer a standardised, interoperable and globally recognised approach to effeciently identify, track and manage MRO items.

GS1’s solution

GS1 standards offer a proven solution for identifying, capturing and sharing information about products, parts, components and assets, as well as business locations and documents. GS1 standards enable seamless communication and collaboration between different stakeholders, ensuring accurate tracking throughout the lifecycle and meeting the demands of a dynamic manufacturing and MRO environment.

Benefits

  • Enhanced interoperability: GS1 standards facilitate and streamline collaboration between manufacturers and MRO operators by clearly identifying and tracking objects throughout their lifecycle, from manufacturing to maintenance and repair.
  • Established standards: Globally recognised standards ensure accurate traceability and offer a standardised approach that is consistent with international requirements and expectations.
  • Efficiency and accuracy: By using GS1 standards, the industry can streamline processes, reduce errors and improve operational efficiency.
  • Compliance: GS1 standards make it easier to meet legal and safety requirements by providing a framework for adherence and reporting.

 

Boxes on an assembly line.

Why GTIN in e-commerce

Most e-commerce platforms require unique identifiers on products and an increasing number require GTINs specifically. Google, the leading search engine, recommends using GTINs for search engine optimisation (SEO). Globally unique identifiers and reliable product data are essential for consumers to get accurate product information online.

Alternative solutions

For a long time, it was optional for sellers on e-commerce platforms to put item numbers on their products. Internal numbers can work if you only want to sell through your own channels, but without a unique identification of your products, they can be confused with other products in online searches, which can lead to consumers not getting the product they expect.

GS1’s solution

GTIN is an internationally recognised identifier that ensures unique identification of products both in physical stores and on e-commerce platforms. By following GS1 standards and using GTIN, you can not only meet the requirements of e-commerce platforms, but also improve your visibility on search engines, especially Google, leading to global reach and increased consumer trust.

Benefits

  • Seamless identification: GTINs ensure consistent and accurate identification in global trade by bridging the physical and digital worlds of commerce.
  • Verifiable information: The identity of a product and its data can be verified through the GS1 Registry Platform and the organisations that manage the identifiers.
  • Global reach: An interconnected e-commerce landscape facilitates the use of an identifier such as GTIN for seamless product identification for stakeholders worldwide.

 

Read more about GS1 and e-commerce

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