As omni-channel commerce is making headway in the retail industry, the existing GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) Allocation Rules have been replaced by a new, simplified GTIN Management Standard.
Businesses have used GTINs to make decisions about product identification for years, however, over time the rules became difficult to work with and frustrating to use, resulting in a lack of industry compliance and excessive costs.
The new standard is simpler for businesses to comply with, and easier to share and explain, making it easier for retailers to make decisions, manage GTINs and save time.
GS1 Australia’s CEO, Maria Palazzolo, says that while the rules may look different, they still adhere to the same principles.
“The GTIN rules have a new look and feel, but the direction that they give to trading partners on when a GTIN must change remain basically unchanged,” she says.
“The business-centric language, ‘guiding principles’ and brand-compliant images resonate across retail sub-sectors and enable industry to make decisions on GTIN changes confidently, consistently and more quickly.”
One of the simplifications is the move from 46 rules down to just 10, something global food manufacturer JM Smucker Company appreciated when it recently applied the new GTIN management rules to evaluate the identification changes needed for 125 of its products.
“It made it easier to make clear decisions and communicate these decisions across the organisation—saving the company time and money,” says Lori Bigler, director, industry standards at JM Smucker.
“Using the new rules, we completed the evaluation of all 125 products in minutes instead of days.”
For more information on the new GTIN Management Standard visit www.gs1.org/gtinrules
By Marion Gerritsen
