Supply Chain Standards
CategoryRetail Standards
GS1 is a non-profit organization that develops and maintains global supply chain standards for business communication and product tracking, helping the retail sector integrate omni-channel commerce operations, shipment delivery and inventory management.
Product Information Exchange
Item Identification, Tracking and Sharing
GS1 standards are designed to improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels. They define a common business language that identifies, captures and key attributes of products, assets and locations.
GS1 has a long history in retail, where it is best known for managing barcode standards: EAN/UPC — for consumer goods, Data Matrix — for healthcare products, GS1-128 — application IDs, DataBar — POS symbols, and QR Code — item tracking.
The organization has been successful in assisting the Uniform Code Council (UCC) and the European Article Numbering Association (EAN) develop the Electronic Product Code (EPC) — enabling GS1 system to be used for Radio-frequency Identification (RFID), and launch the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) — a global, Internet-based initiative that enabled trading partners to efficiently exchange product master data.
GS1 standards are now helping the retail sector to meet the challenges of the new omni-channel marketplace and satisfy the expectations of consumers.
