GS1 Synkka – Creating a variable-measure item
Variable Measure Trade Item is an item which is priced, ordered or invoiced in quantities which can vary, such as fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, fish, fabric, carpets on a roll, etc.
GTINs for variable-measure products are national
When a variable-measure product is created in GS1 Synkka, its GTIN must be created using a GS1 Company Prefix issued in Finland.
GTINs for variable-measure products are national. This means:
- A variable-measure product GTIN generated according to Finnish practices can only be used in Finland. If a company needs to sell variable-weight products in another country, the company must contact the GS1 organization in that country.
- Variable-measure products imported from other countries may not be sold on the Finnish market unless they have been coded according to the Finnish system. Similarly, GTINs for variable-weight products generated using a GS1 Company Prefix issued in Finland may not be used on other markets.
The GTIN code for a variable weight product begins with a series of numbers corresponding to the product's weight:
- 23 = products under 10 kg
- 24 = products over 10 kg
- 25 = over 100 kg products
If the weight of a variable-measure product falls on both sides of the limit value, the product is created with the code that the majority of products have. Receiver systems, such as cash registers, can handle the change in limit value without any problems.
Read more: How to generate a GTIN >
Read more: How to mark a package >
Creating a variable-measure product
Create a variable-measure product in GS1 Synkka with a zero weight. This means that the weight has zero values and a check digit is calculated based on them.
Store net contents, weights and dimensions based on the product's average.
In the product name, the weight or quantity is indicated according to the average, for example Christmas ham approx. 5000 g.
The data field Is Trade Item A Variable Unit (id 3717) is set to True.
The data field Variable Weight Allowable Deviation Percentage (id 3719) is used to indicate how much the product weight can vary in percentage from the stated average weight.
The data field Price Comparison Measurement (id 2958) is always set to 1 kilo for products of variable weight.
Creating a variable-measure product transport package
Variable-size product cases can be coded in two different ways.
1. As a variable-size transport package
- The case is created as a variable-measure product. A variable-measure product code similar to a GTIN-13 code is created for the transport package in exactly the same way as for a retail product.
- The data field Is Trade Item A Variable Unit (id 3717) is set to True.
- The package weights and dimensions are reported according to the average.
2. As a fixed weight transport pack
- The transport package is created as a 9-starting GTIN-14 code, i.e. a normal fixed weight product code that does not contain weight information.
- The data field Is Trade Item A Variable Unit (id 3717) is set to True.
- The package weights and dimensions are reported according to the average.