 |
 |
|
Additional Information Overview of the GTIN Family |
What is GTIN and Why Adopt it?
GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number, and it represents a new standard in product identification. GTIN is the foundation for the EAN.UCC (European Article Numbering and Uniform Code Council) system for uniquely identifying trade items sold, delivered, warehoused, and billed throughout the retail and commercial distribution channels.The EAN.UCC launched 'Sunrise 2005' on January 1, 2005. Sunrise is a major marketing initiative designed to establish and promote multi-industry standards for product identification and related electronic communication. The message of the EAN.UCC is summarized below:
- All North American companies must be capable of scanning and processing EAN-8 and EAN-13 symbols, in addition to the UPC-12 codes at point of sale. The EAN.UCC recommends that GTINs are stored as 14-digit numbers by right justifying and zero-filling left, as appropriate.
In addition, on January 1, 2005 the EAN.UCC stopped issuing UCC Company Prefixes to companies based outside of North America. The UCC Company Prefix provides the basis for the UPC code used by manufacturers in North America. Companies outside of North America must mark their products exclusively with EAN-8 or EAN-13 symbols.
In order to meet the requirements for GTIN and Sunrise 2005, PointForce Enterprise is able to process, store and communicate with trading partners using all manner of GTINs whether 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits.
