The GTIN Initiative: Execution Imperative Or Execution Crisis?
An independent study commissioned by the UCC more than a decade ago revealed that numbers for new company prefixes for 12-digit UPCs will run out by the year 2005. This was the genesis of what would come to be called the GTIN initiative - the expansion of 12-digit UPCs into a full 14-digit data structure. GTIN (Global Trade Identification Number) is an umbrella term used to describe the entire family of EAN/UCC data structures and their format for trade item (products or services) identification. It provides a common cross-reference mechanism for use between global trading partners. GTIN has been widely adopted in countries outside of North America, has the longest history in the EAN/UCC system, and is fully endorsed and supported by GCI as the foundation piece for global data synchronization and standardization.
To accommodate a growing international community, and the increasing use of GTIN in global commerce, the UCC and GCI are recommending that all North American retailers and trading partners be able to scan, process and store in their systems a full 14-digit GTIN data structure down to the point of sale, by January 1, 2005.
Given the fact that traditional symbologies are running out of room for new products, GTIN is inevitable. Major retailers and suppliers are already putting it in place. GCI, the driving force behind GTIN, currently operates under the sponsorship of eight organizations representing the interests of one million businesses. Four of those organizations represent manufacturers and retailers: AIM (the Association for Automatic Identification and Data Capture Technologies); CIES (The Food Business Forum), a 50-year old international food business network and information exchange; GMA (Grocery Manufacturers of America); and FMI (Food Marketing Institute). Two are the principal standards organizations, EAN International and the UCC. The remaining two, ECR (Efficient Consumer Response) and VICS (Voluntary Inter-industry Commerce Standards Association), work to develop tools to facilitate collaborative management of the supply chain.