GTINs are becoming more and more common in product identification, and you have often asked us about the possibility of using them. But what exactly is a GTIN code? A GTIN - Global Trade Item Number - is a unique numeric code that is used to identify a specific commercial unit. A commercial item in this case is a consumer, business, or logistics unit or service to which certain master data is linked and which can be priced, ordered, or invoiced at any point in the logistics chain.
There are several different GTIN code formats, the most common are GTIN-8, GTIN-12, GTIN-13 and GTIN-14. In Europe, the best known and most widely used GTIN code format is EAN-13 (European Article Number).
There are many advantages to using GTINs on packaging. First and most importantly, they enable a product to be unambiguously identified, which is important for tracking inventory, proper warehouse organization, and correct order fulfillment. GTINs are easily integrated with various systems and technologies, such as barcode scanners, which improve efficiency and accuracy in tracking and handling products. This code allows for the fast and accurate retrieval of information. Details such as name, manufacturer, weight, dimensions, expiration date, and more can be retrieved from databases which are linked to the product identifier. This is important not only for retailers, but also for customers who can access this information more easily and quickly by just using barcode scanners .
There is also now an improved GTIN code format called GS1 DataMatrix, which allows even more information to be stored in a very small space in the form of a two-dimensional barcode. This is widely used around the world for inventory management where there is limited print space on the product, usually in the healthcare sector.
The number of customers using GTINs as part of their warehouse system, especially for shipments containing a large number of different types of products, is constantly growing. Thanks to barcode scanners, these can be read and input within seconds, eliminating the possibility of errors that often occur when manually transcribing data. To make the customer's job even easier, these codes can also be printed directly on the shipping documents along with the products.
If you would like the shipping documents for your labels to include the GTIN, please let us know at: info@label-design.cz.
